About the Exam and its Role in the Microsoft Certification Landscape

The AZ-400 certification validates your expertise in designing and implementing DevOps practices on Azure. Earning this credential is a key step toward attaining the Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert title.

What You’ll Learn

Overview of the AZ-400 exam
Exam format, scoring, and timing
Who should take this exam
The five core technical domains covered

Understanding these details will help you decide if AZ-400 aligns with your career goals and chart a study plan for exam day.

Exam Overview

Criteria	Details
Number of questions	40–60 (includes unscored items for research)
Question types	Multiple-choice, scenario-based, and hands-on labs
Passing score	700 out of 1,000 (no penalty for incorrect answers)
Time limit	120 minutes

Warning

There’s no penalty for guessing—answer every question. Use official practice tests to gauge your readiness.

The image describes the Microsoft AZ-400 certification exam, highlighting that it includes 40-60 questions, multiple-choice and scenario-based questions, requires a score of 700 or higher, and has a duration of 120 minutes.

Certification Path

To achieve Azure DevOps Engineer Expert, you must first hold one of these associate-level certificates:

Azure Administrator Associate
Azure Developer Associate

Then pass the AZ-400 exam to complete the DevOps Engineer Expert certification.

Note

You can pursue self-study or instructor-led courses. Refer to the official learning path for resources.

The image outlines the path to becoming a Microsoft Certified Azure DevOps Engineer Expert, requiring either an Azure Administrator or Azure Developer Associate certification plus passing the AZ-400 exam.

Who Should Take AZ-400

This exam is ideal for:

Developers building and deploying applications on Azure
Site Reliability Engineers (SREs) managing cloud infrastructure
Azure Administrators integrating DevOps processes

Whether you’re automating CI/CD or improving collaboration, AZ-400 demonstrates your ability to deliver end-to-end DevOps solutions.

The image lists three groups who should take an exam: Developers, Site Reliability Engineers, and Azure Administrators.

Exam Domains

Domain	Focus Areas
1. Processes and communications	Agile workflows, collaboration channels, process enforcement
2. Source control	Branching, pull requests, repo policies, pipeline integration
3. Build and release pipelines	CI/CD automation, multi-stage pipelines, environment deployments, artifact management
4. Security and compliance	RBAC, auditing, policy enforcement, compliance in CI/CD
5. Instrumentation	Telemetry, monitoring with Application Insights & Log Analytics, alerts, dashboards

The image outlines core areas with corresponding percentage ranges, focusing on configuring processes, source control, build pipelines, security plans, and instrumentation strategies.

1. Configuring Processes and Communications

Define Agile boards and work item tracking with Azure Boards
Automate notifications via Teams, Slack, or email
Enforce policies for code reviews, test sign-offs, and release approvals

2. Designing and Implementing Source Control

Manage Git branching strategies (e.g., Feature, GitFlow)
Integrate Azure Repos with Azure Pipelines
Enforce pull request policies and build validation
Configure repository security and permissions

The image outlines four aspects of designing and implementing source control: managing branching strategies, integrating repositories with Azure pipelines, conducting code reviews, and performing build validation.

3. Designing and Implementing Build and Release Pipelines

Automate CI/CD using Azure Pipelines YAML or Classic editor
Build multi-stage deployments with approvals and gates
Deploy to Dev, Test, Staging, and Production environments
Manage packages with Azure Artifacts
Trigger pipelines via code push, schedules, or REST API

The image outlines key components of designing and implementing build and release pipelines, including automating builds, staging environments, deployments, continuous deliveries, and artifact management.

4. Developing a Security and Compliance Plan

Implement Azure RBAC and resource locks
Enable audit logs and pipeline security scanning
Apply compliance configurations using Azure Policy
Integrate security checks directly into your CI/CD workflows

5. Implementing an Instrumentation Strategy

Instrument applications with Application Insights telemetry
Monitor application performance and availability
Aggregate logs in Log Analytics workspaces
Configure alerts on key metrics and build custom dashboards

Conclusion

AZ-400 demonstrates your ability to build robust DevOps pipelines on Azure. Focus your study on hands-on labs, review sample questions, and master each domain. With dedicated preparation, you’ll earn the Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert badge and showcase your skills in continuous integration, delivery, and monitoring.

Links and References

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