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Learning Plan for Azure Landing Zone Enablement

This skilling plan prepares customer technical staff to successfully design, deploy, and operate an Azure Landing Zone — the foundational framework for enterprise-scale Azure environments. Staff will gain expertise in governance, networking, identity, and workload management to ensure compliance, security, and operational efficiency from day one.

Objectives​

  • Equip teams to independently manage the Azure Landing Zone post-handover.
  • Build proficiency in the Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) Landing Zone patterns.
  • Establish governance, security, and operations practices aligned to enterprise requirements.

Key Customer Technical Roles - Azure Landing Zone Focus​

RoleResponsibilities in Landing ZoneRequired SkillsTraining / Enablement Plan
IT AdministratorDeploy and manage core Landing Zone components (subscriptions, management groups, RBAC).Management group hierarchy, subscription management, Azure Policy assignment, tagging standards, resource organization.AZ-104: Azure Administrator + Azure Landing Zone deployment workshop. Hands-on labs deploying management groups and policies. Partner-led walkthrough of customer-specific hierarchy.
IT Governance LeadEstablish governance baseline across the Landing Zone (policy, cost, compliance).Azure Policy, Blueprints, Cost Management + Billing, FinOps practices, compliance reporting.Azure Governance & Management training. Workshop on CAF governance baseline implementation. Review and customize policy definitions for customer policies.
IT Operations EngineerMonitor and operate Landing Zone infrastructure and workloads.Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Network Watcher, Azure Automation, DevOps pipelines for IaC.AZ-305: Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure. Training on Landing Zone operations runbooks. Shadow partner during connectivity and monitoring setup.
IT Security SpecialistSecure the Landing Zone foundation (networking, identity, threat protection).Entra ID (hybrid identity), Private Link, DDoS protection, Azure Defender for Cloud, NSGs, Azure Firewall.AZ-500: Azure Security Engineer + Zero Trust workshop. Hands-on hub-and-spoke networking security labs. Joint security posture review of deployed Landing Zone.
Network Engineer (Added for Landing Zone)Design and manage enterprise-scale networking.Hub-and-spoke topology, VPN/ExpressRoute, VNet peering, Azure Firewall, Private DNS.Microsoft Networking in Azure training. Partner-led connectivity deployment workshops. Network design review sessions.

Training and Enablement Approach - Landing Zone Specific​

  • Pre-Deployment Assessment

    • Evaluate current Azure networking, governance, and identity management maturity.
    • Map gaps to Landing Zone accelerator requirements.

  • Learning Path - Phased Approach
    Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1-2)

    • Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) + Cloud Adoption Framework overview.
      Phase 2: Landing Zone Core (Weeks 3-6)
    • Hands-on Landing Zone deployment using Bicep/ARM templates.
    • Governance, networking, and security workshops.
      Phase 3: Advanced Operations (Weeks 7-10)
    • Monitoring, automation, and CI/CD pipeline training.

  • Hands-On Enablement

    • Deploy sandbox Landing Zone for training purposes.
    • Participate in joint deployment of production Landing Zone.
    • Shadow sessions during connectivity, policy, and security configuration.

  • Knowledge Transfer Milestones

    • Week 4: Customer deploys test management group hierarchy.
    • Week 8: Customer configures and tests governance policies.
    • Week 12: Customer demonstrates monitoring and alerting setup.

  • Ongoing Enablement

    • Establish Landing Zone Center of Excellence (CoE) team.
    • Monthly reviews of new Azure features and best practices.

Deliverables & Success Criteria​

DeliverableCompletion TimelineSuccess Metric
Role-specific skill matricesWeek 2100% staff assessment completed
Customized Landing Zone training labsWeek 3Deployable sandbox environment
Training completion certificatesWeek 1280% of identified staff certified
Landing Zone operations runbooksWeek 12Documented handover procedures
Quarterly skill review processOngoingEstablished CoE cadence

Key Landing Zone Resources Provided​

  • Azure Landing Zone accelerator templates customized for customer topology.
  • Governance policy library aligned to customer compliance requirements.
  • Operations runbooks for common Landing Zone scenarios.