In today’s cloud-first world, DevOps practices are essential for delivering software faster, more securely, and more efficiently. As organizations adopt Azure DevOps and CI/CD pipelines, the demand for professionals who can manage this transformation is growing. This is where the Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert certification—validated through the AZ-400 exam—becomes highly valuable.
The AZ-400 exam tests your ability to design and implement DevOps strategies across version control, build and release pipelines, infrastructure as code, monitoring, and more. It is intended for those who already have associate-level knowledge (like Azure Administrator or Developer) and want to specialize in DevOps practices using Microsoft tools.
In this blog, you will learn everything you need to prepare effectively for the AZ-400 exam—from understanding the exam structure and focus areas to using the best resources and hands-on tools. Whether you are just starting your DevOps journey or aiming to level up, this guide will help you map out a clear path to certification success.
What Is the Microsoft AZ-400 Exam?
The Microsoft AZ-400 exam is the official assessment required to earn the Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert credential. It is designed for professionals who bring together people, processes, and technologies to deliver valuable products and services continuously.
Key Details About AZ-400:
- Full Name: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions
- Certification Earned: Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert
- Exam Format: 40–60 questions (multiple choice, drag-and-drop, and case studies)
- Duration: 150 minutes
- Passing Score: 700 out of 1000
- Delivery: Online or at authorized testing centers
- Languages Available: English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, and more
Prerequisite
To take the AZ-400 exam, Microsoft recommends that you first earn an associate-level certification, such as:
- AZ-104: Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
- AZ-204: Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate
This ensures that you already understand core Azure services before diving into DevOps workflows.
What AZ-400 Covers
AZ-400 tests your ability to work across:
- Source control and Git repositories
- Continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using tools like ARM, Bicep, and Terraform
- Monitoring, logging, and feedback systems
- Security and compliance integration in DevOps workflows
Microsoft AZ-400 Exam Outline and Documentation
The AZ-400 exam is built around practical DevOps tasks that professionals carry out in real Azure environments. Microsoft divides the exam content into these core domains, each weighted differently. Understanding this structure will help you prioritize your preparation.
Design and implement processes and communications (10–15%)
Design and implement traceability and flow of work
- Design and implement a structure for the flow of work, including GitHub Flow
- Design and implement a strategy for feedback cycles, including notifications and issues
- Design and implement integration for tracking work, including GitHub projects, Azure Boards, and repositories
- Design and implement source, bug, and quality traceability
Design and implement appropriate metrics and queries for DevOps
- Design and implement a dashboard, including flow of work, such as cycle times, time to recovery, and lead time
- Design and implement appropriate metrics and queries for project planning
- Design and implement appropriate metrics and queries for development
- Design and implement appropriate metrics and queries for testing
- Design and implement appropriate metrics and queries for security
- Design and implement appropriate metrics and queries for delivery
- Design and implement appropriate metrics and queries for operations
Configure collaboration and communication
- Document a project by configuring wikis and process diagrams, including Markdown and Mermaid syntax (Microsoft Documentation: Create a wiki for your project)
- Configure release documentation, including release notes and API documentation (Microsoft Documentation: Releases, Releases – List)
- Automate creation of documentation from Git history (Microsoft Documentation: Understand Git history simplification)
- Configure notifications by using webhooks (Microsoft Documentation: Set up notifications for changes in resource data)
- Configure integration between Azure Boards and GitHub repositories
- Configure integration between GitHub or Azure DevOps and Microsoft Teams
2. Design and implement a source control strategy (10–15%)
Plan and implement branching strategies for the source code
- Design a branch strategy, including trunk-based, feature branch, and release branch (Microsoft Documentation: Adopt a Git branching strategy)
- Design and implement a pull request workflow by using branch policies and branch protections (Microsoft Documentation: Branch policies and settings)
- Implement branch merging restrictions by using branch policies and branch protections (Microsoft Documentation: About branches and branch policies)
Configure and manage repositories
- Design and implement a strategy for managing large files, including Git Large File Storage (LFS) and git-fat
