How I passed the AZ-104 in 3 weeks while working full time

I passed the AZ-104 with 847/1000 after 3 weeks of study while working 9 hours a day as an on-premises systems administrator. It's not a record, but it's not luck either. It was a plan.

The context

I'd had the AZ-900 for a year. I knew Azure at a surface level but had never managed real resources. My company migrated to Azure in January, and suddenly I needed to know what I was doing.

Week 1: Map what I already know

The AZ-104 covers 5 domains: identity and governance (Microsoft Entra ID, RBAC), storage, compute, networking, and monitoring. I started with a practice exam without studying anything — just to see where I stood. I scored 520. Networking and monitoring were my blind spots.

Week 2: Surgical focus on the weak areas

I used the Brains4Cloud AZ-104 guide for the networking topics. The hub-and-spoke diagram analogy helped me understand VNet Peering in a way three YouTube videos hadn't.

💡 Don't study in order. Study first the domains that weigh the most on the exam AND where you're weakest. That's the combination that raises your score the most.

Week 3: Daily practice exams

One full practice exam every day, with a detailed review of every mistake. In the last three days before the exam I scored 810, 830, and 855. The real exam was 847.

What I'd do differently

• ▸I'd start with diagnostic practice exams from day 1, not at the end of week 1
• ▸I'd spend more time with Azure CLI — the exam has more CLI questions than I expected
• ▸I'd practice more in the portal: the exam can include labs where you perform real tasks, and recognizing the answer isn't enough there
• ▸I'd sleep more in the days before the exam — mental fatigue is real

Have the AZ-900 and want the AZ-104? We have practice exams and a complete AZ-104 guide. The Deep Dive covers all 5 domains with real cases and architectural decisions. Create your free account and take your first diagnostic practice exam.