AZ-104 study roadmap
AZ-104 Study Plan: 30-Day and 60-Day Preparation Roadmaps
A good AZ-104 study plan maps the official skills outline into weekly actions: review the domain, configure the service, answer scenario questions, and review explanations. The plan should include identity and governance, storage, compute, networking, monitoring, backup and mixed timed practice.
Direct Answer
A good AZ-104 study plan maps the official skills outline into weekly actions: review the domain, configure the service, answer scenario questions, and review explanations. The plan should include identity and governance, storage, compute, networking, monitoring, backup and mixed timed practice.
Choose a 30-day plan if you already have Azure administration experience and can study consistently. Choose a 60-day plan if you are newer to Azure, returning after a break, or need more hands-on time before timed mock exams.
What to Know First
Use these quick points to frame your preparation before you start detailed practice.
30-day plan
Best for candidates with existing Azure or infrastructure experience.
60-day plan
Best for candidates who need more labs, review and repetition.
Final phase
Mixed timed practice, explanation review and exam-day strategy.
How to Build the Plan Around the Official Skills
Start with the five Microsoft skills groups rather than a random list of videos. Each week should include one major domain, a small lab, a set of original practice questions and a review note that captures the decision rules you missed.
This structure prevents the common problem where candidates read a lot but cannot answer scenario questions. For AZ-104, every topic should become a practical action: assign a role, configure storage access, deploy a VM, troubleshoot connectivity, create an alert or select a recovery option.
30-Day AZ-104 Study Plan
Week one should cover identity, governance and the exam scope. Read the study guide, map the domain weights, review Microsoft Entra users and groups, RBAC scopes, resource locks, tags, budgets and Azure Policy. End the week with a governance-focused practice set.
Week two should cover storage and compute. Work through storage accounts, access controls, redundancy, lifecycle rules, VM sizing, disks, availability options, containers and App Service. Week three should cover networking and monitoring. Week four should be mixed timed practice, review and final cleanup.
60-Day AZ-104 Study Plan
A 60-day roadmap gives each weak area more breathing room. Spend the first week on scope and baseline testing, then give identity and governance, storage, compute, networking and monitoring their own focused weeks. Use the remaining time for mixed practice, hands-on repair and exam-day strategy.
The advantage of the longer plan is that you can build one small lab per domain. That is especially useful for networking, backup and governance because the real learning happens when you see the dependency chain.
30-Day vs 60-Day AZ-104 Plan
Original Planning Scenario
A candidate scores well on identity and storage but poorly on networking and monitoring. A smart study plan does not repeat every domain equally. It protects a short maintenance slot for strong domains, then moves most practice time into DNS, NSGs, private endpoints, Azure Monitor, alerts and backup recovery.
This makes the study plan responsive instead of decorative.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Planning by resources instead of outcomes
A list of courses is not a study plan unless it says what you will be able to do afterward.
Skipping mixed practice
Domain-by-domain study feels comfortable, but the exam requires fast switching.
Leaving labs until the end
Hands-on work should happen while you study each topic, not only in the final week.
How to Use Practice Tests Inside the Plan
Practice tests should appear at three points in your study plan. First, use a diagnostic test to map weak domains before you spend hours studying. Second, use short domain sets after each topic so you can check whether the lesson became usable knowledge. Third, use mixed timed sets near the end so you can practise switching between unrelated domains quickly.
Do not treat every practice result as a pass-or-fail judgement. A missed question is a routing signal. It tells you which domain, subtopic or reading habit needs attention next.
Hands-On Labs to Pair With Each Week
For identity and governance, create a resource group, assign a scoped role, apply tags, test a lock and review policy behaviour. For storage, configure a storage account, container, file share, access method, soft delete and lifecycle rule. For compute, deploy a VM, review disks and availability, then compare it with App Service or container options.
For networking, build a small VNet with subnets, NSG rules and a troubleshooting checklist. For monitoring, create a metric alert, action group and backup policy. Small labs are enough if they force you to see the dependency chain.
How to Adjust the Plan After Week One
After the first week, adjust your calendar based on evidence. If governance feels easy but networking is weak, do not follow the plan blindly. Move extra review time into networking and protect only a short maintenance slot for governance.
The best AZ-104 plan is structured but not stubborn. It should keep the official domain weights visible while still responding to your actual practice results.
How to Use This Guide With AZ-104 Practice
Read the guide once for orientation, then turn it into active practice. Create a short list of decisions you should be able to make after studying this topic. For AZ-104 study plan, that means more than recognising terms. You should be able to read a scenario, identify the real requirement, choose the Azure control that fits, and explain why the nearby alternatives are weaker.
After each practice set, review missed questions in three layers. First, identify the domain: identity, governance, storage, compute, networking, monitoring or recovery. Second, identify the mistake type: knowledge gap, wrong scope, missed constraint, timing pressure or distractor confusion. Third, write one repair action that you can complete before the next session.
This is the difference between passive reading and exam preparation. Passive reading makes the topic feel familiar. Active practice makes the topic usable when a new question changes the wording, combines domains or hides the deciding detail near the end of the prompt.
How This Topic Connects to the Rest of AZ-104
No AZ-104 domain lives alone. A compute question may include networking constraints, identity permissions, storage access and monitoring requirements. A governance question may include cost control, management-group scope and resource locks. A storage question may depend on private endpoints, firewall rules, lifecycle management and backup expectations.
When reviewing AZ-104 Study Plan: 30-Day and 60-Day Preparation Roadmaps, deliberately connect it to at least two other domains. Ask how the topic changes when security, cost, availability, deployment or recovery becomes the priority. This cross-domain thinking is what makes practice more realistic and prevents the exam from feeling like a set of disconnected trivia questions.
Turn This Guide Into Practice
Use realistic AZ-104 practice to turn knowledge into administrator decisions: read the scenario, identify the scope, choose the right Azure control and review every explanation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I study for AZ-104 in 30 days?
Yes if you already have Azure or infrastructure experience and can study consistently.
When should I choose a 60-day AZ-104 plan?
Choose 60 days if you need more hands-on practice, are new to Azure administration or have major networking gaps.
How many practice tests should I take?
Use one diagnostic early, several focused sets during study and mixed timed tests in the final phase.
Should I study all domains equally?
No. Start with official weights, then adjust based on your diagnostic results.
What should the final week include?
Mixed timed practice, missed-question review, Microsoft Learn scope checks and exam-day strategy.
Keep Building AZ-104 Readiness
Review the current Microsoft Learn study guide, practise with original scenarios, and use timed mixed sets when you are close to exam day.
Provider disclaimer: Heycademy is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft. This page uses publicly available Microsoft Learn information for preparation guidance and original practice examples only.