Microsoft Releases MCPD: Windows Azure Developer Certifications

For those interested in learning more about Azure and what it means to develop on Microsoft's cloud platform, the wait is over: Microsoft has released three Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD) certifications for Windows Azure. The certifications are as follows:

Exam 70-583: Designing and Developing Windows Azure Applications - This exam was released yesterday. It is a PRO level exam, meaning that developers will be required to have one of the Technical Specialist (TS) exams (listed below) in order to earn this certification.

This advanced class focuses on designing and developing applications for Azure. The class is designed for a senior developer, architect, or team lead. It is expected that candidates will have at least six months of experience developing in Azure.

To take Exam 70-583, I believe that you'll need one of the two below certifications. (It would be a best practice either way to have a TS certification first, but I'm confirming with Microsoft that it's mandatory since it doesn't say on the company's certification site.)

Update: I heard back from Microsoft and it turns out that in order to earn the MCPD Windows Azure Developer certification, you must pass all three exams mentioned in this article: 70-583, 70-513, 70-516. 513 and 516 are not necessarily pre-requisites for 583, but they are all part of an overall track. Visit this page for more information.

Exam 70-513: Windows Communication Foundation Development with Microsoft .NET Framework 4 - For this certification, you must be able to develop applications using Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and the .NET Framework 4. Recommended skills for this exam include: experience creating service model elements, experience configuring and deploying WCF applications, and experience using Visual Studio tools.

Exam 70-516: Accessing Data with Microsoft .NET Framework 4 - This certification tests your ability to access data sources using ADO.NET and the .NET Framework. Recommended skills for this exam include: ADO.NET 4 coding techniques, LINQ to SQL, stored procedures, and Entity Framework technologies.

For training resources, consider MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-516): Accessing Data with Microsoft .NET Framework 4. 

Coming Soon in Certifications

I also heard from Microsoft that we can expect the following updates coming soon:

All developers who hold any of the above MCPD: Windows Azure Developer certifications will be required to recertify every two years to keep their skills relevant.

Required Reading: