DevOps not only bridges the gap between development and operations but also enables automation, continuous delivery, and scalability. In the modern software landscape, where speed, efficiency, and quality are paramount, DevOps has become the cornerstone of digital transformation. With the widespread adoption of cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure, integrating DevOps with source control and collaboration tools has become essential. Recognizing this demand, Microsoft introduced the AZ-2008: DevOps & GitHub Foundations course to help professionals gain a strong foundational understanding of DevOps principles and GitHub workflows in the Azure ecosystem.
Whether you are a developer, system administrator, or aspiring DevOps engineer, the AZ-2008 online training course provides essential knowledge and practical skills that are vital in today’s DevOps-driven development environments. This blog by Multisoft Systems dives deep into what AZ-2008 offers, why it matters, and how it can shape your career in cloud-native development and operations.
What is DevOps & GitHub Foundations (AZ-2008)?
DevOps & GitHub Foundations (AZ-2008) is a foundational-level training course offered by Microsoft, designed to introduce learners to the essential principles of DevOps while integrating practical skills with GitHub, the industry’s leading collaboration and source control platform. This course provides a solid understanding of how development and operations teams can work together more efficiently through automation, continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), version control, and Agile project management practices. Learners gain hands-on experience using GitHub repositories, GitHub Actions for pipeline automation, GitHub Projects for task management, and GitHub Packages for artifact storage.
AZ-2008 also explores the cultural and process shifts that DevOps encourages, helping participants understand how to break down silos, implement rapid feedback loops, and deliver software more reliably. Integrated with Azure DevOps and other Microsoft cloud services, the course bridges cloud and DevOps learning pathways, preparing professionals for real-world workflows and further certification such as AZ-400. Ideal for developers, IT professionals, and beginners transitioning into DevOps roles, this course helps learners build foundational expertise in cloud-based DevOps using GitHub’s ecosystem. With AZ-2008 training, professionals can confidently automate tasks, manage source code, and foster team collaboration, all while aligning development practices with modern DevOps strategies.
Why Choose AZ-2008?
- AZ-2008 is not just about theory; it integrates hands-on labs and real-world scenarios to help learners immediately apply their knowledge in practical environments.
- With GitHub becoming the industry standard for source control and collaboration, and DevOps practices becoming mainstream, this course ensures you are aligned with current tech trends.
- AZ-2008 is curated by Microsoft experts and integrates tightly with Azure DevOps and GitHub, giving learners confidence in its quality and relevance.
- Whether you're starting a career in DevOps or transitioning from development, IT, or project management roles, AZ-2008 certification serves as an ideal entry point.
Key Learning Objectives
By the end of the AZ-2008 course, learners will be able to:
- Understand DevOps principles and lifecycle stages
- Use Git for version control and collaboration
- Manage source repositories and branching strategies
- Implement continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) using GitHub Actions
- Automate builds, tests, and deployments
- Integrate Azure services with GitHub workflows
- Utilize GitHub Issues, Projects, and Discussions for Agile project management
- Understand package management using GitHub Packages
- Monitor and manage infrastructure using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) concepts
DevOps Lifecycle: Plan, Develop, Deliver, Operate
1. Plan
This phase involves defining project goals, scope, and user stories. Teams collaborate using tools like GitHub Issues, Azure Boards, or Jira to prioritize tasks, estimate timelines, and plan sprints. The focus is on aligning business requirements with development activities through Agile methodologies.
2. Develop
In this stage, developers write, review, and test code in shared repositories using Git and GitHub. Features are developed in branches, merged via pull requests, and tested using unit and integration tests. Continuous Integration (CI) tools automate code validation to ensure high quality and early bug detection.
3. Deliver
Delivery focuses on deploying code to various environments. Using GitHub Actions, Azure Pipelines, or Jenkins, teams automate the release process. Continuous Delivery (CD) ensures that code changes are automatically tested and safely delivered to production-like environments with minimal manual intervention.
4. Operate
Once deployed, the application is monitored and managed to ensure performance, security, and reliability. Tools like Azure Monitor, Prometheus, and Grafana help track metrics, logs, and incidents. Feedback from this phase flows back into planning, enabling continuous improvement.
Each phase in the DevOps lifecycle emphasizes collaboration, automation, and continuous feedback, ensuring faster and more reliable software delivery.
Git and GitHub Fundamentals
Git and GitHub are foundational tools in modern software development and DevOps practices. Git is a distributed version control system that allows developers to track changes in their source code, collaborate with others, and maintain a history of every modification. It enables branching and merging, allowing multiple developers to work simultaneously on different features or fixes without interfering with each other’s code. GitHub, on the other hand, is a cloud-based platform built around Git that facilitates collaboration, version control, and code management in a centralized location. GitHub provides features such as repositories, issues, pull requests, forks, and project boards, making it easier for teams to manage their development workflows. Developers use Git to clone repositories, commit changes, push updates to GitHub, and collaborate through pull requests and code reviews. GitHub also integrates seamlessly with CI/CD pipelines, enabling automated testing and deployment through GitHub Actions.
