Quick answer
Build a certification study path from the current issuer blueprint, the recommended background, objective coverage, practice evidence, and exam logistics. The planner turns a declared time window into a transparent workload allocation; it does not produce a readiness score, pass probability, or booking recommendation.
Before treating an exam date as actionable, confirm the exact exam code and objective document, map each resource to the current domains, record practice gaps, and resolve any accommodation or access dependency. If one of those fields is unknown, the output keeps it visible as a stop or follow-up rather than filling the gap with a guess.
Evidence and scope
- Research basis
- Official public sources plus a reproducible, non-participant study-path planning method (E1+E3)
- Information checked
- Profiles
- CompTIA Security+ SY0-701, AWS SAA-C03, and Microsoft Azure AZ-900
- Direct evaluation
- Blocked; no certification account, course, lab, practice assessment, exam sandbox, booking, or accommodation request was used
- Original-research branch
- Complete for the disclosed allocation rules, reference model, browser runtime, and synthetic fixture parity only
- Main limitation
- The output organizes declared evidence and available time; it cannot measure learning, readiness, accessibility, or an exam result.
This release refreshes the official-source boundary without turning issuer facts into a ranking. Published weights and route descriptions are planning inputs, not evidence that a learner has mastered an objective. Unknown is not zero, a recommendation is not a prerequisite, and a study allocation is not a promise of completion or success. See How we test for the evidence labels and testing boundaries used here.
Planner rules
Version 1 supports three bounded certification profiles rather than every exam. Its default six hours per week and eight weeks are editable planning values, not issuer requirements. The method allocates declared capacity across scope/background, objective-domain coverage, practice, and gap review/logistics; it never returns a score, pass probability, ranking, or booking recommendation.
Current public pages provide different kinds of evidence. AWS publishes an SAA-C03 exam overview with 130 minutes, 65 questions, and a $150 US price display; the exact scheduling route and currency still require purchase-time verification. Microsoft labels AZ-900 beginner-level and shows the certification page last updated July 20, 2026. CompTIA’s retained Security+ URLs redirected during this check, so the approved SY0-701 profile remains qualified rather than silently re-derived from the redirect.
On narrow screens, scroll horizontally to view every column.
| Planning block | Share | Evidence question |
|---|---|---|
| Scope and background | 15% | Is the exact current exam code confirmed, and has the issuer’s recommended background been assessed? |
| Objective-domain coverage | 55% | Does each resource map to the current objective document without silently omitting a domain? |
| Practice and diagnostic evidence | 20% | Is there bounded practice and a logged diagnostic gap record? |
| Gap review and logistics | 10% | Are material gaps, accommodation needs, current policies, and booking assumptions reviewed? |
For AZ-900, Microsoft publishes ranges rather than single weights. The planner uses normalized range midpoints only for a transparent planning split and continues to display the official ranges; the derived shares are not official exam weights.
Issuer profiles and boundaries
The retained Security+ profile is SY0-701. Its approved packet records up to 90 questions in 90 minutes, multiple-choice and performance-based items, five weighted domains, and recommended Network+ knowledge plus roughly two years of related experience. That background is a recommendation, not a formal prerequisite. The current CompTIA certification and training routes redirected during this refresh, so this candidate does not infer current price, entitlement, or product availability from those redirects. CompTIA: Security+ Certification, CompTIA: Security+ SY0-701 Exam Objectives.
CompTIA separates comprehensive learning, labs, and practice into different product surfaces. A planner can assign those surfaces different jobs, but their existence does not prove quality, completeness, or current entitlement. CompTIA: Security+ Certification Training, CompTIA: CertMaster Learn, CompTIA: CertMaster Labs, and CompTIA: CertMaster Practice.
AWS currently describes SAA-C03 as a 130-minute, 65-question Associate exam with a $150 US price display and recommends about one year of hands-on experience designing AWS cloud solutions. The exam guide keeps four domain weights: secure 30%, resilient 26%, high-performing 24%, and cost-optimized 20%. AWS separates exam familiarization, knowledge refresh, practice, and an official practice exam; its before-testing policy also requires accommodation requests before scheduling. AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, AWS SAA-C03 Exam Guide, AWS Before Testing, and AWS Skill Builder.
