It’s been over a year and a half since I published the initial version of this prep guide, so I thought it’s about time I update it and discuss where this fits in the Microsoft 365 exam world. Additional exams have been announced and released since this exam first went into beta, moving the conversation away from comparisons with the exams that were being replaced.

What are the two main exams that have changed this landscape? MS-900 Microsoft 365 Fundamentals and MS-500 Microsoft 365 Security Administration were both introduced as exams that would give you a certification as opposed to this exam which also requires you to to pass multiple exams to get a certification. What I’ve learned, and been somewhat surprised by over the last couple of years is that for many people the exam to certification ratio drives behaviors in ways I wouldn’t have believed, even when it leads to people following a path that will lead to better skills.

I still recommend MS-100 as the starting exam exam for someone who wants to get Microsoft 365 certifications, as the skills required really have moved into being expected skills in many organizations. Once you’ve done MS-100 and MS-101, there really isn’t a huge amount of effort for you to sit MS-900 and MS-500 if you are in certification acquisition mode.

Design and implement Microsoft 365 services (25-30%)

Manage domains

Plan a Microsoft 365 implementation

Setup Microsoft 365 tenancy and subscription

Manage Microsoft 365 subscription and tenant health

Plan migration of users and data


Manage user identity and roles (35-40%)


Design identity strategy

Plan identity synchronization by using Azure AD Connect

Manage identity synchronization by using Azure AD Connect

Manage Azure AD identities

Manage user roles

Manage access and authentication (20-25%)

Manage authentication

Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Configure application access

Implement access for external users of Microsoft 365 workloads

Plan Office 365 workloads and applications (10-15%)

Plan for Office 365 workload deployment

Plan Office 365 applications deployment

One of the things you probably noticed on the list is that the exam objectives haven’t been updated yet to reflect some of the name changes such as Microsoft 365 apps for Enterprise instead of Office 365 ProPlus for example. Expect a transition to the updated names over time, but these changes can take a while.