Azure DevOps Certification: Complete 2026 exam and course guide

Career

The need for Azure DevOps experts has exploded in 2026, as companies are still rapidly growing their cloud presence and automating deploys and development pipelines. The Azure DevOps Certification is one of the trending certification courses in IT for those individuals who want to become masters in employing DevOps practices with Microsoft Azure.

With companies adopting the cloud-first approach, there is a growing demand for professionals who have knowledge of development, operations, automation and cloud architecture. This certification enables the professionals to verify their knowledge about updated DevOps processes and enhances the career opportunities in new age cloud computing world.

The Azure DevOps Certification is heavily focused on Microsoft’s AZ-400: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions exam. It’s intended for people who know application development and are familiar with cloud infrastructure.

The certification helps you design CI/CD pipelines, implement release resources, maintain build and deployment systems, set up monitoring strategies, and practice Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with ARM templates, Bicep or Terraform. In 2026, the AZ-400 exam still maps to current DevOps automation, code quality and testing practices, and orchestrated containers (Kubernetes). Since the exam is expert-level difficult, it is assumed that you have at least some experience with Azure services, version control solutions and cloud environments in general before you take the flight.

AZ-400 exam format

The format of the AZ-400 certification exam is a combination of:

  1. Multi-choice questions
  2. A scenario-based questions
  3. Hands on labs

These labs are modelled on real-world DevOps problems and require you to demonstrate your understanding. Candidates are asked to demonstrate their ability in managing agile processes, setting up version control systems such as Git, implementing CI/CD pipelines, integrating and serving testing through CI servers etc., handling package management using Nuget, Maven etc. keeping cloud-operations in mind. The exam isn’t just a test of knowledge but practical skillsets that DevOps engineers need in their day-to-day work. Due to the rapid evolution of the DevOps lifecycle, Microsoft’s updates keep certified engineers closely matched with industry standards.

Why Azure DevOps Certifications matter in 2026

As for why the Azure DevOps Universe Certifications are so important in 2026 it all comes down to how today’s companies work. Faster deployments, downtime reduction, automated workflows and development and operations working in tight collaboration is demanded by companies. Azure DevOps in concert with other Azure cloud services helps companies shrink release cycles, remove manual error-prone work and develop dependable, scalable applications.

With the penetration of CI/CD approaches, cloud migration patterns and containerized application these days, need for Azure DevOps engineers is growing with pace as well. Cloud experts, when proficient in DevOps and Azure, can address major issues that affect the business.

Career opportunities and salary

Those who pass the exam will be able to work as:

  • Azure DevOps Engineer
  • CloudDevOps expert
  • SiteReliability Engineer (SRE)
  • Build andRelease Engineer
  • AzureCloud Architect

Organizations depend on these experts to keep up with modern software development pipelines, safeguard cloud infrastructure, fine-tune performance and prevent disruptions during deployments.

Salaries in 2026:

  • India: ₹12 – ₹30 Lakhs per annum
  • US: $110k – $165K per year

With those kind of earnings, a strong career and worldwide demand, it’s little wonder why IT professionals find the cloud computing courses irresistible.

Prerequisites

Although there are no formal pre-requisites for the certification, it helps to have:

  • Working knowledge of Azure services
  • Cloud computing and general networking concepts
  • Version control
  • Scripting languages like Bash or PowerShell
  • Container technologies such as Docker & Kubernetes

Most students will start with:

  • AZ-900 (Azure Fundamentals)
  • AZ-104 (Azure Administrator)
  • AZ-204 (Azure Developer)

Before moving to AZ-400 ,these trainings create a strong cloud base, making advanced DevOps content easier to learn and apply.

How to prepare

The best way to prepare for Azure DevOps Certification is by a combination of:

  • Focused learning
  • Hands-on practice
  • Exam-based assessments

Azure DevOps is an applied domain; you actually have to:

  • Build pipelines
  • Deploy a sample app
  • Try out YAML-based workflows
  • Use IaC tools
  • Work with Azure services like:
    • Pipelines
    • Boards
    • Repos
    • Artifacts
    • Kubernetes (AKS)
    • Monitoring

After finishing basic reading and labs, candidates need to work on sample exams to get a feel for patterns, case studies and difficulty.

Tools you must know

If you work in DevOps at Azure, generally you’re using:

  • Git for version control
  • Docker for containers
  • Terraform / ARM / Bicep for IaC
  • Kubernetes for orchestration
  • Azure Pipelines for CI/CD

GitHub Actions is also widely used, fitting into Microsoft’s ecosystem.

Knowledge of:

  • Azure Monitor
  • Application Insights

also helps improve both exam success rate and job performance.

Why Azure DevOps Certification still matters in 2026

In 2026 the Azure DevOps Certification still rocks. With the globe traversing further into cloud-centric digital futures, DevOps is emerging as the lifeblood of productive software development. Businesses depend on:

  • Automated pipelines
  • Rolling & blue-green deployments
  • Live metrics
  • Microservices architectures

Certified individuals differentiate themselves as professionals who understand how to implement Azure cloud services. For those hoping to advance or switch careers, the certification offers access to cloud job opportunities worldwide.

One of the best decisions you can make in 2026

Paired with the best cloud computing classes, it makes for a future-ready job profile. It enables practitioners to design cloud solutions, automate infrastructure, and run applications with high reliability.

Azure DevOps engineers stand at the heart of innovation as organizations invest more in DevOps evolution. Whether you’re an experienced IT professional or someone entering the cloud space, Azure DevOps Certification is one of the best decisions you can make in 2026.