Microsoft certifications for South African IT jobs: Azure, M365, Power BI

Which Microsoft role-based certifications South African employers ask for, how the exams work, and how to find the South African price.

Microsoft runs cloud regions in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and most South African corporates run Microsoft 365. That makes Microsoft certifications some of the most searched in local IT adverts.

The ones adverts ask for most

• AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals: entry level.
• AZ-104 Azure Administrator Associate: the standard for cloud and systems administrators.
• AZ-305 Azure Solutions Architect Expert: for architects.
• MS-102 Microsoft 365 Administrator: for M365 and endpoint roles.
• PL-300 Power BI Data Analyst: the main filter for BI roles.
• SC-200 Security Operations Analyst: for SOC roles on Microsoft Sentinel and Defender.

Steps

1. Open the exam page on Microsoft Learn and choose "Schedule exam". Select South Africa as your country: the price you see there is the one you pay.
2. Use the free Microsoft Learn path and the free practice assessment for that exam.
3. Associate and Expert certifications expire after a year. Renewal is a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn in the six months before expiry.

Cost

Microsoft prices exams by country and shows the South African price at booking; it does not publish a single price list. Fundamentals exams cost less than role-based exams. Watch for free exam vouchers at Microsoft virtual training days. Checked 02/10/2026.

Keyword lists for these roles: Systems Administrator · Cloud Engineer · Data Analyst · IT Support Technician

Sources

• Microsoft Learn: Credentials

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