Microsoft Rolls Out New Azure Skills Training, Certification for Partners

Azure’s tire-kicking days by channel partners is over as Microsoft’s enterprise-grade cloud computing platform shaped up to be the real deal in 2016, according to industry expert Cyndi Privett, principal at ViewPoint Research. So it made sense when Gavriella Schuster, corporate vice president, worldwide partner group at Microsoft, announced this week a dozen new and free Azure training courses.

Pointing out that four in five (80 percent) Microsoft customers have already deployed or fully embraced the cloud – and noting that by 2020 the idea that a company has “no cloud” would be as rare as a “no internet” policy is today – Schuster in a blog said that the new courses are designed to help partners meet the demand of the marketplace and their business clients.

“These courses are designed to help partners respond to the surging demand, realize positive returns, and grow their market opportunity. Technology professionals can start with our Azure Fundamentals or those wishing to become multi-cloud specialists can check out our Azure for AWS Experts courses, or dive right into more specific courses like Azure Storage or Azure Networks. It’s also a great way to strengthen customer dialog about what cloud technology can do for their business,” she wrote.

Microsoft is making six courses available immediately:

Another six will follow over the next few weeks. Expect to hear about additional learning opportunities over the next few months.{ad}

Pointing to IDC research that predicts digital transformation in initiatives will reach $2.2 trillion by 2019, Microsoft is invested in making sure that its partners have the skills to have the critical cloud conversations with their partners and be best positioned to grow their businesses, by offering the free Azure training and certification. Again, according to research, CIOs say that the skills gap is the most commonly cited barrier to digitization.

Microsoft also is investing in a variety of technical training, tools and resources, including the Microsoft Virtual Academy, the Cloud + Enterprise University Boot Camps, and the Microsoft Professional Program, to name a few.

The new Azure offers join the lineup today, featuring a modern learning model called a Massively Open Online Course (MOOC). MOOCs incorporate videos, labs, graded assessments, office hours, and more, the company stated. Upon course completion students receive a digital certificate.