I didn't want to take a fundamentals cert, since I've been in the cloud 5 years and the basic concepts don't change, just the arrangement and color of the deck chairs. However, my boss said the more certs the merrier and the company will reimburse the test cost, so I figure it's an easy $99 gamble to take the AZ-900. And so, in the comfort of my bed via online proctoring, I did take and pass the Azure Cloud Fundamentals exam.

I was concerned about the online proctor process, as I had heard some horror stories from the early days of quarantine about proctors not showing up and voiding the exam. There was some incorrect info on the web site about the requirement for a second government issued photo ID for online exams, but luckily the ol' driver's license was sufficient. The process was pretty straight forward:

1. Register for the test. I figured I'd take the test quickly, so I tried to get a test slot as soon as possible, but not in work hours. I'd pick a slot, go through the payment process and hit enter, only to for the time slot I had chosen was no longer available. This happened THREE TIMES. I would like PearsonVue to redo their interface so that a slot is "claimed" for a time period until purchased and then released, rather than the blind duck hunt it is now.
2. Set up an area to take the test. I had intended to take the test outside on my patio office, but when the temperature was going to break 115 degrees Fahrenheit and my test was in the afternoon hours, I figured I wanted to survive the test as well as pass it. So, I cleared everything away from my bed, covered my robot assistant's screen, and made ready to sit on my bed for the test, figuring that I wouldn't have to really focus that hard. There is some cognitive dissonance around having to keep your self phone close in case the proctor has to contact you but all electronic devices out of arm's length, but whatevs.
3. Download the client. I chose to take it on a Mac, rather than my work or home PC, mainly for the size of the laptop screen (15").. I ran the system test the day before and made sure it all worked. On the day of the test, I downloaded the client again, as the test credentials are embedded in the client, and fired it up.The app sent me a link via text to a web app that took photos of my ID, front and back, and also took photos of my test area, from 4 different views. Once complete, the test was ready to start. It took about 10 minutes for the proctor to start the test session. All I saw was a window of my face from the camera that said 'Recording' and that the test would be failed if I left the screen view.
4. Take the test. Pretty straight forward. My only complaint is that some of the questions were a bit ambiguous, and that one of the graphics had to be scrolled all the way up to get the correct answer, but you wouldn't know it scrolled unless you experimented, no visual cues. Once I passed, I was asked to review the questions and comment, but the app abruptly quit after my score breakdown showed, so I didn't get to comment on the questions I had marked.
5. Get your results. I had this dance with Amazon too years ago, but the results came in faster with Microsoft these days. I checked on the Pearson site for my score, and the test was marked still in progress. I was worried that the app had crashed and my test session was stuck.  As I waited for an hour in the chat bot line to ask, the test reverted to Pass and then my score was available in the Certification Portal. So, the lesson here is be patient, your score will show up soon.

On the content side, I didn't have all the little distinctions and features of some of the more higher level 'Centers' (Privacy, Trust, Security, etc) in Azure memorized, so I lost a few points remembering what feature belonged with each center. Not a lot of points, but enough to make me go hmmmm.... Not a fan of scoring essentially a B+ on a fundamentals exam that I should be able to smoke handily. I did take some prep courses, such as the ACloudGuru exam prep course. The instructor was funny and informative, but is is still a high level over view and missed all the fiddly stuff I had trouble with on the exam. I also reviewed the Microsoft Learn pages, which got me closer, but still wasn't enough for a 100% pass.

So, good run through for the next exam I'll attempt, the AZ-104 (Azure Administrator) in three weeks. I've been taking PluralSight, LinuxAcademy, and MS Learn content, plus the practical stuff I done in my Azure subscription as well as at work, and yet I still don't feel like I am ready. Probably over thinking it....