How to Approach AZ-104 Case Studies: The Initial Analysis Phase
Deconstructing the Business Scenario and Objectives
The first step in solving AZ-104 complex scenarios is to identify the primary business driver. Every case study begins with a high-level overview that sets the stage—perhaps a company is migrating from on-premises data centers to the cloud, or they are expanding a localized application to a global audience. You must distinguish between the "Current Environment" and the "Planned Changes." For instance, if the scenario mentions a Subscription limit or a specific Region availability, these are not mere flavor text; they are the boundaries of your solution space. Pay close attention to the "Business Requirements" section, which often dictates the priority of the migration. Is the goal to minimize administrative effort, or is it to ensure the highest possible SLA? Understanding the "why" behind the move helps you filter out technically valid but contextually incorrect answers later in the process.
Identifying Key Stakeholders, Constraints, and Requirements
A successful AZ-104 business requirement analysis involves categorizing information into three buckets: technical requirements, security requirements, and constraints. Technical requirements might specify the use of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) or a specific Virtual Machine (VM) size. Security requirements often mandate the use of Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) or Conditional Access policies. Constraints are the most critical, as they often include phrases like "minimize costs" or "prevent the use of Public IPs." In the exam environment, these constraints function as the ultimate tie-breaker. If two solutions both achieve the technical goal, the one that adheres to the constraint (e.g., using a Basic Load Balancer instead of a Standard one to save costs, if features allow) is the correct choice. Identifying these early prevents you from having to re-read the entire prompt for every question.
Annotating Architecture Diagrams and Technical Specs
While you cannot physically draw on the digital exam screen, you must mentally or digitally map the provided architecture. Case studies often include tabs for "Network Diagrams" or "Server Inventories." Look for specific details like CIDR blocks, Subnet delegations, and Network Security Group (NSG) rules already in place. For example, if a diagram shows a Hub-and-Spoke topology with a VPN Gateway, any question regarding cross-premises connectivity must account for the existing gateway's throughput and SKU. A common mistake is selecting a solution that requires a feature not supported by the current SKU mentioned in the technical specs. Always cross-reference the "Existing Environment" tab before committing to a configuration change, as the exam frequently tests your ability to identify compatibility issues between legacy systems and modern Azure services.
Connecting Business Needs to Specific Azure Services
Transitioning from analysis to solutioning requires a deep understanding of service capabilities. In AZ-104 scenario based questions, the exam may ask you to select a storage solution for a specific department. If the requirement specifies "frequent access with low latency" but also mentions "archival after 30 days," you must immediately think of Azure Blob Storage with Lifecycle Management policies. The connection must be precise; for instance, if the requirement is to provide localized access to files for global offices, Azure File Sync is the likely candidate. You are being tested on your ability to map a functional need to the specific feature set of an Azure resource. This requires knowing not just what a service does, but which specific Tier or SKU (such as Premium vs. Standard) unlocks the required functionality mentioned in the business case.
One of the most challenging aspects of the multi-question case study strategy is managing trade-offs. You will often encounter scenarios where a high-performance requirement conflicts with a strict budget constraint. In these instances, look for the "Least Administrative Effort" or "Minimize Costs" keywords. For example, if you need to provide a dedicated connection to Azure, ExpressRoute offers the best performance, but a Site-to-Site VPN is significantly more cost-effective. If the case study emphasizes budget over throughput, the VPN is the answer. Conversely, if the requirement is "99.99% availability," you must ignore the lower-cost single-instance VM options and look toward Availability Zones and Load Balancers. The scoring system rewards the candidate who recognizes that the "best" technical solution is the one that satisfies all stated constraints, not necessarily the most powerful one available.
Ensuring Solution Consistency Across All Questions
Case studies are evaluated as a cohesive unit. If Question 1 asks you to choose a networking model and you select a VNet Peering approach, then Question 3, which might ask about routing between those networks, must be answered in a way that is consistent with peering. This is where many candidates fail; they treat each question as an isolated event. If you choose an Azure Firewall for perimeter security in an early question, your subsequent answers regarding traffic filtering should reference Application Rules or Network Rules within that firewall, rather than suggesting NSGs for the same task. This holistic coherence is a hallmark of an expert administrator. Always verify that your answer for a sub-question doesn't technically invalidate a choice you made two questions prior, as the scenario remains static throughout the module.
