Mastering The Role-based DP-500 Exam

In our world of data, I don't think we ever stop learning. In January 2021 I got both the DA-100 (now PL-300) and PL-900 certifications. But lately I've been busy learning again for a specific purpose. That purpose is the DP-500 exam, which I have scheduled to take for next week.
In case you are wondering: DP-500, is that a new exam? Yes it is! However, it's still in beta. That doesn't have to be an issue, there are just a few things you need to be aware of.

First, you will not immediately get your score after you take the exam, these will only be calculated when it goes out of beta. The exam is still in beta because they want to gather feedback on the quality of the exam and the questions. They might need to fix questions, or improve the quality or accuracy based on the data and comments from the participants. Usually, the scores to the exam will be released 10 business days after the exam goes live.

Second, the exam details page will list the skills measured, as well as a more detailed PDF, but there are no preparation materials, like learning paths, modules or instructor-led training. However, our amazing Power BI community already got you covered for a large part, more on that later.

Next, a good thing: you mostly get a nice discount to beta exams, if you act in time that is 😀. On April 19th, a post went out on the Tech Community site announcing the new exam and a discount code for the first 300 people scheduling it.

Azure Enterprise Data Analyst Associate

Now onto the exam, its full name is: Designing and Implementing Enterprise-Scale Analytics Solutions Using Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Power BI.

Let that sink in for a while. Designing, implementing, an enterprise-scale solution, with Azure and Power BI. That means it will cover the following products/services:

• Microsoft Power BI, including some external tools
• Microsoft Purview (a.k.a. Azure Purview)
• Azure Synapse Analytics
• Azure Data Lake Gen2
• DevOps

This exam is required for the new Microsoft Certified: Azure Enterprise Data Analyst Associate certification.

Are you interested to know where this certification/exam fits into the bigger picture, or are you interested in other certifications? Have a look at the Microsoft Certification poster.

Skills measured

This is the overview of the skills measured, you can download a detailed PDF here.

• Implement and manage a data analytics environment (25–30%)
• Query and transform data (20–25%)
• Implement and manage data models (25–30%)
• Explore and visualize data (20–25%)

I'm not going into more detail, because Andy Cutler and Nikola Ilic teamed up and did a great job already: New Certification: Microsoft Certified Azure Enterprise Data Analyst Associate.

He also lists resources for studying for every subject in the skills measured section.

Resources for studying

Next to the curated page by Andy, I find the below resources to be very helpful during my learning journey:

• Nikola Ilic (@DataMozart) has some great posts already on his blog, more are added every week
• Andy Cutler (@MrAndyCutler) has a YouTube channel and a blog
• Andy and Nikola are also doing a session at Dataweekender covering the skills needed for this exam: The Essential Guide to the new Azure Enterprise Data Analyst Associate Certification
• Wolfgang Strasser (@wstrasser) has a section on Purview on his blog
• Erwin de Kreuk (@ErwindeKreuk) also has great content on Purview and Synapse
• MS Learn content around the skills and products
• I created my own DP-500 collection

Are you interested in taking this exam, or maybe you already took it?

What do you think of it and would it be a good fit for you?

Let me know if you have any questions or comments.