Exam Ref AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification and Beyond: A pragmatic guide to achieving the Azure administration certification, 2nd Edition

"I can recommend this book for the Microsoft AZ104 Azure Administrator Certification exams. It does a great job of covering the essential material and concepts. If you are a cloud administrator, engineer, or architect looking to broaden your knowledge of the Azure platform, then this is the first step. I would recommend this book to help you get there, and, by extension, to pass the exam. The key concepts covered in this book gave me a better understanding of how to configure and deploy instances and features on Azure. Inside the book is a good mixture of conceptual approaches, diagrams, step-by-step instructions, and screenshots (which are large enough to see what's going on) of the Azure portal.

I don't have anything to criticize about this book, other than I am a lazy reader and my personal preference is for ILT or VILT courses. That said, this is a good reference to have on hand when needed instead of my preferred two options. "Nothing beats a good reference guide!"

In conclusion, if I were a cloud administrator / architect looking to get to grips with administrative functions or looking to gain a better understanding of the Azure platform, then this is a great way to start your journey in obtaining your Azure Administrator certification.

Sean Olivier, Senior Solutions Architect - NTT/Dimension Data, South Africa

"In my opinion, the AZ-104 exam is one of the most important exams you can take in the Azure landscape. It contains a lot of topics, and all of these topics have a theoretical part and a practical part, and both are important. You need to know the services in Azure, and you must know how to manage them.

The book is clear even when the authors go into detail, deep into the topic. Furthermore, at the end of each chapter, there is a practice lab that allows you to make a recap using a practical approach. At the end of the book, in the final chapter, you can, find a set of questions similar to those found in the exam, which allows you to verify your preparation. The questions are, of course, not the ones you will find in the exam, but they are very similar and are not trivial at all.

In conclusion, this is a rich and full-bodied book (more than 750 pages) that, due to its practical approach (but without disdaining the theory); will be handy not only for those preparing for the exam but also as a vademecum for the daily job. A book; generally; becomes old after a brief amount of time, but I think that this one will be still valid for a long time and you can use it as a reference guide during your daily job."

Massimo Bonanni, Technical Trainer at Microsoft

Riaan Lowe is a cloud security architect at one of the largest cybersecurity companies in Africa with multiple information technology certifications, including Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert in Azure, Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (Server), Microsoft Certified Professional, Microsoft Specialist in virtualization, Security+, MTCRA (CCNA equivalent), and MTCRE (CCNP equivalent). Riaan has had tremendous experience over the years in several roles as voice engineer, senior infrastructure engineer, Microsoft security specialist, second in charge of the Microsoft Team, lead Azure engineer, and cloud security architect. He currently resides in South Africa with his wife.

Donovan has more than 15 years experience in the IT industry with more than 7 years in architecture and more than 8 years in leadership roles. He has worked from the ground up, ran his own business, lead divisions, as well as established and grown business units. He has been involved in many facets of the business including Sales, Pre-Sales, Ideation, Architecture, Technical Delivery, Client Relationship Management, Strategic Planning, Research and Development, and Training.