Answering Sequential Questions Within a Case Study
Maintaining Logical Flow and Technical Dependencies
The structure of an AZ-104 case study often follows the lifecycle of a project: discovery, planning, implementation, and optimization. Questions are frequently ordered to reflect this. For instance, you might first be asked to configure an Azure AD Tenant (now Microsoft Entra ID), followed by a question on assigning RBAC roles, and finally a question on auditing access via Log Analytics. There is a technical dependency here; you cannot effectively audit what has not been properly permissioned. Recognizing this flow allows you to anticipate the next step in the administrative process. If you find yourself stuck on a question about User Defined Routes (UDRs), look back at the previous question about the Network Virtual Appliance (NVA)—the two are almost certainly linked in the context of the scenario's traffic flow requirements.
While the exam interface usually prevents you from going back to change answers once you leave the case study section, you can and should use the information revealed in the questions themselves to refine your understanding. Sometimes, the phrasing of Question 4 can provide a hint about a detail you missed in the initial reading of the case study artifacts. For example, if a question asks about the configuration of a Backup Policy for "the new SQL servers," and you hadn't noticed SQL servers in the requirements, go back to the "Planned Changes" tab. The questions act as a guided tour of the requirements. However, be wary of "distractor" questions that ask about services not mentioned in the requirements; if a service isn't in the artifacts, it’s likely not part of the correct solution architecture.
Avoiding Contradictions in Your Solution Architecture
A common pitfall is providing a "fragmented" solution. Imagine a scenario where the requirement is to secure a web application. If you select Azure Front Door with WAF in the first question to handle global traffic, but then select a Public Load Balancer for the backend VMs in a later question, you have created a contradiction. The Front Door should generally point to private backends or be the sole entry point. Such contradictions often stem from a lack of a clear mental model of the end-to-state architecture. Before answering the first question, take three minutes to sketch the final state of the environment on your provided scratch paper. This visual reference ensures that every answer you provide contributes to a single, functional, and non-contradictory architectural design.
Common Case Study Themes and Solution Patterns
Hybrid Connectivity and On-Premises Integration Scenarios
Many AZ-104 case studies focus on the hybrid cloud, testing your ability to bridge the gap between a local data center and an Azure VNet. You will likely encounter the Azure AD Connect (Entra Connect) tool in these scenarios. The key is understanding how identities are synchronized and how authentication is handled—whether through Password Hash Synchronization, Pass-through Authentication, or Federation. From a networking perspective, you must be familiar with the Local Network Gateway object, which represents your on-premises VPN device in Azure. If the case study mentions a requirement for a "private, dedicated connection that does not traverse the internet," you are being steered toward ExpressRoute. Understanding these patterns allows you to quickly categorize the scenario and recall the specific configuration steps required for hybrid integration.
Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning
Expect at least one case study to revolve around Azure Site Recovery (ASR) or Azure Backup. These scenarios typically provide a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and a Recovery Point Objective (RPO). If the RTO is very low, you'll need to look for solutions involving Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS) or Multi-region deployments with Traffic Manager. If the scenario focuses on accidental deletion or ransomware, the focus shifts to Recovery Services Vaults and Soft Delete features. A critical detail often tested is the support matrix; for example, ensuring that the VM size or OS version mentioned in the "Current Environment" is actually supported by ASR. Always check the storage account types—remember that Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS) provides high availability within a region, but not across regions.
Governance, Compliance, and Cost Management at Scale
Larger scenarios often involve multiple subscriptions and the need for standardized deployments. This is where Azure Policy and Management Groups come into play. If a case study mentions that "all resources must be deployed in the East US region" or "all VMs must have a specific tag," you should immediately look for an Azure Policy definition or an Azure Blueprint. For cost management, you might be asked to analyze a Cost Analysis report and suggest improvements. The solution often involves moving to Reserved Instances or implementing Azure Advisor recommendations. In these governance-heavy scenarios, the "Least Administrative Effort" rule is paramount; a single Policy assigned at the Management Group level is always preferred over manual configuration of individual resources.