Beyond code hosting, GitHub supports documentation, issue tracking, discussions, and Agile project management via GitHub Projects. For anyone pursuing DevOps or software development, understanding Git and GitHub is essential, as they form the backbone of source control and team collaboration in modern, cloud-native application lifecycles.
Agile Project Management with GitHub
Agile project management with GitHub empowers development teams to plan, track, and deliver software efficiently using lightweight and flexible tools. GitHub integrates Agile principles by offering features such as Issues, Projects, Milestones, and Labels, which help teams organize tasks, prioritize work, and maintain visibility across workflows. GitHub Issues act as user stories, tasks, or bugs that can be assigned, labeled, and tracked through different stages of development. Using GitHub Projects—Kanban-style boards—teams can visualize work in progress, set up customizable columns (e.g., To Do, In Progress, Done), and automate issue movement through workflows. Milestones allow grouping of issues by release or sprint, making it easier to track overall progress and timelines. Teams can also use Labels to categorize and filter tasks by urgency, type, or team. Integration with GitHub Actions enables automatic status updates and notifications based on code changes, pull requests, or deployments. Additionally, GitHub Discussions foster communication and feedback among team members, supporting the Agile value of collaboration. By leveraging these tools, teams using GitHub can practice iterative development, continuously deliver features, and respond quickly to change—all core to Agile methodology. This makes GitHub an ideal platform for Agile-based DevOps projects.
Security and Compliance in DevOps
Incorporating security and compliance into the DevOps process is essential for building resilient, trustworthy, and regulation-compliant applications. This approach, often called DevSecOps, ensures that security is embedded at every stage of the development lifecycle rather than being an afterthought. With continuous integration and deployment becoming the norm, it’s vital to automate security checks, manage access controls, and adhere to compliance standards without slowing down delivery. DevOps teams must adopt proactive measures that protect systems, data, and users while maintaining speed and agility.
Key Security and Compliance Practices in DevOps:
- Shift-Left Security: Integrate security checks early in the development cycle, including code scanning and dependency analysis during the build phase.
- Use of Secrets Management: Store credentials, API keys, and tokens securely using tools like GitHub Secrets, Azure Key Vault, or HashiCorp Vault.
- Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Define and enforce access levels for users and services to prevent unauthorized actions in source code and production environments.
- Automated Compliance Scanning: Continuously monitor infrastructure and code for policy violations and misconfigurations.
- Security Testing in CI/CD: Automate vulnerability scanning, static code analysis (SAST), and dynamic testing (DAST) in pipelines.
- Audit Logging and Monitoring: Track user activity and system changes through centralized logs for compliance and incident response readiness.
By integrating these practices, DevOps teams can uphold both security and compliance without compromising speed or innovation.
Tools and Technologies Covered
- Git – Version control
- GitHub – Source hosting and collaboration
- GitHub Actions – CI/CD pipelines
- GitHub Packages – Package repository
- Azure DevOps – Additional CI/CD and project management tool
- Azure Pipelines – Cloud-native build and release tool
- YAML – Workflow scripting
- Markdown – GitHub documentation and issues
- Visual Studio Code – IDE for DevOps integration
Benefits of Completing AZ-2008
1. Skill Development
Gain practical knowledge of GitHub workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and Agile management—all key to modern DevOps roles.
2. Career Advancement
Completing AZ-2008 lays the groundwork for roles such as DevOps Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer (SRE), Cloud Engineer, or Release Manager.
3. Certification Pathway
AZ-2008 serves as a stepping stone toward more advanced certifications like AZ-400: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions.
4. Confidence in Tooling
Get comfortable using tools like GitHub Actions and Azure Pipelines, which are used in thousands of production environments today.
Real-World Applications
The skills taught in AZ-2008 apply directly to real-world challenges:
- Startups use GitHub Actions to automate deployment of MVPs.
- Enterprise teams use GitHub Projects and Issues to manage Agile workflows.
- Freelancers use GitHub Packages to share reusable code and components.
- DevOps engineers build multi-environment CI/CD pipelines for hybrid deployments.
- Development teams use GitHub Discussions for community-driven feature development.
Career Opportunities and Growth
After completing AZ-2008, you can explore several career paths:
- Junior DevOps Engineer
- Automation Engineer
- Release/Build Engineer
- Cloud DevOps Associate
- GitHub Consultant
- Agile Project Coordinator (technical)
These roles are in high demand across software companies, cloud service providers, consulting firms, and startups.
Conclusion
The AZ-2008: DevOps & GitHub Foundations online course is an excellent entry point for individuals looking to break into DevOps, cloud automation, or GitHub-based collaboration. It offers the perfect blend of theoretical understanding and practical application, empowering learners to manage code, build pipelines, and implement Agile practices using industry-standard tools.
As software development continues to embrace automation, collaboration, and cloud-native technologies, courses like AZ-2008 play a crucial role in preparing professionals to meet these evolving demands. Whether you are starting your DevOps journey or aiming to enhance your GitHub expertise, AZ-2008 equips you with the skills and confidence to move forward with success. Enroll in Multisoft Systems now!