In this post I share my thoughts about the DP-700 exam for the new Microsoft Fabric Data Engineering certification. Which will officially be known as the ‘Microsoft Certified: Microsoft Fabric Data Engineering Associate‘ certification.
For those who missed the announcement, the new DP-700 exam was announced last week during the keynote at the European Microsoft Fabric Community Conference.
Which kept me busy due to the fact that I was hosting the certification booth in the community lounge immediately after the keynote. Luckily I was prepared to show members of the community both the exam page and the DP-700 study guide.
Another announcement made during the keynote that is relevant to this post relates to the DP-600 exam. So far seventeen thousand people have passed the DP-600 exam. Making it the fastest-growing certification in Microsoft history.
Due to the popularity of the DP-600 exam I wanted to share knowledge about the DP-700 exam and my thoughts about it in this post. Along the way I share plenty of links and some advice about the DP-700 exam towards the end.
About the DP-700 exam
One thing I must stress is that the DP-700 exam is not a replacement for the DP-600 exam. In fact, you can think of the new certification as a Microsoft Fabric variant of the existing Azure Data Engineer Associate certification.
Since there are parallels with the concepts covered in both the Azure Data Engineering certification and the new Microsoft Fabric Data Engineering certification. For example, both cover typical ways to ingest and transform data.
Whereas the DP-600 exam for the Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate‘ certification focuses on various competencies to deliver analytics, the new DP-700 exam focuses a lot deeper on the data engineering aspects.
Which Microsoft makes clear in both the exam and certification pages. With the statement that you need subject matter expertise with data loading patterns, data architectures and orchestration processes.
However, after been asked many times how this exam is different from the DP-600 exam last week I came up with a short description of my own.
Which is that it goes deeper into the data engineering aspects covered in the DP-600 exam, and you now need to know a lot more about the data engineering aspects of Real-Time Intelligence.
You can see why I came up with this description when you go through the DP-700 study guide.
However, there are some similarities with the DP-600 exam. Just like the DP-600 exam you need to know how to configure various Microsoft Fabric related settings. Plus, a few aspects of lifecycle management. Including version control and deployment pipelines.
Workloads covered by the DP-700 Microsoft Fabric exam
As you start working down the DP-700 study guide you can see it goes a lot deeper into the data engineering aspects of various workloads. Specifically, the below Microsoft Fabric workloads:
If doing a workload comparison with the DP-600 exam, the Power BI workload is mostly out and Real-Time Intelligence workload is in.
I say mostly out due to the fact that when I say Power BI workload I mean the aspects relating to reports and semantic models. Apart from needing to know about monitoring semantic model refreshes.
Plus, fully aware some people will interpret other aspects as being part of the Power BI workload.
One key point to add is that you can book to take the beta version of this exam from October 22nd.
Thoughts about the DP-700 exam for the new Microsoft Fabric Data Engineering certification
My initial thoughts about this new certification are that it is clearly aimed at all aspects at data engineering within Microsoft Fabric.
It is interesting that Real-Time intelligence has been added instead of being a separate role. However, I can understand why since this certification is supposed to focus on all aspects of data engineering in Microsoft Fabric.
Plus, it aligns more with the data engineer role mentioned in the Microsoft Fabric Career Hub. Which you can see when you select the Data engineer role in the role guidance section.
As you can see above, the description for the data engineer role currently contains a link to the Azure Data Engineering certification.
Which substantiates my comment earlier in this post about the parallels between the Azure and Microsoft Fabric data engineering certifications.
I suspect that once the new Microsoft Fabric Data Engineering certification gains momentum it will replace existing Azure certification link on this page.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the future with the Azure Data Engineering certification. However, I suspect it will still be around for the foreseeable future due to the services involved with it.
It also makes me wonder if we will see a Microsoft Fabric data scientist certification appear in the future as well. If so, does that mean we should expect to see parallel certifications to represent services offered in Azure and Microsoft Fabric? Time will tell.
DP-700 exam connection to applied skills
Another thing I like about the new certification is the connection to three of the applied skills that are available. Especially now that you are able to complete the assessments for them.
I think it is great that the assessments for these applied skills became available just before the DP-700 exam announcement. Because it gives those considering taking the beta exam the chance to build up their confidence beforehand.
These applied skills remind me of the old English saying that the proof is in the pudding. Because you need to know what you are doing to pass the assessments.
Lifecycle management terminology in the DP-700 study guide
Another thing I find interesting is that the study guide states lifecycle management instead of the analytics development lifecycle term. Which was the term stated for the related area in both the DP-500 and DP-600 exams.
I suspect that is either to align more with industry terminology or to distance itself from the Power BI aspects. It will be interesting to see if the term changes in the DP-600 exam page.