- Design a strategy for scaling and optimizing a Git repository, including Scalar and cross-repository sharing
- Configure permissions in the source control repository (Microsoft Documentation: Set Git repository permissions)
- Configure tags to organize the source control repository (Microsoft Documentation: Set Git repository settings and policies)
- Recover data by using Git commands (Microsoft Documentation: Git command reference)
- Remove specific data from source control
3. Design and implement build and release pipelines (50–55%)
Design and implement a package management strategy
- Recommend package management tools including GitHub Packages registry and Azure Artifacts
- Design and implement package feeds and views for local and upstream packages (Microsoft Documentation: Upstream sources)
- Design and implement a dependency versioning strategy for code assets and packages, including semantic versioning (SemVer) and date-based (CalVer) (Microsoft Documentation: Implement a versioning strategy, Package versioning)
- Design and implement a versioning strategy for pipeline artifacts (Microsoft Documentation: Implement a versioning strategy)
Design and implement a testing strategy for pipelines
- Design and implement quality and release gates, including security and governance
- Design a comprehensive testing strategy, including local tests, unit tests, integration tests, and load tests
- Implement tests in a pipeline, including configuring test tasks, configuring test agents, and integration of test results
- Implement code coverage analysis
Design and implement pipelines
- Select a deployment automation solution, including GitHub Actions and Azure Pipelines (Microsoft Documentation: Deploy to App Service using GitHub Actions)
- Design and implement a GitHub runner or Azure DevOps agent infrastructure, including cost, tool selection, licenses, connectivity, and maintainability
- Design and implement integration between GitHub repositories and Azure Pipelines
- Develop and implement pipeline trigger rules (Microsoft Documentation: Trigger one pipeline after another)
- Develop pipelines by using YAML (Microsoft Documentation: Create your first pipeline)
- Design and implement a strategy for job execution order, including parallelism and multi-stage pipelines (Microsoft Documentation: Task Parallel Library (TPL), jobs.job.strategy definition)
- Develop and implement complex pipeline scenarios, such as hybrid pipelines, VM templates, and self-hosted runners or agents
- Create reusable pipeline elements, including YAML templates, task groups, variables, and variable groups (Microsoft Documentation: Define variables)
- Design and implement checks and approvals by using YAML-based environments (Microsoft Documentation: Release deployment control using approvals)
Design and implement deployments
- Design a deployment strategy, including blue/green, canary, ring, progressive exposure, feature flags, and A/B testing (Microsoft Documentation: Progressive experimentation with feature flags)
- Design a pipeline to ensure that dependency deployments are reliably ordered (Microsoft Documentation: Add stages, dependencies, & conditions)
- Plan for minimizing downtime during deployments by using virtual IP address (VIP) swap, load balancing, rolling deployments, and deployment slot usage and swap (Microsoft Documentation: Swap or switch deployments in Azure Cloud Services)
- Design a hotfix path plan for responding to high-priority code fixes (Microsoft Documentation: Using a hotfix production environment)
- Design and implement a resiliency strategy for deployment
- Implement feature flags by using Azure App Configuration Feature Manager (Microsoft Documentation: Manage feature flags in Azure App Configuration)
- Implement application deployment by using containers, binaries, and scripts (Microsoft Documentation: App Service overview)
- Implement a deployment that includes database tasks
Design and implement infrastructure as code (IaC)
- Recommend a configuration management technology for application infrastructure (Microsoft Documentation: Configuration Manager)
- Implement a configuration management strategy for application infrastructure
- Define an IaC strategy, including source control and automation of testing and deployment (Microsoft Documentation: infrastructure as code (IaC))
- Design and implement desired state configuration for environments, including Azure Automation State Configuration, Azure Resource Manager, Bicep, and Azure Automanage Machine Configuration
- Design and implement Azure Deployment Environments for on-demand self-deployment
Maintain pipelines
- Monitor pipeline health, including failure rate, duration, and flaky tests (Microsoft Documentation: Manage flaky tests)
- Optimize pipelines for cost, time, performance, and reliability (Microsoft Documentation: Tradeoffs for performance efficiency)
- Optimize pipeline concurrency for performance and cost
- Design and implement a retention strategy for pipeline artifacts and dependencies (Microsoft Documentation: Set retention policies for builds, releases, and tests)
- Migrate a pipeline from classic to YAML in Azure Pipelines
4. Develop a security and compliance plan (10—15%)
Design and implement authentication and authorization methods
