AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator — Complete Exam Prep vs AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 Exam Training

The course is aligned to the five official AZ-104 exam domains: managing Azure Identities and Governance (Azure Entra ID, RBAC, subscriptions, resource groups), implementing and managing Storage (Blob, File, SAS tokens, lifecycle policies, backup), deploying and managing Compute Resources (virtual machines, scale sets, App Services, containers), implementing and managing Virtual Networking (VNets, NSGs, load balancers, VPN gateways), and monitoring and maintaining Azure Resources (Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, backups, alerts). The V6.0 May 2025 update added practice exam content, refreshed the Microsoft Entra ID modules, and expanded Azure Web Apps coverage. The curriculum totals approximately 17.5 hours of on-demand video — substantial enough to cover every exam objective at meaningful depth without the padding that inflates cheaper courses. Eleven downloadable resources and a free study guide PDF supplement the video content. The bonus "last-minute exam cram" is a three-hour focused review session specifically praised by learners who used it the day before their scheduled exam. The content limitation most frequently cited by learners is a structural consequence of Azure's continuous update cycle: Microsoft regularly changes the Azure portal interface, and some lab walkthroughs demonstrate configurations in interface versions that no longer match the current portal. Learners report that the underlying concepts remain accurate — the lab steps just require adaptation to the current UI when steps do not match.

Scott Duffy is a software architect and Microsoft Azure MVP (Most Valuable Professional) with the MVP award held continuously from 2022 to 2025. He has accumulated 1.5 million total students across his Udemy catalogue, making him one of the platform's most-enrolled cloud computing instructors. His background as a software architect rather than a pure trainer gives the course a practitioner's perspective — he explains architectural trade-offs and design rationale rather than simply narrating portal clicks. Learner feedback consistently describes Duffy as "well organized," with one opencourser.com review noting he "clarified a lot of issues in the first few lectures" in a way that set a strong conceptual foundation before moving into complex topics. His willingness to update the course repeatedly (six major versions, with V6.0 released May 2025) signals genuine investment in keeping the material current — a differentiator in a certification niche where many courses are recorded once and left to age. The criticism that appears across multiple three-star reviews is pacing: the course assumes some prior familiarity with cloud concepts, and learners who are new to Azure entirely may find some modules progress faster than they can absorb. Scott's AZ-900 (Fundamentals) course is the recommended prerequisite for those without prior Azure exposure.

The course lists at $119.99 but Udemy's promotional pricing structure means the effective purchase price is consistently $14–$15. At that price point, 17.5 hours of video plus a full practice exam, downloadable resources, a study guide PDF, and lifetime access with ongoing updates represents outstanding value in the certification preparation market. The AZ-104 certification itself costs $165 per exam attempt. A course that equips learners to pass on the first attempt — as documented by multiple first-attempt pass reports in blog coverage — has a total cost (course + exam) of approximately $180, compared to failing the exam once and retaking it ($330 total). The course's value calculation therefore extends beyond the purchase price to include avoided retake costs. The included practice exam was highlighted as a significant value addition in the V6.0 update. Prior versions required learners to purchase practice exams separately; having both preparation content and assessment in a single purchase at this price is notable. Learners who want more practice exams beyond the included set frequently cite Whizlabs or MeasureUp as well-regarded supplements at additional cost.

The AZ-104 certification maps to the Azure Administrator associate role — a job title with significant market demand across mid-size and enterprise organisations that have adopted Azure as their primary cloud platform. The course is therefore preparation for both a certification exam and a real job function. Multiple learners in blog coverage describe the course as directly applicable to their current administrative responsibilities: understanding the concepts in the networking module (VNets, NSGs, VPN gateways) is immediately useful for administrators managing Azure environments in production. The monitoring module (Azure Monitor, Log Analytics) addresses skills needed to maintain production systems rather than pass exam questions in isolation. The Malith Ileperuma documentation of passing the AZ-104 in fifteen days (studying four to six hours per day) while combining Duffy's course with hands-on Azure labs demonstrates the study pattern that produces the best outcomes: the course as conceptual framework, supplemented by actual Azure portal practice using Microsoft's free labs. Learners who only watch the videos without deploying resources in a real Azure subscription consistently report less confidence in exam and post-certification scenarios.

The course spans 12+ hours across all four CLF-C02 exam domains — Cloud Concepts, Security and Compliance, Cloud Technology and Services, and Billing and Pricing — with visual diagrams, scenario-based explanations, and hands-on lab exercises woven throughout. Reviewers consistently praise the structured domain breakdown and how clearly each AWS service is positioned relative to real use cases, not just exam definitions. The main content limitation noted is that the hands-on labs, while present, are lighter than dedicated lab-only platforms — learners targeting deep practical experience alongside the certification should supplement.

Neal Davis brings over 20 years of hands-on AWS cloud experience to the course and is consistently cited across Trustpilot and Udemy reviews as the standout element. Reviewers describe his explanations as clear, structured, and exceptionally beginner-friendly — capable of making cloud networking and IAM concepts feel intuitive rather than abstract. His Digital Cloud Training platform holds a 4.5+ rating on Trustpilot across hundreds of reviews, and his teaching style is repeatedly described as addictive and confidence-building for learners with no prior cloud background.

At $13–$20 during Udemy's frequent sales, the course delivers one of the best cost-per-hour ratios of any Cloud Practitioner prep resource. Learners receive lifetime access, periodic content updates as CLF-C02 evolves, and a full-length practice exam simulation — at a price point multiple Trustpilot reviewers describe as exceptional. Compared with AWS's own official training ($300+) or bootcamp-style alternatives, the value case is clear and repeatedly cited as the primary reason learners chose this course.

Multiple reviewers — including first-attempt passers with no prior cloud background — credit the course as their primary preparation resource for the CLF-C02 exam. One Trustpilot reviewer passed with a score of 805, attributing their result directly to Neal Davis's structured explanations. The visual-heavy approach to AWS service differentiation (which service does what, and why you would use it) maps tightly to both the exam and to entry-level cloud roles, giving learners foundational vocabulary and mental models that transfer to the workplace.

Support follows the standard Udemy model: Q&A forums monitored by the course team, with no live instructor sessions or real-time interaction. For most CLF-C02 prep questions, the Q&A section is adequate, and Neal Davis's team is noted as responsive. The Digital Cloud Training website also supplements with additional study materials and an exam cram resource. Learners who need deeper technical support or personalised study planning will find the forum-only format limiting compared with instructor-led alternatives.