News and commentary about the exam objective updates
The updates to the DP-900 exam objectives effective February 1, 2024, reveal a few noteworthy changes and refinements compared to the previous version. The following is commentary on each of the updates:
Audience Profile
■■ Before & After Update: The target audience remains consistent. The exam is aimed at candidates new to working with data in the cloud, requiring familiarity with core data concepts and Microsoft Azure data services.
150 CHAPTER 5 DP-900 Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals Exam Updates
Describe Core Data Concepts (25–30%)
■■ Before & After Update: This section remains largely unchanged, focusing on representing data (structured, semi-structured, unstructured), data storage options, and common data workloads (transactional, analytical). The roles and responsibilities associated with these workloads are also consistently covered.
Identify Considerations for Relational Data on Azure (20–25%)
■■ Before & After Update: Both versions cover relational concepts, including features of relational data, normalization, SQL statements, and common database objects. A notable change is the explicit mention of the “Azure SQL family of products” in the updated objectives, offering a clearer focus on specific Azure services.
Describe Considerations for Working with Non-Relational Data on Azure (15–20%)
■■ Before & After Update: This section remains consistent in both versions, covering Azure storage capabilities (Blob, File, Table storage) and Azure Cosmos DB features. The emphasis on understanding Azure’s storage solutions and Cosmos DB’s use cases and APIs continues to be a crucial part of this section.
Describe an Analytics Workload on Azure (25–30%)
■■ Before Update: This section previously included details on Azure services for data warehousing, real-time data analytics technologies (Azure Stream Analytics, Azure Synapse Data Explorer, Spark Structured Streaming), and data visualization in Power BI.
■■ After Update: The updated objectives maintain the focus on large-scale analytics, data warehousing, and real-time data analytics but have removed specific mentions of technologies like Azure Stream Analytics, Azure Synapse Data Explorer, and Spark Structured Streaming. Instead, there’s a broader reference to “Microsoft cloud services for real-time analytics,” suggesting a more general approach. The section on Power BI remains similar, emphasizing its capabilities, data models, and visualization options.
General Observations:
■■ The updates indicate a shift toward a more generalized and possibly up-to-date over-view of Azure services, especially in the analytics workload section.
■■ The explicit mention of the Azure SQL family of products under relational data shows an emphasis on Azure-specific services.
■■ Overall, the changes seem to align the exam more closely with current Azure offerings and trends in cloud data management without significantly altering the core content or focus areas of the exam.
These updates suggest a continued emphasis on ensuring that candidates have a well-rounded understanding of Azure’s data services, both relational and non-relational, along with a solid grasp of analytical workloads as they pertain to Azure’s environment.
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