Current certification recommendations for Microsoft Fabric enthusiasts

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In this post I want to cover my current certification recommendations for Microsoft Fabric enthusiasts (aka Fabricators). To make people aware of some of the options that are available.

Just under a year ago I provided some advice if Microsoft certifications are your New Year’s resolution. Afterwards, I published various other posts that focused on different services. Including one about certifications for Power BI enthusiasts.

I thought it would be better to publish this post just before Christmas. To give people time to prepare for any options that include the new DP-600 exam. Which I shared my thoughts about in a previous post.

DP-600 exam for Microsoft Fabric enthusiasts

I want to mention about the DP-600 exam before I start talking about other exams. Which is the new exam you can take from January to gain the ‘Microsoft Certified: Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate‘ certification

Because I am aware that a lot of people are keen to start studying for to take the exam immediately without looking at any other certifications. Which is fine if you are comfortable with doing that or have already passed some of the other exams mentioned in this post.

Just be aware that it will be available in beta form first. Which means you will probably have to wait until it becomes Generally Available before you know if you have passed it.

Anyway, if this applies to you then I recommend reading my previous post about the DP-600 exam page update.

For those who want to know about recommended certifications to look at beforehand this post is for you.

I must stress that even though I suggest gaining the certifications another tactic you can do is to go through the study material instead. However, from a mentality perspective gaining the certification improves your confidence.

Fundamental certifications

If you are reasonably new to working with data or Microsoft exams it might be worth looking to gain a fundamental certification first.

I recommend taking the DP-900 exam to gain the Azure Data Fundamentals certification. Which will give you a good foundation to work with concepts you will encounter in Microsoft Fabric.

Plus, the exam has recently been updated to include Microsoft Fabric as well.

Building on the Power BI foundation

In reality, the foundation of Microsoft Fabric is based on the Power BI infrastructure. With this in mind, I recommend the Power BI Data Analyst certification. Which is the replacement for the old Data Analyst Associate certification.

You must pass the newer PL-300 exam in order to gain this certification.

I especially recommend studying for this certification if you have been working more with other Data Platform services over the years.

So that you can get a good idea about working within the Microsoft Fabric environment and some of the existing Power BI features. For example, the exam material covers deployment pipelines.

Another reason is because a significant level of Power BI knowledge is required to pass the DP-600 exam.

In reality, even the most experienced Power BI enthusiast can discover new things when going for this exam. So, it is worth looking at.

Going through the logical route of the DP-900 exam and then this one will give you a better appreciation of the knowledge required for the DP-600 exam.

Azure Enterprise Data Analyst certification

If you have already passed the DP-500 exam to gain the Azure Enterprise Data Analyst certification that is great.

Because there are some similarities between the DP-500 and the DP-600 exams. Which I covered in a previous DP-600 exam post.

If you followed a certification path similar to the one below, then it makes sense to study immediately for the DP-600 exam.

Note that since this post was first published Microsoft have announced that they are going to retire the DP-500 exam on the exam page. It will be replaced by the DP-600 exam which focuses on Microsoft Fabric.

You can read more about the retirement announcement in the Microsoft post about in-demand news for in-demand skills.

Honourable mention

I will give an honourable mention the DP-203 exam for the Azure Data Engineer Associate certification here.

Because doing that exam can also help you prepare for working with Microsoft Fabric in the real-world. Since it can prepare you for working with various Microsoft Fabric items such as Data Pipelines.

However, I personally feel that the above ones add more value if you intend to pass the DP-600 exam.

Microsoft Applied skills

Those looking for an alternative to taking an exam might want to look at Microsoft Applied Skills instead. Microsoft Applied Skills focuses on targeted skills in specific areas.

Which can be appealing to those who wish to demonstrate skills in one particular area instead of a broad-ranging certification.

There are currently four applied skills for Microsoft Fabric. Which are as below:

• Implement a data science and machine learning solution with Microsoft Fabric
• Implement a Real-Time Intelligence solution with Microsoft Fabric
• Implement a data warehouse in Microsoft Fabric
• Implement a lakehouse in Microsoft Fabric

Recently the ability to take the assessments has been added to all of these Microsoft Applied Skills. Which means you can now validate your skills in these specific areas.

My advice is to go through the recommended learning path for whichever one you intend to take before doing the assessment.

Final words about current certification recommendations for Microsoft Fabric enthusiasts

I hope my current certification recommendations for Microsoft Fabric enthusiasts has given some of you food for thought. Especially since some of you have the new Microsoft Fabric certification in mind as part of your New Year’s resolutions.

Of course, if you have any comments or queries about this post feel free to reach out to me.

For those of you who celebrate it like I do, have a vantastic Christmas.