Starting with 2021 Microsoft specialty and role-based certifications are valid only for a year. The certifications were formerly good for two years. But, there is more. In compensation, the renewal is free and consists of an online assessment. Six months before the expiration date, you now receive an email that informs you about the possibility of renewing your certification. You can do the assessment any time, and if you pass, the certification is extended for one more year. In that you don’t pass, the assessment can be re-taken multiple times. There will be a 24-hour cooldown period after the second attempt before the next one is allowed.
Microsoft Learn account
I took the Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certification in 2020, and it came with a 2-year validity and got migrated to the 1-year renewal policy. About five months ago, I received my first email that the certification was about to expire. Then some others followed. Today I received another one, telling me that I have just one month left and a big renew button. I pressed it this time. I wanted to get the feeling of the assessment.
Now the tricky part is that you need to have the certification on your Microsoft Learn account. If you are logged in with your work email, but the certification is on a personal account, then you can merge the accounts. Unfortunately, you can add just 1 personal account. I was a bit surprised since I could not find my certification on either of the Learn accounts. When I took the certification back in 2020, I was asked for an email address, and as you might expect, it was just another personal email address. To fix this quickly I had to create a new Learn account with that email address and then the certification popped up. I’ve detached the other personal account from my work account, and then linked the new one.
Renewal assesment
The experience was really positive for me. The exam is estimated to take around 45 minutes. There are 26 questions and no timer. The batch of questions I got was covering multiple areas: data storage, networking, compute solution integrations, security, high availability, and business continuity. What I appreciate the most is that Microsoft took into consideration the community feedback, and the questions were aimed at design skills, understanding how the services work, and choosing the proper services for a given scenario. So, about 35 minutes and a cup of coffee later, I finished and passed the assessment.
I actually enjoyed it and I am looking forward to the next one!
