What Is A AZ-120?

What Is AZ-120, Exactly?

AZ-120 is the exam code Microsoft assigns to Planning and Administering Azure for SAP Workloads, the credential officially known as Microsoft Certified: Azure for SAP Workloads Specialty. It is a role-based, specialty-level certification that validates the skills needed to design, migrate, deploy, and maintain SAP systems running on Microsoft Azure infrastructure.

This is not a general cloud administration exam. It sits at the intersection of two disciplines - SAP Basis administration and Azure infrastructure engineering - and expects candidates to be fluent in both. If you're looking for a plain-language breakdown of the acronym itself, our companion piece AZ-120 Meaning covers the naming convention Microsoft uses across its exam catalog.

Who AZ-120 Is Built For

Microsoft designed this credential for professionals who already work with SAP systems and now need to operate them on Azure - or Azure specialists moving into SAP-heavy environments. The recommended background spans SAP HANA, SAP Business Suite, SAP NetWeaver, plus core Azure competencies in compute, storage, networking, identity, and availability and recovery.

Microsoft strongly recommends - but does not mandate - holding the Azure Administrator Associate certification before attempting AZ-120. That's a meaningful distinction: there is no enforced prerequisite gate, but candidates without foundational Azure administration experience typically struggle with the infrastructure-heavy portions of the exam. For a full breakdown of what "recommended" versus "required" actually means for eligibility, see AZ-120 Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.

In practice, candidates tend to fall into one of two camps:

• SAP Basis administrators who need to formally validate Azure infrastructure skills as their organizations migrate on-premises SAP landscapes to the cloud.
• Azure infrastructure engineers or cloud architects who are being asked to support SAP workloads and need SAP-specific depth beyond generic VM and storage knowledge.

Exam Format and Registration Mechanics

AZ-120 is a 100-minute, proctored, computer-based assessment. It can be taken at a Pearson VUE test center or remotely through OnVUE online proctoring - a choice that matters if you don't have a quiet, compliant testing space at home. The exam may include interactive components rather than only static multiple-choice items, so candidates should expect scenario-based questions that mirror real Azure portal or configuration decisions rather than pure recall.

The current U.S. list price is USD 165. Regional pricing can differ, and Microsoft periodically adjusts fees, so it's worth confirming the current figure before you schedule. Our dedicated cost breakdown, AZ-120 Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown, walks through what that fee does and doesn't include.

The Four AZ-120 Domains

AZ-120's content is organized into four domains, and understanding their relative weight is essential for allocating study time. Migration and infrastructure are tied as the largest domains, meaning more than half the exam draws from those two areas combined.

For a deeper dive into each domain with subtopic-level detail, read AZ-120 Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 4 Content Areas.

Scoring, Retakes, and Renewal

AZ-120 uses Microsoft's scaled scoring system, and the passing mark is 700. This is not the same as answering 70% of questions correctly - Microsoft weights questions differently, so a scaled score doesn't map linearly to raw percentage. If you want the full mechanics of how that scale works, see AZ-120 Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.

If your first attempt doesn't succeed, Microsoft's retake policy allows you to schedule again after a 24-hour waiting period. There's no cap mentioned for subsequent attempts beyond standard Microsoft retake spacing rules, but each attempt requires paying the exam fee again.

A Domain-Aware Prep Approach

Because migration and infrastructure together account for more than half the exam, your study schedule should reflect that weighting rather than splitting time evenly across all four domains. A domain-aware timeline looks something like this:

This is a starting framework, not a rigid formula - some candidates with strong SAP Basis backgrounds may compress the migration section, while Azure-native engineers may need extra time there. For a step-by-step study plan built around this exact domain structure, see AZ-120 Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. If you're still calibrating how much effort this exam realistically demands, How Hard Is the AZ-120 Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 breaks down the difficulty factors in more detail, and running timed drills on our practice test platform is one of the fastest ways to find weak domains before exam day.

Where AZ-120 Fits in a Career

Organizations running SAP on Azure need people who can bridge the SAP Basis world and the Azure infrastructure world - a combination that's genuinely uncommon. AZ-120 signals to employers that a candidate can plan migrations, architect infrastructure, and keep SAP systems highly available on Azure without needing separate specialists for each piece.

If you're weighing whether the time and cost investment pays off for your specific career stage, Is the AZ-120 Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 examines that question in depth, and AZ-120 Jobs looks at the types of roles that reference this credential. For compensation context specific to this certification's scope, see AZ-120 Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis.

Because domain weights and skills outlines can shift between updates, it's worth bookmarking a quick-reference source. Our AZ-120 Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts condenses the domains, scoring, and logistics covered here into a single scannable page, and AZ-120 Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling covers how scheduling flexibility works across test centers and online proctoring.

Frequently Asked Questions