Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions (AZ-400)

Duration: 4 days

Comprehensive hands-on course fully aligned with Microsoft's AZ-400 certification curriculum. Master DevOps transformation, secure CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code, DevSecOps practices, SRE principles, and continuous feedback mechanisms using Azure DevOps, GitHub, and modern cloud-native tools.

Audience

• DevOps engineers, site reliability engineers (SREs), and cloud architects
• Developers and platform engineers working with Azure DevOps, GitHub, or hybrid environments
• IT professionals preparing for the Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400) certification
• Technical leads responsible for DevOps transformation, security, compliance, and enterprise-scale deployments

Prerequisites

• Practical knowledge of Azure administration and development
• Understanding of version control systems (Git)
• Familiarity with Agile development practices
• Basic understanding of CI/CD, cloud computing concepts (PaaS, SaaS, IaaS)
• Experience with either Azure DevOps or GitHub is recommended

Learning Goals

• Design and implement DevOps transformation strategies with measurable KPIs and value stream metrics
• Plan and track work using GitHub Projects, Azure Boards, and end-to-end traceability
• Implement enterprise source control strategies with advanced branching models and inner source practices
• Build secure, automated CI/CD pipelines using Azure Pipelines and GitHub Actions
• Design and implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Bicep, ARM templates, and Terraform
• Integrate DevSecOps practices: secrets management, vulnerability scanning, and GitHub Advanced Security
• Manage dependencies, artifacts, and package feeds with versioning strategies
• Implement SRE practices: monitoring, alerting, incident response, and continuous feedback
• Design release strategies: blue-green, canary, feature flags, and progressive exposure
• Establish compliance, auditing, and policy enforcement across pipelines and deployments
• Leverage AI-powered tools (GitHub Copilot) for automation and developer productivity
• Deploy containerized applications and implement multi-cloud/hybrid deployment scenarios

Course Outline

Module 1: DevOps Transformation and Strategy

• DevOps principles: people, process, product; cultural transformation
• Value stream mapping and cycle time optimization
• Defining transformation goals, KPIs, and success metrics
• Building effective DevOps teams and organizational structures
• Project selection and tool integration strategies

Module 2: Source Control and Version Management

• Enterprise Git strategies with Azure Repos and GitHub
• Branching strategies: trunk-based, GitFlow, release flows, environment protection
• Pull requests, code review practices, and branch policies
• Git hooks and automation: pre-commit/pre-push checks, compliance automation
• Inner source: fork workflows, contribution guidelines, governance
• Repository management: monorepo vs multi-repo, large repo practices, history cleanup
• Migrating from TFVC to Git

Module 3: Planning and Work Tracking

• GitHub Projects and Azure Boards integration
• Work item linking, views, and agile workflows
• End-to-end traceability from requirements to deployment
• Sprint planning, backlogs, and iterative development

Module 4: CI/CD Pipeline Design and Implementation

• Building automated pipelines with Azure Pipelines and GitHub Actions
• Pipeline as code: YAML definitions and template reuse
• Multi-stage pipelines and environment approvals
• Parallel execution, caching, and optimization strategies
• Container build strategies and Docker integration
• Semantic versioning and release tagging

Module 5: Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

• ARM templates fundamentals and best practices
• Bicep: modern declarative IaC for Azure
• Terraform: cloud-agnostic infrastructure provisioning
• Configuration management with Desired State Configuration (DSC)
• Environment provisioning and management strategies
• IaC security, validation, and testing

Module 6: Dependency and Artifact Management

• Package management with Azure Artifacts and GitHub Packages
• Creating and consuming package feeds (NuGet, npm, Maven, PyPI)
• Versioning strategies and semantic versioning
• Dependency scanning and license compliance
• Artifact promotion across environments

Module 7: DevSecOps and Security Integration

• Shift-left security practices in CI/CD pipelines
• Secrets management with Azure Key Vault and GitHub Secrets
• GitHub Advanced Security: secret scanning, code scanning with CodeQL, dependency review
• Vulnerability scanning and remediation workflows
• Security gates and approval policies
• Compliance scanning and policy enforcement

Module 8: Container and Kubernetes Deployments

• Docker containerization strategies
• Building and publishing container images
• Azure Container Registry and security scanning
• Deploying to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
• Helm charts and package management
• GitOps workflows and deployment automation

Module 9: Release Management and Deployment Strategies

• Release pipelines and multi-environment deployments
• Blue-green deployments
• Canary releases and progressive exposure
• Feature flags and configuration management
• A/B testing and experimentation
• Rollback strategies and disaster recovery