- Choose between Service Principals and Managed Identity (including system-assigned and user-assigned)
- Implement and manage GitHub authentication, including GitHub Apps, GITHUB_TOKEN, and personal access tokens
- Implement and manage Azure DevOps service connections and personal access tokens
- Design and implement permissions and roles in GitHub
- Design and implement permissions and security groups in Azure DevOps
- Recommend appropriate access levels, including stakeholder access in Azure DevOps and outside collaborator access in GitHub
- Configure projects and teams in Azure DevOps
Design and implement a strategy for managing sensitive information in automation
- Implement and manage secrets, keys, and certificates by using Azure Key Vault (Microsoft Documentation: Use Azure Key Vault secrets in Azure Pipelines)
- Implement and manage secrets in GitHub Actions and Azure Pipelines
- Design and implement a strategy for managing sensitive files during deployment, including Azure Pipelines secure files (Microsoft Documentation: Azure data security and encryption best practices)
- Design pipelines to prevent leakage of sensitive information (Microsoft Documentation: Design a data loss prevention policy)
Automate security and compliance scanning
- Design a strategy for security and compliance scanning, including dependency, code, secret, and licensing scanning
- Configure Microsoft Defender for Cloud DevOps Security
- Configure GitHub Advanced Security for both GitHub and Azure DevOps
- Integrate GitHub Advanced Security with Microsoft Defender for Cloud
- Automate container scanning, including scanning container images and configuring an action to run CodeQL analysis in a container
- Automate analysis of licensing, vulnerabilities, and versioning of open-source components by using Dependabot alerts
5. Implement an instrumentation strategy (5–10%)
Configure monitoring for a DevOps environment
- Configure Azure Monitor and Log Analytics to integrate with DevOps tools
- Configure collection of telemetry by using Application Insights, VM Insights, Container Insights, Storage Insights, and Network Insights
- Configure monitoring in GitHub, including enabling insights and creating and configuring charts
- Configure alerts for events in GitHub Actions and Azure Pipelines (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Monitor Alerts task)
Analyze metrics from instrumentation
- Inspect infrastructure performance indicators, including CPU, memory, disk, and network (Microsoft Documentation: Supported metrics with Azure Monitor)
- Analyze metrics by using collected telemetry, including usage and application performance
- Inspect distributed tracing by using Application Insights
- Interrogate logs using basic Kusto Query Language (KQL) queries (Microsoft Documentation: Log queries in Azure Monitor)
Microsoft AZ-400 Learning Resources
Preparing for the AZ-400 exam requires more than memorization—it demands a strong understanding of real-world DevOps practices within the Microsoft Azure ecosystem. Microsoft provides official learning content that covers all required topics and aligns directly with the exam structure.
1. Microsoft Learn – Official Learning Paths
Microsoft Learn offers free, modular courses tailored for each exam domain. These interactive lessons guide you through setting up pipelines, managing source control, implementing security, and configuring infrastructure as code—all in real Azure environments.
The best part: most modules include hands-on labs through browser-based sandboxes, so you can build and test your knowledge without setting up your own environment.
Start with the “Azure DevOps Engineer” learning path, and complete all modules under each topic.
2. Exam Skills Outline
Before you dive into study material, download the official Exam Skills Outline for AZ-400 from the Microsoft Certifications website. This document breaks down the weightage of each domain and gives you a checklist of skills you will be tested on.
Use it as your study roadmap—mark topics you are confident in, and spend more time reviewing the weaker areas.
3. Hands-On Practice in Azure Portal
Since AZ-400 includes performance-based questions, hands-on practice is essential. Focus your time on:
- Creating and managing Azure Repos
- Designing CI/CD pipelines using YAML in Azure Pipelines
- Deploying resources using ARM templates or Bicep
- Setting up monitoring and alerts in Azure Monitor and Application Insights
- Using Azure Key Vault to manage secrets securely
You can create a free Azure account with monthly credits to test real scenarios and configurations.
4. Documentation and Walkthroughs
Microsoft Docs includes step-by-step tutorials and architecture guides for every tool used in the AZ-400 exam—such as Azure Pipelines, Boards, Repos, Artifacts, and more. These are helpful when you want in-depth technical guidance on setting up workflows or understanding how Azure integrates DevOps tools.
Focus on practical configurations, not just definitions.
Microsoft AZ-400 Weekly Study Plan
Consistency is key when preparing for the AZ-400 exam. A focused, structured plan over 6–8 weeks allows you to build both theoretical knowledge and hands-on skills at a comfortable pace. Below is a suggested weekly breakdown to help you stay on track.
