This az 104 study plan allocates study sessions in proportion to Microsoft's published domain weights: identities and governance and compute resources get the most time, storage and networking come next, and monitoring gets the least, though every domain is included. It offers 4-week, 8-week and 12-week versions, each ending with a full-length timed mock before you book the real exam.
A useful az 104 study plan should mirror how the exam itself is weighted, not split study time evenly across topics you already know versus topics you do not. The five domains on the exam objectives page carry different weights, so the schedules below give more sessions to the heavier domains and fewer to the lighter one, while still covering every domain at least once.
The domain weights driving this plan
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Manage Azure identities and governance | 24% |
| Implement and manage storage | 20% |
| Deploy and manage Azure compute resources | 24% |
| Implement and manage virtual networking | 18% |
| Monitor and maintain Azure resources | 14% |
Identities and governance and compute resources are tied for the heaviest weight, so both schedules below treat them as the anchor domains. Monitoring is the lightest, but it still gets a dedicated session in every plan, since it is tested on every attempt.
4-week plan (fast track)
- Week 1: Manage Azure identities and governance. Work through Microsoft Entra users and groups, access management, and subscription governance, since this is one of the two heaviest domains.
- Week 2: Deploy and manage Azure compute resources, the second heaviest domain. Cover ARM templates and Bicep files, virtual machine configuration, and basic container provisioning.
- Week 3: Implement and manage storage, then Implement and manage virtual networking, split across the week since together they cover a large share of the exam.
- Week 4: Monitor and maintain Azure resources, a full review pass across all five domains, and a timed mock to check readiness before booking.
8-week plan (steady pace)
- Weeks 1 to 2: Manage Azure identities and governance, with extra time for role assignment and Azure Policy, which tend to need repeated practice.
- Weeks 3 to 4: Deploy and manage Azure compute resources, covering both the deployment automation objectives and the virtual machine and container objectives separately.
- Week 5: Implement and manage storage, focused on access methods, redundancy, and blob storage configuration.
- Week 6: Implement and manage virtual networking, focused on virtual networks, NSGs, and load balancing.
- Week 7: Monitor and maintain Azure resources, covering both Azure Monitor and Azure Backup and Site Recovery.
- Week 8: Full review across all five domains, a timed mock, and a second pass on whichever domain scored weakest.
12-week plan (thorough)
- Weeks 1 to 3: Manage Azure identities and governance, working through each objective statement individually with hands-on practice in a subscription, not just reading.
- Weeks 4 to 6: Deploy and manage Azure compute resources, again broken into separate blocks for deployment automation, virtual machines, and containers.
- Weeks 7 to 8: Implement and manage storage, with time to practice SAS tokens, stored access policies, and storage tiers hands-on.
- Weeks 9 to 10: Implement and manage virtual networking, including hands-on peering, NSG rule evaluation, and load balancer configuration.
- Week 11: Monitor and maintain Azure resources, covering Azure Monitor, Recovery Services vaults, Azure Backup, and Azure Site Recovery.
- Week 12: A full review across all five domains, at least one timed mock, and a final pass focused on your two weakest domains from that mock.
Using a mock inside the plan
However long your plan runs, the last session should be a full-length, timed attempt that mirrors the domain weights above, since a single practice attempt across all five domains tells you far more than five separate topic quizzes taken in isolation. Once you have a mock score broken down by domain, spend any remaining days before your booked exam date closing the specific gaps it points to rather than restudying everything evenly.
When your plan is finished, review the exam format and scoring page so the timing and delivery method hold no surprises, then move to cost and booking to schedule your attempt.
Exam facts on this page come from Microsoft’s own pages (official exam page). Prices, versions and policies change — confirm there before you book.