- Azure solutions architect toolkit: Well-Architected Framework and Cloud Adoption Framework orientation.
- Map of AZ-305 skills measured as of 17 April 2026.
- How this course differs from AZ-104 administrator work.
- Exam logistics: passing score 700/1000, Pearson VUE, Microsoft Learn renewal.
Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305)
Microsoft AZ-305 Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certification Training Course
Design Azure identity, governance, storage, business continuity, and infrastructure solutions. That’s the Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) work. This is not AZ-104 administration alone.
Course focus: Design decisions for logging and monitoring, authentication and authorization, governance, relational and non-relational storage, data integration, backup and disaster recovery, high availability, compute, application architecture, migrations, and networking aligned to the Azure Well-Architected Framework.
Course Overview
Design Azure solutions, not day-to-day AZ-104 administration alone.
Accumentum’s Microsoft AZ-305 Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certification Training Course prepares architects to advise stakeholders and translate business requirements into Azure designs aligned with the Azure Well-Architected Framework and Cloud Adoption Framework.
This course is not AZ-104. AZ-104 Azure Administrator Associate experience is a common foundation and part of the typical expert path, but AZ-305 focuses on design trade-offs across identity, storage, continuity, and infrastructure, not administrator implementation alone.
Course Objectives
What you will be able to design and recommend.
01
Identity, governance, and monitoring
Recommend logging, monitoring, authentication, authorization, secrets management, and governance structures (25 to 30%).
02
Data storage and integration
Recommend relational, semi-structured, and unstructured storage plus data integration and analysis (20 to 25%).
03
Business continuity
Recommend backup, disaster recovery, and high availability for compute and data (15 to 20%).
04
Infrastructure solutions
Recommend compute, application architecture, migrations, and network solutions (30 to 35%).
Who Should Attend
- Azure solutions architects who design cloud and hybrid solutions on Azure.
- Administrators, developers, and engineers expanding into architecture design decisions.
- People with AZ-104 or equivalent Azure administration experience who are ready for architect work.
- Learners still building administrator skills should complete AZ-104-style experience before AZ-305.
Prerequisites
- Advanced experience with IT operations: networking, virtualization, identity, security, business continuity, data platforms, and governance is expected.
- AZ-104 Azure Administrator Associate (or equivalent) is the common prerequisite path. AZ-104 is not this course.
- Experience with Azure administration, development, and DevOps processes supports readiness.
- This training is for architects who design solutions, not for AZ-900 beginners.
Pathway Map
Ten modules mapped to Microsoft AZ-305 skills as of 17 April 2026.
Skills measured: design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions 25 to 30%. Design data storage solutions 20 to 25%. Design business continuity solutions 15 to 20%. Design infrastructure solutions 30 to 35%.
Course Content
- Recommend a logging solution.
- Recommend a solution for routing logs.
- Recommend a monitoring solution.
- Identity, governance, and monitoring skill area 25 to 30% begins here.
- Recommend authentication and identity management solutions.
- Recommend authorization for Azure and on-premises resources.
- Recommend secrets, certificates, and keys management.
- Management groups, subscriptions, resource groups, tagging, compliance, and identity governance.
- Recommend solutions for storing relational data.
- Recommend database service and compute tiers.
- Recommend database scalability and data protection.
- Data storage skill area 20 to 25%.
- Recommend solutions for semi-structured and unstructured data.
- Balance features, performance, and costs, protection and durability.
- Recommend data integration solutions.
- Recommend data analysis solutions.
- Recommend recovery solutions for Azure and hybrid workloads that meet recovery objectives.
- Backup and recovery for compute.
- Backup and recovery for databases.
- Backup and recovery for unstructured data (business continuity 15 to 20%).
- Recommend high availability for compute.
- Recommend high availability for relational data.
- Recommend high availability for semi-structured and unstructured data.
- HA patterns that complement backup and DR design.
- Specify compute components from workload requirements.
- Recommend VM-based, container-based, and serverless solutions.
- Recommend compute for batch processing.
- Infrastructure skill area 30 to 35% begins here.
- Recommend messaging, event-driven, API integration, caching, configuration, and automated deployment solutions.
- Evaluate migration with the Cloud Adoption Framework.
- Recommend IaaS/PaaS workload, database, and unstructured data migrations.
- Evaluate on-premises servers, data, and applications for migration.
- Recommend connectivity from Azure resources to the internet.
- Recommend connectivity to on-premises networks.
- Recommend solutions to optimize network performance and security.
- Recommend load-balancing and routing solutions.
