In this post I want to cover my route to passing the DP-500 exam. Because I found out last Friday that I passed the beta exam for it.
Just to recap, the DP-500 exam is a new exam which mostly focuses on Power BI and Azure Synapse Analytics. By passing the exam I have gained the new Azure Enterprise Data Analyst Associate certification.
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.
In fact, last week was a really good for me. In addition to finding out that I had passed the beta exam I also found out that I was awarded dual categories for my MVP renewal.
As well as being awarded MVP for Data Platform I was also awarded Developer Technologies. Due to my Azure DevOps and GitHub contributions.
Since I have been asked about MVP award categories a couple of times, you can view them all on the official MVP Award Technology Structure page.
Anyway, the main reason I decided to cover my route to passing this exam instead of sharing general advice is because I understand that some people will not want to take the same route as I did. Due to the fact that I did other exams along the way. Which is fine.
My route to passing the DP-500 exam
My route to passing the DP-500 is a slightly different than the advice I provided in my post about Data Toboggan and the DP-500 exam connection.
Mostly due to the fact that after going through the post by Microsoft called ‘Coming soon: The new Azure Enterprise Data Analyst Associate certification‘ I decided to do more than just read the recommended content for Azure data fundamentals and Microsoft Power BI data analysts.
I decided to gain both the Azure Data Fundamentals and the Power BI Data Analyst Associate certifications first. It took a bit of extra effort. However, I decided that it was the best way for me to cover both of those areas.
Below is a diagram that shows the exam path that I took.
Whether you do this or not is entirely up to yourselves, but I do recommend it.
After I gained those two certifications I went through all the Microsoft Learn material. Luckily, I knew a fair bit with Azure Synapse Analytics already. You can see this for yourself in my Azure Synapse Analytics category for my blog posts.
In addition, I went through the Azure Purview material by fellow MVP Andy Cutler on his on his serverless.com website. Plus, I went through some of the DP-500 certification material that MVP Nikola Ilic had available at the time. Nikola has provided more material since than and it is worth reading.
Once I had done the above, I went and took the beta exam. I than patiently waited for the results. It took a while to wait until I found out that I had passed. However, now that the exam is GA (Generally Available) you get your results as soon as you have finished the exam.
Exam advice
You can find more general advice about doing this exam in my post about Data Toboggan and the DP-500 exam connection.
In addition to this, Andy Cutler and Nikola Ilic co-presented a session at DataWeekender CU5 called “The Essential Guide to the new Azure Enterprise Data Analyst Associate Certification“. Due to popular demand the session was recorded.
Plus, Nikola provides a customized training course for this exam. You can read more about that on his web page about mastering the DP-500 exam.
If you want more advice from me about doing exams I am presenting a session at this years PASS Data Community Summit called ‘Figuring Out Your Data Certification Path‘.
Final words
I hope reading about my route to passing the DP-500 exam has given some of you food for thought. I know doing extra certifications might seem like a bit much, but it was my way to be more confident about doing the exam.
Of course, if you have any or comments about this post feel free to reach out to me.
Nice article Kevin-thanks for sharing! I did an extended version of the DP500 run through with Nikola and Andy (chucking in some LDI questions too!) – https://youtu.be/t74a7Uu8n4Q
Will be putting together questions for the rest of the modules too shortly – let me know if you want to help writing some!
Rishi that sounds like a good idea. Will reach out to you about it.
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