This guide provides information and resources to prepare for the Azure IoT Developer Specialty certification, including tips and recommendations based on the experiences of other IoT and Azure engineers certified with this specialty.
This certification is designed and recommended for Azure engineers who are working, or have worked, with the fundamental tools of the cloud to work with Internet of Things technologies. Candidates are expected to be able to use each technology in the proper context with best possible practices, understanding the constraints of each available option.
This certification is recommended if you have a deep knowledge and experience in the standards that are handled in the communication between sensors and the cloud, such as MQTT, AMQP, and HTTPS, and you know which is the appropriate option according to the restrictions and needs of the project.
This certification is useful for:
The exam you must take to be certified is the Microsoft Azure IoT Developer exam (AZ-220). This exam measures not only your knowledge of Azure technologies and how they connect to each other, but also your ability to understand and use industry standards for data exchange between devices (MQTT and AMQP). In addition, you must understand the details of each component and how to resolve incidents that could occur during the process.
Your exam preparation should include:
There are no prerequisites for taking the exam and being certified in Azure IoT, but it is recommended that you have already worked with the technologies in different projects and know how to address the different problems that may occur. This experience will be helpful when the exam asks how you would solve certain problems.
You must have at least a couple of years experience with Azure IoT tools and other complementary technologies, such as Stream Analytics and Azure Monitor.
Only the AZ-220 exam is required. It measures the following skills:
As you can see, you should not only know the technologies, but you should also know how to connect them to each other and solve problems that may occur during implementation or the process of sending and receiving data by the devices.
The technologies that you must know and have worked with are:
For each of these technologies, you must know how to implement them both through the Azure portal and the SDK. You should also know how to secure data and communication between the cloud and devices.
You can enhance and accelerate your learning with the range of Pluralsight courses on each Azure technology, including:
And many more at this resource page.
You can complement the Pluralsight courses with the official Azure documentation for IoT technologies.
The benefits of obtaining this certification include:
The ability to get involved in large IoT projects in your organization or other major companies, communicating the devices with the cloud for processing in a real-time environment
According to ZipRecruiter, the average annual salary for someone who works as an IoT Developer is $113,088, or more with additional experience and certifications (including this one).
To be certified as Azure IoT Developer, you only need to take the AZ-220 exam and pass it. There are no prerequisites, just your knowledge and experience with Azure.
As a tip, if you have never done an Azure certification, consider starting with an Azure Fundamentals certification (AZ-900 exam) so that you know the format and the level of questions to be prepared for.
Finally, some advice:
I wish you success on your way to certification as Azure IoT Developer Specialist!