Time-Boxing and Pacing for Case Study Success
Allocating Your Exam Time Proportionately
The AZ-104 exam is a timed event, and case studies are notorious for consuming a disproportionate amount of that time. A typical exam might have 40–60 questions, with one or two case studies containing 4–8 questions each. You should aim to spend no more than 15–20 minutes on a single case study. This includes 5 minutes for the initial reading and 2 minutes per question. Because you cannot return to the case study once you finish the section, there is a temptation to over-analyze. Use a "pass-one" strategy: read the scenario, answer the questions you are certain of, and then use the remaining allotted time to dig into the more complex requirements. If you find yourself spending 5 minutes on a single sub-question, you are risking your ability to finish the rest of the exam.
When to Move On and Flag a Sub-Question for Review
Within the case study section itself, you can usually move back and forth between the questions belonging to that specific case. If a question about Private Link vs. Service Endpoints is confusing, flag it and move to the next question within the same case study. Often, a later question might clarify the networking layout, making the previous question easier to answer. However, remember the "Point of No Return": once you click the button to exit the case study section and move to the general pool of questions, you can never go back. Therefore, "flagging for review" only works while you are still inside that specific case study module. Ensure all questions have an answer—even a guess—before you exit, as there is no penalty for an incorrect guess on the AZ-104.
Final Validation: Checking for Holistic Coherence
Before you commit your final answers for the case study, perform a quick "sanity check" against the primary constraints. If the business requirement was to "minimize cost," and you have selected Premium SSDs and Ultra Disks for all your VMs, you should re-evaluate. Does a Standard HDD or Standard SSD meet the IOPS requirements mentioned in the technical specs? If so, the Standard disk is the correct answer in the context of the exam. This final validation ensures that you haven't fallen for "feature-rich" traps—solutions that are technically impressive but violate the specific, often restrictive, requirements of the business scenario. This coherence check is the final step in the AZ-104 case study framework.
Practice Techniques for Case Study Proficiency
Using Microsoft Learn Case Study Examples
Microsoft Learn provides several sandbox environments and guided paths that mirror the logic of exam case studies. When working through these, don't just follow the instructions—analyze the "Why." If a module instructs you to create a Virtual Network Gateway, look at the preceding architectural description to see what necessitated that specific resource. Practice identifying the "triggers" in the text. For example, the word "asynchronous" in a storage requirement should immediately trigger a thought of Queue Storage or certain Async Replication features. By training your brain to recognize these linguistic triggers, you reduce the cognitive load during the actual exam, allowing you to process the vast amount of information in a case study more efficiently.
Creating Your Own Scenarios from Practice Test Questions
A powerful way to deepen your expertise is to reverse-engineer standard practice questions. Take three independent questions—one about Azure DNS, one about VNet Peering, and one about Internal Load Balancers—and try to weave them into a single coherent business story. Ask yourself: "What kind of company would need all three of these?" Perhaps a company with a multi-tier web app that needs internal service discovery and cross-network connectivity. By building these mental models, you become adept at solving AZ-104 complex scenarios because you understand how different Azure components interact. This exercise helps you move beyond seeing services as isolated silos and starts you thinking like a true Azure Administrator who manages integrated ecosystems.
Peer Review: Explaining Your Chosen Solution to Others
Teaching a concept is the highest form of mastery. If you are in a study group, take a complex scenario and explain your solution to a peer, specifically justifying your choices based on the constraints. If you chose a Scale Set over individual VMs, explain why that fits the "elasticity" requirement mentioned in the prompt. If your peer challenges your choice by pointing out a "cost-minimization" constraint you missed, you have just simulated the exact type of critical thinking required for the exam. This verbalization of the AZ-104 business requirement analysis process solidifies your logical pathways and helps you identify your own biases toward certain services, ensuring a more objective and successful approach on exam day.