Microsoft Certification Spotlight: Identity & Access Administrator

Identity & Access Administrator

This role was a “Systems Administrator” in the past. But with cloud and the broad services cloud platforms offer, there is a need for a different approach. The Microsoft identity and access administrator designs, implements, and operates an organization’s identity and access management systems by using Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), part of Microsoft Entra. They configure and manage authentication and authorization of identities for users, devices, Azure resources, and applications.

The identity and access administrator provides seamless experiences and self-service management capabilities for all users. They ensure that identity is verified explicitly to support Zero Trust principles. They automate management of Azure AD by using PowerShell and analyze events by using Kusto Query Language (KQL). They are also responsible for troubleshooting, monitoring, and reporting for the identity and access environment.

The identity and access administrator collaborates with many other roles in the organization to drive strategic identity projects, to modernize identity solutions, to implement hybrid identity solutions, and to implement identity governance. They should be familiar with Azure and Microsoft 365 services and workloads.

In order to prepare for this role you start studying the M-SC900 Security Fundamentals. You already need some Powershell knowledge and preferably some Windows Server Active Directory knowledge too. But then you are prepared to get into the Microsoft Identity Administrator (SC-300) course. Especially in the security area it is very important you measure your level of skills. Go for the certification and pass the SC-300 exam. After the 4-day M-SC300 class you need about another 24 hours of study to prepare for that exam.