𝗔𝘇𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗘𝗧 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀

As a .NET Developer, you probably already know C#, ASP .NET, and other technologies, but in today's cloud-first world, knowing Microsoft Azure is essential for running and deploying your apps.

This article provides a step-by-step roadmap for .NET developers who want to master Azure, from the basics to advanced DevOps and architecture.

1) Cloud Fundamentals

Lay the foundation so nothing feels mysterious later

• IaaS / PaaS / SaaS distinctions

• Regions & Availability Zones

• SLAs & cost basics

2) Azure Basics

Learn how Azure is organized and controlled

• Azure Portal, CLI & PowerShell

• Microsoft Entra ID & RBAC (access control)

• Resource groups & tags

• Azure Policy fundamentals

3) .NET Compute + Hosting

Deploy your services reliably

• App Service (web app deployment patterns)

• Azure Functions (triggers & bindings)

• Containers fundamentals + Azure Container Registry

• AKS basics (container orchestration)

4) Data Services

Store and connect data with patterns that scale

• Azure SQL + EF Core practices

• Cosmos DB (multi-model, partitioning)

• Blob & Queue Storage essentials

• Service Bus & Event Grid (async/eventing)

5) DevOps & Automation

Shift from manual to repeatable, safe workflows

• GitHub Actions / Azure DevOps pipelines

• Infrastructure as Code: Bicep (Terraform optional)

• Automated builds, tests & gates

• Deployment strategies (canary, blue/green)

6) Security & Identity

Security isn’t optional once you’re live

• Azure Key Vault & secret management

• Managed identities for services

• App security patterns & best practices

7) Observability & Ops

Run it healthily in production, not just launch it

• Application Insights (traces + metrics)

• Log Analytics & KQL basics

• Alerts + dashboards that teams use

• Resilience patterns (retry, circuit breaker)

8) Architecture & Ops

Make systems that tolerate stress and evolve

• Scalability patterns (CQRS, event-driven, partitioning)

• Microservices vs modular monolith thinking

• Cost optimization in design decisions

• Multi-region distribution fundamentals

Cert milestones you can align with:

AZ-900 → AZ-204 → AZ-400 → AZ-305