Module 10: Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) and Monitoring

• SRE principles and practices
• Monitoring with Azure Monitor and Application Insights
• Kusto Query Language (KQL) for log analytics
• Setting up alerts and automated incident response
• Service Level Objectives (SLOs), Service Level Indicators (SLIs), and error budgets
• Distributed tracing and application performance management

Module 11: Continuous Feedback and Optimization

• Telemetry collection and analysis
• User feedback integration and feature usage tracking
• Application analytics and business metrics
• Automated health checks and synthetic monitoring
• Blameless retrospectives and continuous improvement culture
• Service hooks and integration with external systems

Module 12: Compliance, Auditing, and Governance

• Azure Policy and governance frameworks
• Compliance as code and automated auditing
• Audit trails and regulatory requirements
• Role-based access control (RBAC) and security boundaries
• Multi-cloud and hybrid deployment governance

Module 13: AI and Automation Tools

• GitHub Copilot for DevOps automation and productivity
• AI-powered code suggestions and infrastructure templates
• Automation best practices and intelligent workflows
• Cloud-native tooling and modern DevOps practices

Module 14: Technical Debt and Code Quality

• Identifying and tracking technical debt
• Code quality tools and metrics (SonarQube, code coverage)
• Automated code analysis in pipelines
• Remediation planning and continuous refactoring

Hands-on Labs

Source Control and Collaboration

• Configure branching strategies and branch policies in Azure Repos/GitHub
• Implement pull request workflows with required reviewers and automated checks
• Set up Git hooks for pre-commit security scanning and code formatting
• Execute fork-based inner source contributions with reviewer workflows
• Link GitHub commits/PRs to Azure Boards work items

CI/CD Pipelines

• Build multi-stage Azure Pipelines with YAML
• Create GitHub Actions workflows for build and deployment
• Implement pipeline templates and reusable workflows
• Configure environment-specific deployments with approvals
• Set up container image builds and push to registries

Infrastructure as Code

• Provision Azure resources using ARM templates
• Deploy infrastructure with Bicep templates
• Implement multi-cloud deployments using Terraform
• Configure infrastructure validation and testing in pipelines
• Manage environment configurations with DSC

Dependency and Artifact Management

• Create and publish packages to Azure Artifacts
• Configure package feeds and upstream sources
• Implement package versioning and promotion strategies
• Scan dependencies for vulnerabilities
• Set up automated dependency updates

DevSecOps and Security

• Integrate Azure Key Vault secrets in pipelines
• Enable GitHub Advanced Security: secret scanning and code scanning
• Configure CodeQL analysis for vulnerability detection
• Implement security gates and compliance checks
• Set up automated security scanning in CI/CD workflows

Container and Kubernetes

• Build and push Docker images to Azure Container Registry
• Deploy applications to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
• Implement Helm chart deployments
• Configure GitOps workflows with Flux or ArgoCD
• Configure Pod Security Admission / Pod Security Standards and network policies

Release Management

• Implement blue-green deployment strategy
• Configure canary releases with traffic splitting
• Set up feature flags for progressive rollout
• Create automated rollback mechanisms
• Design multi-region deployment pipelines

Monitoring and SRE

• Configure Application Insights for application monitoring
• Create custom dashboards in Azure Monitor
• Write KQL queries for log analysis
• Set up alerts and automated incident response
• Implement distributed tracing across microservices
• Define SLOs and error budgets

Compliance and Governance

• Apply Azure Policy for resource compliance
• Implement audit logging and reporting
• Configure RBAC for pipeline and resource access
• Set up compliance scanning in deployment pipelines
• Create governance workflows for multi-cloud environments

AI and Automation

• Use GitHub Copilot for pipeline and infrastructure code generation
• Implement intelligent automation workflows
• Optimize DevOps processes with AI-powered insights

Quality and Technical Debt

• Integrate SonarQube for code quality analysis
• Set up code coverage reporting in pipelines
• Identify and track technical debt metrics
• Implement automated code quality gates
• Create remediation plans with targeted pull requests

Outcomes

• Comprehensive understanding of DevOps transformation principles and cultural practices
• Production-ready CI/CD pipelines with security, compliance, and quality gates
• Proficiency in Infrastructure as Code using Bicep, ARM templates, and Terraform
• Integrated DevSecOps practices with automated vulnerability scanning and secrets management
• Operational monitoring, alerting, and SRE practices for reliable systems
• Enterprise-scale source control strategies with governance and inner source workflows
• Container and Kubernetes deployment expertise for cloud-native applications
• Advanced release management with blue-green, canary, and feature flag strategies
• Dependency and artifact management with secure package feeds
• Compliance and auditing frameworks for regulated environments
• AI-powered automation skills with GitHub Copilot and intelligent workflows
• Multi-cloud and hybrid deployment capabilities
• Technical debt management and code quality improvement practices
• Full preparation for Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400) certification exam