Microsoft 70-534 - Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions update
Due to family things (my wife and son being out of country), I've decided to aim to take the exam 5th August. I'll have the house to myself (it can be done one) and it avoids eating into family time.
It feels like quite an aggressive timeline. But if I can do on the 5th it would clear the way for a number of other jobs I wanted to complete before end of September.
The exam looks to be difficult - unsuprising given the breadth of it. Azure is a wide topic and one that keeps moving - so I've very aware that I maybe biting off more than I can chew.
With that in mind, I intend to take advantage of the Exam Replay with Practice Test offer. This prvoides me with a "free" retry (more discounted than free) and access to a practice exam. The reviews on the practice exams are varied - but I figure anything is better than nothing.
I've continue the Microsoft OpenEdx course. I'm still not sure how close to the exam the content is - it doesn't feel that close - but does seem to have useful content - so I will complete it. Some of the content seems disjointed - not making a lot of logical sense (that I can see anyway). Some of the assessment questions are also out of place - asking about concepts that haven't been covered yet. I could see how it would confuse rather than help if taken on its own. I'm aiming to complete this within the week.
Cloud Design Patterns
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/patterns/
Elevator Pitch: A collection of design patterns useful for building reliable, scalable, secure application in the cloud (and elsewhere).
What is it: Part of the Microsoft Patterns and Practices which aims to provide practical guidance on how to build better software. This set of Cloud Design Patterns, while fairly Azure focused, are fairly universal for any distributed application. These are a much higher abstraction than the design patterns discussed in the Gang of Four books – more architecture than code structure.
Each pattern looks at a common problem, describes a solution and then looks at the issues and consideration when taking into account.
Microsoft 3d Blueprint Visio Templates
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/48243
Elevator Pitch: Selection of 3d components for use with Visio (and other tools) for creating 3d style architectural diagrams. For example:
Opinion: Probably only going to appeal to crayon wielding architect types (me). I’ve seen literature, that this “style” is easier to engage with for upper management (as opposed to the flatter, box variants) – not sure how true that is – but I’d assume that Microsoft have spent considerable dollars in researching what gets the better results.
Microsoft Fluent Design System
Elevator Pitch: New design system from Microsoft that adds lighting, materials and dimensions (depth)
What is it: (I think) it’s a XAML thing. A number of design fundamental components to make the UI “better”. They are providing a toolkit for UWP apps.
Opinion: Expect all Microsoft products to head this way (Office may become interesting). A fair amount of this is playing into their holographic platform. I’m expecting the system to grow in phases over a period. There is talk of this also being adopted in Xamarin in the long term (so taking it to Apple & Android apps) – but that maybe rumour.
There is build talk here (not watched) - https://channel9.msdn.com/events/Build/2017/B8034
Shameless self-promotion
Last week I released ROI of Estimates - Part 2 - following on my previous article and a discussion with a client.
So I can focus on the 70-534 exam, I won't be releasing further ROI articles now until mid August.