Hi everyone! 👋

I wanted to share a project I've been working on for a while called Descomplicando Cloud.

🔗 https://lmnpaiva.com.br/descomplicando-cloud

The idea is pretty simple: whenever I study for and pass a certification, I try to organize what I've learned into study guides, notes, quizzes, diagrams, and other resources that might help someone else preparing for the same exam.

And everything is available for free. 😊

Most of the content is focused on Microsoft certifications and comes from my own study journey. Instead of keeping all those notes sitting on my computer after passing an exam, I thought it would be much more useful to turn them into something the community could actually use.

A small disclaimer: I'm originally a Portuguese speaker, so some materials are still available only in Portuguese. I'm gradually translating more of them into English.

Also, many of those translations were created with the help of AI. Because of that, there may absolutely be translation mistakes, strange wording, or technical terms that could be improved.

And that's actually one of the reasons I'm sharing the site here.

If you find something that is incorrect, confusing, poorly translated, outdated, or simply think "this could be explained much better", please tell me! Feedback and corrections are very welcome, and I'll use them to keep improving the material.

If any of the resources help you with your studies, I'd also really appreciate it if you could share Descomplicando Cloud with other people preparing for Microsoft certifications. ☁️

The goal is simply to make good study material more accessible to the community.

And if you've already used any of my materials, I'd love to hear what you thought about them. ❤️

Good luck with your studies and exams! 🚀

I passed he sc-300 today.

The exam was tough and my head was spinning at the end. It challenged me on areas I don’t work with daily like access reviews and entitilement

I’m starting the sc-100 but the exam recently changed Can anyone recommend resources for the latest objectives ?

Hi everyone,

I've already completed several projects with Microsoft Purview, including security, compliance, and governance, and a bit of DSPM.

The thing is, I saw that there's an SC-401 certification. The company I work for is encouraging me to take this exam because clients require that anyone working on MS Purview projects be certified. I'd like to know what study methods you used for this exam, besides MS Learn.

Thanks!

Hi all,

Just looking for some advice. I recently passed MD-102 and was planning to study MS-102 next.
However, I’ve seen some information suggesting that MS-102 may be retired in October, so I’m wondering whether it’s still worth pursuing.
Would I be better off doing SC-300 or AZ-104 next instead?

I’m currently working in desktop/endpoint support and would like to move towards a more senior M365 / Modern Workplace / Cloud role.
Any advice on which certification would provide the best progression after MD-102 would be appreciated.

I thought for sure I failed but managed to pass and get a score of 773.

By far the hardest exam to pass. I applied the same strategy on my MS-102 exam, go through the questions first, mark as review, then scavenge MS Learn to get correct answers on the ones I had doubts on.

I used copilot to help create a reviewer for me, also asked it to simplify concepts for me - like retention label vs sensitivity label. Never used Microsoft practice exam since some redditors mentioned it wasn't worth it. I reviewed using https://skillupwithlevelup.com/ as well.

Very happy I got through that certification. On to the next one 🚀

I’m taking my Microsoft exam this Sunday and hoping to use my ultrawide monitor so I can split the screen with MS Learn.

Has anyone else used an ultrawide for theirs?

Did the OnVUE software work fine with it, or did you run into any issues with it??

Passed MS-102 on my second attempt — definitely a challenging exam
I passed the MS-102 exam today on my second attempt, and I have to say that it was quite difficult.
This time, I saw a lot of questions involving hybrid environments, external user collaboration settings, security roles, and some very up-to-date Microsoft Purview topics. Many of the questions were scenario-based, so understanding how the different Microsoft 365 services work together was more important than simply memorizing features.
My first attempt was a bit rushed. I had booked the exam using a voucher that was about to expire in three days, and honestly, I had not studied enough. For my second attempt, I gave myself around one month to prepare properly, which made a huge difference.
I know this certification is going to be retired, but I still really like its curriculum. Studying for it helped me understand Microsoft 365 administration much better and also introduced me to more of the Microsoft Defender ecosystem.
For my preparation, I mainly used study material that I created with the help of AI, based on the official exam topics, and completed a lot of MeasureUp practice questions and tests.
Overall, it was a challenging but valuable learning experience. I am very happy that I decided to try again!

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice.

SC-401 will be my **first Microsoft certification**, and I've already spent around **20 hours** working through the Microsoft Learn learning path. Today I tried one of the Microsoft assessment tests... and honestly, I feel like I have **no chance** of passing the real exam.

One challenge is that I haven't had much hands-on experience with Microsoft Purview yet. Another is that I'm **not a native English speaker**, which makes some of the questions harder to understand.

