In this post I share my personal opinion as to why the Microsoft Fabric Data Engineer Associate certification is relevant right now.
Which is the new Data Engineering certification that was announced during the keynote at the European Microsoft Fabric Community Conference.
You need to pass the DP-700 exam in order to gain this new certification. Which is currently in beta. I published a post a while back about the DP-700 exam. So, I will not go into too many details about the certification in this post.
Short version is that it aligns more with the Data Engineer role mentioned in the Microsoft Fabric Career Hub. Which you can see when you select the Data Engineer role in the role guidance section.
Those looking to take the DP-700 beta exam can prepare yourselves now with my checklist for the DP-700 beta exam.
I must stress that the views expressed below are my own based on years of experience, and not those of my employer or Microsoft.
Why a Microsoft Fabric Data Engineer Associate certification is relevant
I personally think that there are a number of good reasons why a Microsoft Fabric Data Engineer Associate certification is relevant right now. So, I decided to split my reasons into two clear sections.
Why I think the Data Engineering certification is relevant at a personal level and why at an organization level.
Relevancy at a personal level
Certifications in general are good for personal development. Because they help formalize knowledge and improves confidence.
After a lot of people gained the Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate certification they mentioned online how much they were looking forward to seeing other Microsoft Fabric certifications. Especially after Kim Manis (l) from Microsoft commented on LinkedIn that more certifications were in the works.
At the same time people were identifying themselves more as a Data Engineer. Because they saw themselves focusing more on skills typically associated with a Data Engineer within Microsoft Fabric. Instead of the analytics aspects associated with the Fabric Analytics Engineer role described on the DP-600 exam page. Which includes knowledge about working with analytical assets such as Semantic Models.
Which is where the Data Engineering certification becomes relevant. Because it provides people with another certification to showcase their skills with Microsoft Fabric and provides Data Engineers with a way to validate their skills.
As you may have realized from reading the last few paragraphs, the DP-700 exam is not a replacement for the DP-600 exam. Because they are for two different roles.
Relevancy at an organization level
Over the years there has been an increase in demand for certified people in organizations. To the extent that organizations have created a matrix to align certifications with certain roles.
Mostly because organizations require evidence that people are both skilled and responsible enough to do their job.
For a variety of reasons, including being able to deliver work and to mitigate the risk of their data being compromised. Which is important in the age where data breaches are highly publicized.
One good example of this is Dutch company ABN AMRO. Who announced a while ago that employees had to gain the Power BI Associate certification to keep using Power BI Pro. Which you can view around twenty-seven minutes into a Kasper on BI video about Power BI at ABN AMRO.
It is safe to say that the Microsoft Fabric Data Engineering Associate certification caters for this demand from organizations. Because you need deep data engineering knowledge to pass the exam. Including knowledge about security and monitoring.
Specilizations
Another reason there is an increase in demand for certifications within organizations is because Microsoft Partners need to obtain various certifications in order to get a recognized specialization from Microsoft in certain areas.
For example, for a company to obtain an Analytics on Microsoft Azure specialization their organization must have at least five individuals pass the below certifications:
I suspect once the DP-700 exam is established it will also become a part of some criteria for some partners.
Final words about the relevancy of the Microsoft Fabric Data Engineer Associate certification
I hope my views about why the latest Microsoft Fabric Data Engineering certification is relevant will encourage more people to look to gain this certification.
Because the more popular Microsoft Fabric gets in the future the more the above reasons will be amplified. Even more so once the DP-700 exam goes out of beta and becomes Generally Available (GA).
Of course, if you have any comments or queries about this post feel free to reach out to me.