Personally, I am excited to see database projects appear in this section. As some of you know I do have some history in this area.
Including a previous blog posts that covers how to perform CI/CD for Microsoft Fabric Data Warehouses using YAML Pipelines. Plus, I share a couple of GitHub repositories online that others can clone and work with.
Current advice for the DP-700 exam
My advice for those looking to take the beta version of the DP-700 exam is reasonably similar to advice that I shared in previous posts. Including my previous DP-600 exam posts.
In reality, Microsoft Fabric has been around for some time now and a lot of people are familiar with various workloads. Plus, seventeen thousand people have already passed the DP-600 exam.
With the above two points in mind, I am certain that a percentage of people will be looking to build on their existing knowledge and take the DP-700 beta exam as soon as possible. Whilst others will wait until they feel the time is right.
With this in mind, I have split my advice to cater for the below three groups of people:
- Those looking to take the DP-700 beta exam as soon as possible.
- Those looking to take the DP-700 beta exam at some stage.
- Others undecided or waiting for the exam to become GA (Generally available).
Those looking to take the exam as soon as possible
Since the DP-700 exam page does not contain recommended Microsoft Learn material, Microsoft has shared the link in a recent blog post to a Microsoft Learn collection. Which is titled “Get ready for the new Fabric Data Engineer Associate Certification“.
Plus, I offer alternative options below for those who are keen to take the exam in the near future.
My first recommendation is to go through the aspects covered in the DP-700 study guide. You can lookup sections you do not know with either your favorite search engine or Copilot in Edge.
In some cases, make sure you add Microsoft Fabric to your searches to get the correct results. Also, remember to trust and verify any results you get with Copilot. One way to do this is to click on the supplied links at the bottom of your results.
Another recommendation is to top up your knowledge with various resources available online relating to the workloads covered. Including material provided by Microsoft and the Data Platform community.
For example, Andy Cutler (l) has already posted a brilliant list of DP-700 skills measured resources.
I am sure your favorite search engine will find the majority of this. Plus, various members of the community already share related material that is available. Such as my database project material that I mentioned earlier.
My final piece of advice for those looking to prepare for the beta exam already is to complete the assessments for the below applied skills for Microsoft Fabric:
- Implement a lakehouse in Microsoft Fabric
- Implement a Real-Time Intelligence solution with Microsoft Fabric
- Implement a data warehouse in Microsoft Fabric
Completing these three assessments will help build up your confidence before taking the exam.
One key point to remember is that it typically takes some time to get the results back from beta exams. It took a while for people to get the results of the DP-600 beta exam.
Those looking to take the DP-700 beta exam at some stage
For those looking to take the DP-700 beta exam at some stage the above advice also applies.
Plus, those who are more patient can wait for the recommended Microsoft Learn material to appear on the exam page. Because if I remember correctly, for the recommended Microsoft Learn material for the DP-600 exam appeared whilst it was still in beta.
In addition, keep an eye on online updates from other members of the community. Since others will share their experiences of taking the exam.
One key point to remember is to check the final date that you can book the beta exam and plan accordingly.
Others undecided or waiting for the exam to become GA (Generally available
Those of you who are undecided or waiting for the exam to become GA can still go through the study guide. In order to get a feel how comfortable you are with taking the exam and what you need to study for.
However, there are some advantages to waiting. For instance, to allow time for Microsoft to make the official Microsoft Learn material available on the exam page.
Plus, it allows time for other resources to become available. Such as training courses offered by Microsoft and offerings by members of the community.
In addition, typically the official practice tests become available after an exam becomes Generally Available. Which can be a powerful aid for people.
Another thing to consider is that there are various new Microsoft Fabric books in the works.
One book recommendation for those who intend to wait until the exam become Generally Available (GA) is “Real-Time Intelligence with Microsoft Fabric”. Which Johan Ludvig Brattås and Frank Geisler are in the process of writing.
I suspect the contents of this book will be particularly useful for those who have completed the DP-600 exam. Because it will help complete knowledge gaps in Real-Time Intelligence.
Final words about the DP-700 exam for the new Microsoft Fabric Data Engineering certification
Overall, I am excited about the announcement of the new Microsoft Fabric Data Engineering certification. I suspect others are going to be excited about this new certification as well.
After some thought it makes sense that Real-Time Intelligence is included as part of the exam at this moment in time. For various reasons, including the fact that Real-Time Intelligence makes this new Microsoft Fabric Data Engineering certification more parallel with its Azure counterpart.
Even more so now that there is an option for people to formalize their skills with the Real-Time Intelligence applied skill.
Of course, if you have any comments or queries about this post feel free to reach out to me.
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