Course Features
Designed for AZ-305 architect design work.
Skills-measured map
Ten modules aligned to Microsoft AZ-305 skills measured as of 17 April 2026.
Architect scope
Design recommendations across identity, storage, continuity, and infrastructure, not AZ-104 implementation alone.
Exam logistics
Public facts only: passing score 700/1000, Pearson VUE, renewal on Microsoft Learn. No unofficial question count.
Prerequisite path
AZ-104 remains the common foundation. This course is for architects who design Azure solutions.
Certification Exam
Prepare for the official Microsoft AZ-305 exam.
AZ-305 Exam Readiness
Accumentum AZ-305 training prepares learners to design Azure infrastructure solutions for the Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification.
The Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert path uses exam AZ-305 (Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions). Public facts: passing score 700/1000. Delivered through Pearson VUE. Certification renewal is on Microsoft Learn. This page does not state an unofficial question count.
Skills measured as of 17 April 2026: design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions (25 to 30%). Design data storage solutions (20 to 25%). Design business continuity solutions (15 to 20%). Design infrastructure solutions (30 to 35%).
Skills Measured
Every AZ-305 skill Microsoft publishes.
Microsoft lists the skills measured for Exam AZ-305 as of April 17, 2026. Here are all 4 domains, 12 skill groups and 49 tasks in Microsoft's own wording. Our course maps a lesson or lab to each one.
Design solutions for logging and monitoring
Part of Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions (25 to 30%)
- Recommend a logging solution
- Recommend a solution for routing logs
- Recommend a monitoring solution
Design authentication and authorization solutions
Part of Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions (25 to 30%)
- Recommend an authentication solution
- Recommend an identity management solution
- Recommend a solution for authorizing access to Azure resources
- Recommend a solution for authorizing access to on-premises resources
- Recommend a solution to manage secrets, certificates, and keys
Design governance
Part of Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions (25 to 30%)
- Recommend a structure for management groups, subscriptions, and resource groups, and a strategy for resource tagging
- Recommend a solution for managing compliance
- Recommend a solution for identity governance
Design data storage solutions for relational data
Part of Design data storage solutions (20 to 25%)
- Recommend a solution for storing relational data
- Recommend a database service tier and compute tier
- Recommend a solution for database scalability
- Recommend a solution for data protection
Design data storage solutions for semi-structured and unstructured data
Part of Design data storage solutions (20 to 25%)
- Recommend a solution for storing semi-structured data
- Recommend a solution for storing unstructured data
- Recommend a data storage solution to balance features, performance, and costs
- Recommend a data solution for protection and durability
Design data integration
Part of Design data storage solutions (20 to 25%)
- Recommend a solution for data integration
- Recommend a solution for data analysis
Design solutions for backup and disaster recovery
Part of Design business continuity solutions (15 to 20%)
- Recommend a recovery solution for Azure and hybrid workloads that meets recovery objectives
- Recommend a backup and recovery solution for compute
- Recommend a backup and recovery solution for databases
- Recommend a backup and recovery solution for unstructured data
Design for high availability
Part of Design business continuity solutions (15 to 20%)
- Recommend a high availability solution for compute
- Recommend a high availability solution for relational data
- Recommend a high availability solution for semi-structured and unstructured data
Design compute solutions
Part of Design infrastructure solutions (30 to 35%)
- Specify components of a compute solution based on workload requirements
- Recommend a virtual machine-based solution
- Recommend a container-based solution
- Recommend a serverless-based solution
- Recommend a compute solution for batch processing
Design an application architecture
Part of Design infrastructure solutions (30 to 35%)
- Recommend a messaging architecture
- Recommend an event-driven architecture
- Recommend a solution for API integration
- Recommend a caching solution for applications
- Recommend an application configuration management solution
- Recommend an automated deployment solution for applications
Design migrations
Part of Design infrastructure solutions (30 to 35%)
- Evaluate a migration solution that leverages the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure
- Evaluate on-premises servers, data, and applications for migration
- Recommend a solution for migrating workloads to infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS)
- Recommend a solution for migrating databases
- Recommend a solution for migrating unstructured data
Design network solutions
Part of Design infrastructure solutions (30 to 35%)
- Recommend a connectivity solution that connects Azure resources to the internet
- Recommend a connectivity solution that connects Azure resources to on-premises networks
- Recommend a solution to optimize network performance
- Recommend a solution to optimize network security
- Recommend a load-balancing and routing solution
Study Plan
How we suggest you work through AZ-305.
