What Is AZ-120?

What AZ-120 Actually Is

AZ-120 is the exam code Microsoft assigns to Planning and Administering Azure for SAP Workloads, the exam that leads to the Microsoft Certified: Azure for SAP Workloads Specialty credential. It's a specialty-level certification, meaning it sits above the associate tier and assumes you already understand core Azure administration before you ever open the exam guide. The credential exists specifically to validate the skills needed to plan, migrate, deploy, and maintain SAP systems running on Microsoft Azure infrastructure - not general Azure knowledge, and not general SAP knowledge, but the intersection of the two.

If you're new to the certification landscape, it helps to read a plain-language breakdown of the AZ-120 Certification before diving into domain-level detail. For a quick definitional pass, the companion piece on AZ-120 Meaning and the explainer on What Does AZ-120 Stand For? cover the same ground from slightly different angles, which is useful if you're trying to explain the credential to a manager or teammate.

Who Takes AZ-120 and Why

The audience for this exam is fairly specific. Candidates typically come from one of two directions: Azure administrators who've been assigned to support SAP landscapes, or SAP Basis and infrastructure specialists who are moving their systems onto Azure and need to formalize their cloud skills. Both groups end up needing the same blend of knowledge - SAP HANA and SAP NetWeaver architecture on one side, Azure compute, storage, networking, and identity services on the other.

Employers hiring for SAP-on-Azure roles use this certification as a signal that a candidate can be trusted with production SAP migrations and ongoing operations, not just theoretical Azure knowledge. If you're evaluating whether this path fits your career goals, the deep dive on AZ-120 Jobs and the broader analysis in Is the AZ-120 Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 both look at how the credential gets used in hiring conversations. There's also a dedicated look at compensation trends in the AZ-120 Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis, though we'd encourage reading it alongside your own regional market research rather than treating any single figure as universal.

The Four Exam Domains

Microsoft organizes the AZ-120 skills outline into four domains, and understanding their relative weight is the single most useful planning tool you have. Two domains are tied for the largest share of the exam, which tells you exactly where to spend the bulk of your study time.

Because Migration and Infrastructure jointly dominate the exam, most candidates find it efficient to study those two domains first and treat HADR and Maintenance as the second pass. For a domain-by-domain breakdown with more granular subtopics, see the full AZ-120 Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 4 Content Areas.

Exam Format, Delivery, and Scoring

AZ-120 is a 100-minute proctored, computer-based assessment. Microsoft notes that the exam may include interactive components, so expect more than plain multiple-choice - case-study-style scenarios and drag-and-drop or ordering tasks are consistent with how Microsoft specialty exams are typically built. You can sit the exam at a Pearson VUE test center or take it remotely through OnVUE online proctoring, whichever fits your schedule and setup better.

Scoring works on Microsoft's scaled system rather than a simple percentage. A passing result requires a scaled score of 700, and that number does not translate to "70% of questions correct" - different questions can carry different weight depending on difficulty and domain. If you want the full mechanics of how the scaled score is calculated and reported, the AZ-120 Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass article walks through it in detail.

Registration, Fees, and Retakes

The U.S. list price for AZ-120 is USD 165, though pricing can vary by country. Registration and scheduling both go through Pearson VUE, and once you've booked a slot you can choose either an in-person test center or the OnVUE remote-proctoring option, depending on which environment you can control better for the two-hour window.

If your first attempt doesn't go well, Microsoft's retake policy allows you to schedule again after just 24 hours - there's no long mandatory cooling-off period after a first failure, which is worth knowing if you're working against a deadline. For a complete cost breakdown including retake fees and regional pricing considerations, see AZ-120 Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown. If you're mapping out when to actually sit the exam relative to renewal windows or training schedules, AZ-120 Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling covers the scheduling logistics in more depth.

Recommended Background and Prerequisites

There's no hard enrollment prerequisite for AZ-120 - anyone can register and sit the exam. But Microsoft's own skills outline makes clear that this is not a beginner exam. The recommended background includes working knowledge of SAP HANA, SAP Business Suite, and SAP NetWeaver on the application side, plus solid command of Azure compute, storage, networking, identity, and availability/recovery services on the infrastructure side.

Microsoft strongly recommends holding the Azure Administrator Associate certification before attempting AZ-120, though it's a recommendation rather than a mandatory gate. In practice, candidates who've never administered an Azure environment tend to struggle with Domain 2 and Domain 3 content, since those domains assume you already know Azure networking and storage fundamentals cold and just need to apply them to SAP-specific scenarios. A full rundown of what counts as "ready" for this exam is available in AZ-120 Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.

Certification Validity and Renewal

Once earned, the Microsoft Certified: Azure for SAP Workloads Specialty credential is valid for 12 months. Microsoft doesn't require you to retake the full proctored exam to keep it current - during the six months before expiration, you can take a free online renewal assessment, and passing it extends your certification by another year. This renewal cycle repeats annually as long as you keep passing the assessment on time, so plan a calendar reminder well before your expiration date rather than discovering it's lapsed.

How to Approach Preparation

Because the exam skews so heavily toward Migration and Infrastructure, a sensible study sequence front-loads those two domains before moving into HADR and ongoing maintenance topics. This isn't about generic study hacks - it's about matching your time investment to how the exam is actually weighted.

If you want a more detailed week-by-week plan with specific resources, the AZ-120 Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt expands on this structure considerably. And before exam day, many candidates find it useful to run through the AZ-120 Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts as a final memory check rather than re-reading full documentation.

Practicing under realistic timed conditions matters more for this exam than for most, given the 100-minute window and the mix of scenario-based questions Microsoft includes. Running full-length practice tests on our practice test platform before exam day helps you calibrate pacing so you're not rushing through the HADR case studies near the end. If you're still weighing whether the exam's difficulty matches your current experience level, How Hard Is the AZ-120 Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 and the honest data review in AZ-120 Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows are both worth reading before you commit to a test date. You can also work through domain-specific question sets on the main practice test site to identify which of the four domains needs the most attention.

Frequently Asked Questions