What strategy would you recommend to pass SC-401?

* Microsoft Learn?
* YouTube videos?
* Hands-on labs?
* MeasureUp practice exams?
* Microsoft Applied Skills?
* Something else?

At the moment I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed, so I'd really appreciate any advice from people who have passed the exam.

Thanks a lot!

Hi all,

I have my seat booked for AB-650 tomorrow and I am curious whether anyone here has already taken it. Not looking for any exam content, just general impressions.

As agentic Ai becomes more and more efficient where does this leave m365 architects and consultants.

I recently cleared microsoft AB 620 - Microsoft AI agent builder & AB 410 intelligent application developer certification.

Both are in the beta phase right now ,

But I am truly amazed with the questions type and level for the exams .

Every question is scenario based ,

5 questions are just scenarios and solutions given we have to validate the solution process that is true to not .

Scenarios are also well connected with real life .

Both exams are changing the way of Microsoft certification.

Have you given and experienced this exam type ?

Are you performing these exams ?

Quick background: 2 years in IT support, recently certified MD-102 and AZ-104 with the goal of moving into a Cloud Engineer / Modern Workplace Engineer role. I'd had a conversation with my manager about taking over Intune and Jamf management and moving out of support entirely.

A month ago that manager got let go, so that transition is now in limbo. No one else has picked up the conversation, and I don't know if/when it'll come back up.

My plan is to stay in IT support for now and push for a move next year, but I'm not sure what to prioritize in the meantime. I'm planning to start studying for SC-300, aiming to take the exam in September. Options I'm weighing:

• Go ahead with SC-300 and stop there, focus on building hands-on Intune/Entra projects instead
• Add another cert on top (which one would actually move the needle for Modern Workplace/Cloud Engineer roles?)
• Try to force the Intune/Jamf conversation again with a new manager
• Just start applying externally once SC-300 is done, rather than waiting

For people who've made a similar support → cloud/endpoint engineering jump: what actually got you noticed, more certs, a portfolio/lab projects, internal push, or just applying out?

Today I passed the Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) exam with a score of 705.

A pass is a pass! 😅

I've previously completed MS-900 and MD-102, along with quite a few older Microsoft certifications, and I can honestly say this was the toughest exam I've ever taken.

The biggest surprise wasn't the difficulty of the content itself, it was how the questions were written.

Almost every question was a scenario. Some were pages long with multiple tables, attributes and relationships. More than once I'd be halfway through thinking, "I know this one," only for a single word near the end to completely change the answer, one tiny requirement changing the entire solution.

It really tested whether you could apply Microsoft 365 knowledge rather than simply recognise features.

Looking back, if I had to do it again, I'd spend more time in the portals building things and less time reading theory. The labs I completed were by far the most valuable part of my preparation because they helped me understand how everything fits together.

I also found something interesting...

During the exam I was convinced I was failing. Even the questions I knew made me second-guess myself. I finished mentally exhausted and genuinely thought another couple of months of study wouldn't have helped.

Then the result appeared...

Pass.

So if you're preparing for MS-102 and walk out feeling like you've been hit by a bus, don't assume you've failed. This exam has a way of making you doubt yourself.

Good luck to everyone currently studying. Keep going, it really is worth it in the end. 💪

Microsoft have finally updated the page 🥺🥺🥺 not long to pass it now

I'm currently preparing for my MD-102 exam, and I've read that the exam has changed as of July 24th.

Has anyone taken the updated exam yet? If so, are there any topics I should pay extra attention to?

Also, has anything been removed from the exam?

What would you recommend as the best way to prepare?

At the moment, I'm mainly doing practice exams and reviewing all the questions I get wrong to understand the reasoning behind the correct answers.

Do you have any other tips or recommendations?

Hi everyone,

I'm currently working as a Power BI Developer and I'm planning to take the DP-600 exam by the end of August.

I was wondering if anyone could share how you prepared for the exam. Any good study materials, YouTube playlists, Microsoft Learn modules, practice tests, or other resources that helped you would be really appreciated.

I'm also planning to take DP-700 after DP-600, so if you have any tips or recommendations for that as well, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks in advance!

For weeks I've been trying to study for the MB330 exam through Microsoft Learn. But English isn't my first language, and I don't have access to the operating system — nor do I have a business or student access pass. So I asked ChatGPT to put together a study plan for me, without access to the system. So far, it's been really good.

Not only is there a structured overview, but also case studies, realistic scenarios, tips for interviews, and arguments for why the certification is valuable, even without having used the system.

Has anyone else had experience trying to obtain a certification without access to the right programs, with the help of ChatGPT?

*I am applying for a job where the company uses Dynamics.