Describe Azure management and governance
Azure Management and Deployment Tools
CoreRecognize graphical, command, hybrid-management, infrastructure-as-code, and control-plane tools.
Aligned to the AZ-900 skills measured as of July 20, 2026; product behavior verified August 23, 2026.
Why this matters
Azure offers several valid management surfaces. The requirement—not personal preference—determines whether the answer is a browser GUI, a hosted shell, a command family, hybrid projection, or a repeatable declarative definition.
Must Know
- The Azure portal is a browser-based graphical management interface.
- Azure Cloud Shell is a browser-accessible hosted shell that provides Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell. Azure CLI uses cross-platform command-line syntax; Azure PowerShell uses PowerShell cmdlets and objects.
- Azure Arc projects Azure management and governance capabilities to supported resources outside Azure, including on-premises and other clouds.
- Infrastructure as code represents infrastructure in machine-readable definitions so deployments can be repeatable, reviewable, and consistent.
- Azure Resource Manager is Azure’s deployment and management control plane. An ARM template is a declarative resource definition submitted through that control plane.
Compare and Distinguish
- Portal vs Cloud Shell: graphical browser interface versus hosted command environment.
- Cloud Shell vs CLI/PowerShell: environment that hosts tools versus the command tool families.
- Azure Arc vs Azure Migrate vs ExpressRoute: manage outside-Azure resources versus move workloads versus provide hybrid connectivity.
- Manual steps vs IaC: one-time human procedure versus repeatable machine-readable desired state.
- ARM vs ARM template: management control plane versus declarative deployment artifact.
Scenario examples
- A new learner uses the portal to inspect resource groups graphically.
- A browser-only workstation opens Cloud Shell to run Azure CLI or PowerShell.
- An organization manages on-premises servers with Azure governance through Arc without first migrating them.
- Development and test use one ARM template with different parameters for repeatable environments.
Exam traps
- Cloud Shell, Azure CLI, and Azure PowerShell are related but not identical.
- Application source code is not automatically infrastructure as code.
- Azure Arc is not a migration service or a private network circuit.
- ARM is not simply the template file.
Key takeaways
- Match the surface to graphical, command, hybrid, or declarative needs.
- IaC describes desired infrastructure repeatably.
- ARM processes resource-management requests; ARM templates declare resources.
Ready for the quiz?
- What does Cloud Shell provide?
- When is Azure Arc appropriate?
- How does ARM differ from an ARM template?
Related objectives
- D3.3.S1 — Describe the Azure portal
- D3.3.S2 — Describe Azure Cloud Shell, Azure CLI, and Azure PowerShell
- D3.3.S3 — Describe the purpose of Azure Arc
- D3.3.S4 — Describe infrastructure as code (IaC)
- D3.3.S5 — Describe Azure Resource Manager (ARM) and ARM templates