There have been many changes to the Microsoft certification program lately. Among these changes have been brand new MCSA and MCSE certifications, including MANY new exams. Among these changes is the recent addition of the MCSA: Cloud Database Development certification.

NOTE: This certification was just announced at the time or writing this, and full details may change once the certification becomes available.

What exams qualify?

The MCSA (Microsoft Certified Solution Associate) certification in Cloud Database Development requires 2 exams to be passed in order to earn the full MCSA: Cloud Database Development certification.

Here are the 2 exams required to earn this certification:

• 70-777: Implementing Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB Solutions
• 70-473: Designing and Implementing Cloud Data Platform Solutions

The MCSA: Cloud Database Development certification doesn’t have a large list of exams to choose from, however, it is very specialized for professionals who are working with NoSQL solutions in the Cloud.

From MCSA to MCSE Certification

Just like all the other MCSA (Microsoft Certified Solution Associate) certifications, the MCSA: Cloud Database Development certification also provides a foundational path to earning the bigger MCSE (Microsoft Certified Solution Expert) certification. There are multiple MCSE’s to choose from, each in a different specialization area. The MCSA: Cloud Database Development certification is a foundation on the path to earning the MCSE: Data Management & Analytics certification.

The way the path from MCSA to MCSE works is that you first earn an MCSA certification by passing the required exams. Then after earning the MCSA of your choice, you need to pick and pass an elective exam from the list of electives that count towards the eligible MCSE for that MCSA certification.

To simplify this, here’s the steps necessary to earn this MCSA and then upgrade to the bigger MCSE certification:

1. Pass both the above mentioned certification exams to earn the MCSA certification
2. Choose one of the MCSE: Data Management & Analytics elective exams, and pass it.

As you can see, if you take the MCSA: Cloud Database Development path to MCSE, you will be required to take and pass a total of 3 Microsoft certification exams. And, there are a number of elective exams for the MCSE: Data Management & Analytics certification.

Happy studying!

Update July 13, 2018: Exam 70-777 was renamed to “Implementing Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB Solutions” and is listed in “Beta” state on the Microsoft Learning site as of this date. The old name was “Implementing NoSQL Solutions with DocumentDB and Azure Search”.

Update May 27, 2017: Microsoft announced that they’ve renamed the MCSA: Cloud Database Development certification to MCSA: Azure Database Development.

About the Author

Chris Pietschmann

Chris Pietschmann is a Microsoft MVP, HashiCorp Ambassador, and Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) with 20+ years of experience designing and building Cloud & Enterprise systems. He has worked with companies of all sizes from startups to large enterprises. He has a passion for technology and sharing what he learns with others to help enable them to learn faster and be more productive.