Microsoft AuthorizedExpert2026 UpdatedArchitecture Apex
AZ-305: Solutions Architect Expert
Microsoft's most-respected architecture credential. Design for identity, governance, data platforms, business continuity and infrastructure across enterprise Azure environments.
⏱Duration: 6 days / 48 hrs
💻Format: Instructor-Led + Azure Sandbox
🌐Delivery: On-site · Virtual · Hybrid
✅Pass rate: 93%
📅Next intake: 4 August 2026
🏛️
Enterprise architect mindset
Trade-off thinking across cost, security, performance
The Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) is the highest Microsoft architecture credential. It tests scenario design across identity, governance, business continuity, infrastructure and data — the cross-domain choices that real enterprise architects make.
Nexperts AZ-305 is delivered as a 6-day deep-dive against a multi-tenant Azure environment. You architect across two regulated MY case studies — a fictional bank and a fictional healthcare provider — covering all six AZ-305 design domains.
AZ-305 will not test whether you know a service. It will test whether you can choose between two services with overlapping capabilities and defend the choice.
The 2026 refresh strengthens governance, hybrid identity and Microsoft Fabric data platform alignment. We teach with current MY context — BNM RMiT, PDPA, healthcare data sovereignty and government cloud-first policy.
Who should take this course
🏛️
AZ-104 administrators
The natural progression. AZ-104 proved you can run Azure. AZ-305 proves you can design it.
💼
Enterprise consultants
Big-4 and tier-1 consultancies require AZ-305 for senior Azure advisory roles.
BNM RMiT cloud guidelines align with AZ-305 design patterns.
🔍
CCoE leaders
Cloud Centre of Excellence leaders need AZ-305-grade design fluency.
📚
Hybrid architects
Mapping on-prem skills onto modern Azure with hybrid governance.
Prerequisites
✓ AZ-104 Azure Administrator Associate
✓ 2+ years of hands-on Azure architecture experience
✓ Strong identity, networking and DR design fluency
✓ Familiarity with Entra ID, Defender, Purview, Synapse
→ Don't have AZ-104? AZ-305 is technically open but very difficult without it. Ask us about our combined track.
Course Curriculum
Six domains. End-to-end Azure design.
AZ-305 covers Design Identity & Governance, Design Data Storage, Design Business Continuity, Design Infrastructure, and Design Authentication & Authorization. Each is delivered against a real MY case study.
Hands-On Multi-Tenant Sandbox
48 architect labs. Two MY case studies.
The Nexperts AZ-305 environment is a multi-tenant Azure setup with two prepared case studies — a fictional MY bank and a fictional MY hospital. You design across both, defending decisions to instructor stand-ups.
01
Hybrid AD → Entra ID
Design hybrid identity for the bank case. Defend in a stand-up.
Identity
02
PIM at Scale
Design PIM rollout across 14 privileged roles.
Governance
03
Cosmos DB Multi-Region
Architect a 5-region Cosmos design. Justify consistency model.
Data
04
Synapse + Fabric
Design a Synapse + Fabric data platform for the hospital.
Analytics
05
BCDR for Banking
Tier RPO/RTO for 12 banking workloads. Justify each tier.
DR
06
AKS for Regulated Workloads
Architect AKS for BNM RMiT compliance.
Compute
07
Multi-Region Hub-Spoke
Design a 2-region hub-spoke with Virtual WAN.
Networking
08
Zero Trust for Fintech
Design conditional access + risk policies for fintech case.
Auth
09
Final Capstone
Present full architecture to a fictional CIO. Defend trade-offs.
Capstone
+ 39 additional architect tasks. Sandbox access for 90 days post-course.
Exam Information
One exam. Case-study heavy.
AZ-305 is a scenario-heavy exam built around 2–3 case studies. Each case study has 5–7 design questions where you must choose the best Azure service combination from 4–5 plausible options.
AZ-305 Exam
Questions40–60 incl. case studies
Duration120 minutes
Passing score700 / 1000
FormatPearson VUE / Online proctor
Validity1 year (renewal via free assessment)
Industry avg pass rate~60% first attempt
Nexperts pass rate93% first attempt
Architect Career Path
Stacks withAZ-104 → AZ-305
RecognitionTop Microsoft architect credential
MY salary upliftAverage +RM 3,000/mo post-cert
VoucherBundled — Microsoft exam voucher
RenewalFree yearly Microsoft Learn assessment
Pre-bridgePathway to MVP / Microsoft Hero status
Career fitPrincipal architect, CCoE lead, pre-sales architect
Our AZ-305 3-Mock Programme
01
Diagnostic Mock
Day 2. Maps weak design areas. Average score: 58%.
02
Case-Study Mock
Day 4. Two-case scenario simulation. Average score: 73%.
03
Final Clearance
Day 6. Timed full simulation. 80%+ before booking. Average score: 86%.
0%
Pass Rate
93% of our AZ-305 architects pass on first attempt.
The global AZ-305 first-attempt rate is around 60%. Our 93% comes from two MY-grounded case studies, instructor stand-up reviews of every design decision, and a hard 80% mock-clearance gate.
Two MY case studiesArchitect stand-ups93% first attemptBNM/PDPA design overlay90-day sandbox
Why our pass rate is 93%
Industry average: ~60%
AZ-305 candidates often pass services questions but stall on case studies because they have not actually defended a design under questioning before.
Nexperts: 93%
We force you to defend every design in stand-ups. We coach trade-off articulation. We hard-gate at 80% mock before booking.
Your Certification Journey
AZ-305 is Microsoft architect apex.
From AZ-305 you specialise into security architecture (CISSP / SC-100), DevOps architecture (AZ-400) or move into Microsoft MVP / Hero recognition.
Before this
AZ-104
AZ-104 admin fluency is assumed. Without it, AZ-305 case studies feel abstract.
