I'm a developer in Madagascar building a structured learning path toward Azure, starting with AZ-900 and eventually AZ-104. The problem is that Madagascar isn't listed as an eligible country for creating a free Azure account or adding a billing method, so I can't use the free trial or pay-as-you-go directly. For people in similar regions, what practical options have you used to study AZ-104 topics such as virtual machines, virtual networks, RBAC, and monitoring?
4 Answers
One workaround is renting a virtual machine from a provider that operates in your country and using it to experiment with virtualization and related infrastructure concepts. Some people have also tested Azure Stack HCI evaluation environments this way. It won’t fully reproduce the Azure portal, but it can still help with compute, networking, and administration fundamentals.
Before committing heavily to one cloud platform, it’s worth checking which providers are actually available and hiring in your target market. If Azure access remains impractical, AWS or another provider may offer easier hands-on practice while teaching many transferable concepts. That said, employer requirements can still make Azure worth studying even if the local market uses a mix of platforms.
For AZ-900, hands-on access usually isn’t essential because the exam is mainly focused on core concepts, services, pricing, security, and governance. You can get started with the official learning material and practice questions, then look for emulator projects or guided labs for the more practical parts of AZ-104.
Don’t assume the local market is limited to whichever provider seems most visible. Some companies use multiple clouds, and demand can vary by employer and project. Check current job postings and speak with local developers to decide whether Azure is the best primary focus, then supplement your studies with transferable cloud fundamentals.
Thanks, I’ll look into that approach and see how far I can get with it.