We open with identity, governance and monitoring design, because those choices frame every other part of the architecture. You weigh options for authentication, authorization, governance at scale and logging.
Infrastructure design is the largest domain at 30 to 35 percent. We work case studies on compute, application architecture, migrations and network design, the way the exam presents them.
Data storage and business continuity follow. You choose between relational and non relational stores, plan data integration, and design backup, disaster recovery and high availability to meet stated targets.
The last week is case study practice. We review the full skills outline, talk through tradeoffs out loud, and use the exam sandbox so the case study format feels normal.
Exam Policies
How Microsoft runs the AZ-305 exam.
AZ-305 leads to Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert. Microsoft requires a score of 700 or greater to pass. Microsoft also requires a prerequisite certification before it awards the Expert credential. For AZ-305 that is Azure Administrator Associate.
Microsoft notes that the bullets under each skill show how a skill is assessed, and related topics may also be covered. Most questions cover features that are generally available, but the exam can include Preview features if they are commonly used.
Before test day you can try the exam sandbox to see the exam interface. If you use assistive devices or need extra time, Microsoft lets you request an accommodation. If the exam is not offered in your preferred language, you can request an extra 30 minutes.
Microsoft expert certifications expire annually. You renew by passing a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn, so earning Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert once is not the end of it.
Career Outlook
Where AZ-305 can take you.
AZ-305 is for the people who decide how an Azure environment should be built. Titles include Azure solutions architect, cloud architect, enterprise architect and senior cloud engineer. The work is turning business requirements into designs for identity, governance, data, business continuity and infrastructure, then defending those choices to stakeholders.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the median annual wage for computer network architects was $134,050 in May 2025. Treat it as a reference point and not a promise. Location, experience and the employer drive what any one person earns. Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Funding and PathPay
Ways to pay for AZ-305 training.
Accumentum is an Army CA and Air Force COOL Approved Vendor. If you're serving, start with your education center and read our Army CA and Air Force COOL pages for the steps. We'll help you line up the course with your request.
Paying on your own? Our funding page covers every way to pay, and PathPay lists the courses that qualify for monthly plans.
Our funding page has every other option, and you can always talk with us or email info@accumentum.net before you enroll.
Frequently Asked Questions
AZ-305 Azure Solutions Architect training with Accumentum: scope, audience, skills measured, and public exam facts.
No. This is AZ-305 Azure Solutions Architect Expert training. AZ-104 is administrator work and a common prerequisite path, not this course.
Azure solutions architects. Admins, developers, and engineers expanding into design. And people with AZ-104 or equivalent. Build administrator experience first if needed.
Recommend logging and monitoring, identity and governance, storage and data integration, backup/DR and HA, compute, application architecture, migrations, and network solutions on Azure.
Ten modules: toolkit, logging and monitoring, authentication/authorization and governance, relational storage, non-relational storage and integration, backup and DR, high availability, compute, application architecture and migrations, and networking.
As of 17 April 2026: identity/governance/monitoring 25 to 30%, storage 20 to 25%, business continuity 15 to 20%, infrastructure 30 to 35%.
Exam AZ-305. Passing score 700/1000. Pearson VUE. Renewal on Microsoft Learn.
No. This page uses public exam facts only and does not state an unofficial question count.
Use Accumentum registration for AZ-305 training dates and enrollment support.
Microsoft requires a score of 700 or greater to pass.
Microsoft lists these domains:
- Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions, 25 to 30%
- Design data storage solutions, 20 to 25%
- Design business continuity solutions, 15 to 20%
- Design infrastructure solutions, 30 to 35%
Design infrastructure solutions is the largest at 30 to 35%. We give it the most lab time.
Microsoft lists 49 tasks across 12 skill groups as of April 17, 2026. Our course covers all of them.
Microsoft expert certifications expire annually. You renew by passing a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn, so earning Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert once is not the end of it.
Yes. Microsoft offers an exam sandbox that shows you the exam interface and question types.
Accumentum is an Army CA and Air Force COOL Approved Vendor. Start with your education center, and we'll help you with the rest.
Microsoft says most questions cover generally available features, but Preview features can appear if they are commonly used.
Enrollment
Enroll in Microsoft AZ-305 Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certification Training with Accumentum.
Enroll in Accumentum’s Microsoft AZ-305 Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certification Training Course to prepare for Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions. For course dates and enrollment support, visit Accumentum’s registration page linked below.
Prepare for AZ-305 architect design work.
Design Azure identity, storage, continuity, and infrastructure. Not AZ-104 alone.