Week 1: Understand the Exam and Core DevOps Concepts
- Review the official Exam Skills Outline from Microsoft
- Begin the Microsoft Learn path: “Configure Processes and Communications”
- Set up a free Azure account if you do not have one
- Familiarize yourself with Azure DevOps interface
Week 2: Source Control and Git Practices
- Learn about Azure Repos, Git workflows, and branching strategies
- Practice creating and managing repositories
- Configure branch policies, pull requests, and permissions
- Complete Learn modules on “Implement Source Control”
Week 3: Build and Release Pipelines (CI/CD)
- Focus on Azure Pipelines (YAML and Classic)
- Build a CI pipeline with tasks like restore, build, test
- Create release pipelines with approval gates
- Practice multistage pipelines with variables and templates
Week 4: Infrastructure as Code
- Write basic ARM or Bicep templates
- Deploy infrastructure using templates via pipelines
- Learn how to version and reuse infrastructure modules
- Study Microsoft’s IaC deployment best practices
Week 5: Security and Compliance Integration
- Learn how to manage secrets using Azure Key Vault
- Set up RBAC and understand security roles
- Explore security scanning tools and how to integrate them into pipelines
- Complete modules on “Develop a Security and Compliance Plan”
Week 6: Monitoring and Instrumentation
- Configure Application Insights and Log Analytics
- Track app performance and failures
- Set up alerts and dashboards for observability
- Finalize Learn modules on “Implement Instrumentation and Monitoring”
Week 7: Review and Strengthen Weak Areas
- Revisit difficult domains
- Take practice questions from Microsoft Learn modules
- Focus on scenario-based problem-solving
Week 8: Final Review and Practice Exams
- Simulate full-length exam (time yourself: 150 minutes)
- Review explanations for each question
- Re-deploy any hands-on projects for reinforcement
Tips to pass the AZ-400 Exam
The AZ-400 exam is not just about technical knowledge—it is about applying DevOps principles to real scenarios using Azure tools. To increase your chances of success, focus on strategy, practice, and awareness of how DevOps works end-to-end.
1. Focus on Real-World Scenarios
Many exam questions are case-based. Instead of asking for a definition, they test your ability to choose the best solution for a given situation. This means you need to:
- Understand why certain tools or configurations are used
- Know how to balance security, automation, and cost in a deployment
- Recognize when to use GitHub Actions vs Azure Pipelines, or YAML vs Classic pipelines
2. Practice with YAML and Azure CLI
YAML-based pipeline definitions are emphasized in AZ-400. You should be able to:
- Write and troubleshoot pipeline YAML files
- Use variables, stages, and templates
- Execute and debug scripts using the Azure CLI
3. Build an End-to-End Pipeline
Set up a full DevOps project in Azure DevOps or GitHub:
- Use Azure Boards to create user stories
- Track commits and branches in Azure Repos
- Trigger CI/CD pipelines that build, test, and deploy your app
- Secure it with Key Vault and monitor with Application Insights
Doing this at least once will help you connect all exam domains meaningfully.
4. Review Microsoft Learn Labs Multiple Times
The official Microsoft Learn modules are highly aligned with exam content. Revisit the more complex ones (like deployment strategies or IaC) just before the exam to reinforce your understanding.
5. Stay Calm During the Exam
- Expect 40–60 questions, including case studies and drag-and-drop items
- Use the mark for review feature—do not get stuck on any one question
- Read all answer choices carefully, as some options may look similar
By combining these tips with hands-on experience and structured learning, you will enter the AZ-400 exam with confidence and clarity. Up next, we will explore how this certification can impact your career and what roles it helps you qualify for.
AZ-400 Career Opportunities and Salary Expectations
Earning the Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert certification through the AZ-400 exam signals to employers that you are capable of managing modern software delivery pipelines, infrastructure automation, and secure deployments using Azure tools. It not only enhances your technical credibility but also unlocks higher-paying, cloud-focused roles.
Popular Job Roles After AZ-400
- Azure DevOps Engineer
- Cloud Infrastructure Engineer
- Release Manager
- Platform Engineer
- Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)
- Automation Engineer
- DevOps Consultant
These roles typically require a combination of coding, scripting, CI/CD pipeline configuration, infrastructure-as-code expertise, and strong collaboration skills.
Salary Expectations
| Job Title | India (₹/year) | United States ($/year) |
|---|---|---|
| Azure DevOps Engineer | ₹12 – 25 LPA | $100,000 – 140,000 |
| Platform Engineer | ₹15 – 30 LPA | $115,000 – 150,000 |
| Site Reliability Engineer | ₹18 – 35 LPA | $120,000 – 160,000 |
| DevOps Consultant | ₹20 – 35 LPA | $110,000 – 145,000 |
Why Employers Value the AZ-400 Certification
- It proves you can streamline development and operations using Microsoft tools
- Shows proficiency in Azure-native DevOps practices, which is highly valued in enterprise environments
- It satisfies key qualifications for DevOps roles in regulated industries, especially when paired with other Microsoft certifications like AZ-104 or AZ-204
- Enhances your resume’s visibility in recruiter filters and job portals
Final Thoughts: Is AZ-400 Worth the Effort?
The Microsoft AZ-400 exam is not an entry-level certification—but it is a powerful one. If you are serious about a career in DevOps, platform engineering, or cloud infrastructure management, earning the DevOps Engineer Expert certification validates your ability to lead end-to-end automation and delivery strategies using Azure’s native tools.