Microsoft’s current Azure Fundamentals page labels AZ-900 beginner-level and shows a July 20, 2026 update. The study guide says skills are measured as of July 20, 2026 and publishes ranges of 25-30%, 35-40%, and 30-35%. The linked learning paths currently show 3, 5, and 4 modules, while the guided-project path shows 8 modules. Microsoft’s accommodation page describes advance notice, supporting documentation, and a possible approval wait, so the planner keeps logistics separate from objective evidence. Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals, Microsoft Learn: AZ-900 Study Guide, Microsoft Learn: Describe Cloud Concepts, Microsoft Learn: Describe Azure Architecture and Services, Microsoft Learn: Describe Azure Management and Governance, and Microsoft Learn: Apply Azure Skills in Guided Projects.
On narrow screens, scroll horizontally to view every column.
| Profile | Published background context | Coverage basis | Practice route |
|---|---|---|---|
| CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 | Network+ knowledge and approximately two years in a security or systems-administration role; recommendation, not a formal prerequisite. | 5 domains; exact percent | Verify a current objective-aligned diagnostic or practice route; learning, labs, and practice are separate surfaces. |
| AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) | About one year of hands-on experience designing AWS cloud solutions; recommendation, while the exam page does not require a specific training course. | 4 domains; exact percent | AWS describes exam-style questions, digital training and labs, review/practice, and an official practice exam as distinct steps. |
| Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) | Beginner-level certification; the linked first learning path states basic familiarity with IT terms and concepts. | 3 domains; official ranges with normalized midpoint planning assumption | Microsoft links a practice assessment, exam sandbox, three study paths, and an optional guided-project path. |
A certification profile is only a current planning frame. It does not establish which course to buy, whether practice access works for a particular learner, or whether an exam should be booked.
Build a planning allocation
Choose one profile and enter a bounded study window. Every status field is explicit. The tool keeps booking separate from scope, background, objective mapping, practice evidence, and accommodations.
Planning result
Disposition:
Declared capacity:
Required actions and stops
On narrow screens, scroll horizontally to view every column.
| Domain | Official weight or range | Planned hours |
|---|
How to read the allocation
A 48-hour window would reserve 7.2 hours for scope/background, 26.4 hours for domain coverage, 9.6 hours for practice, and 4.8 hours for gap review and logistics. Domain hours then follow the selected profile's published weights or the disclosed AZ-900 range-midpoint assumption.
The allocation is a workload budget, not evidence that every objective has been mastered. Keep a separate evidence log: exact objective reference, resource used, practice artifact or diagnostic result, unresolved question, and next review action. A scheduled exam date is only a logistics field and never overrides an unresolved stop condition.
Limits and stop conditions
- Issuer blueprints, exam codes, policies, training inventories, and practice routes can change after the checked date.
- CompTIA's retained pages redirected during this check; the approved Security+ profile is retained with that provenance limitation rather than treated as a current product catalog.
- No course, lab, practice assessment, exam sandbox, account, accommodation request, or booking flow was tested.
- Published domain weights organize coverage; they do not measure learning, readiness, or likely exam performance.
- Practice access may require an account, purchase, cloud resources, or another condition not established here.
- Accommodation processes are individual and time-sensitive; AWS requires requests before scheduling and Microsoft describes advance notice and documentation. AWS Before Testing, Microsoft Certification Accommodations.
- Microsoft's practice assessment route was not started or scored. Microsoft Learn: AZ-900 Practice Assessment.
- AWS post-test policies and general certification FAQs are context records, not inputs to a readiness verdict. AWS After Testing, AWS Certification FAQs.
Methodology
Version 1.0.0 uses 20 approved source records, three bounded certification profiles, a JSON Schema, a Python reference model, a browser runtime, and eight valid plus eight invalid synthetic fixtures. The model verifies exact input fields, applies deterministic gate order, preserves unknowns, and generates only nonpredictive dispositions.
On September 13, 2026, the researcher reopened the approved AWS and Microsoft records and recorded the current CompTIA redirects. The candidate keeps provider-specific scope, current dates, module counts, exam-display boundaries, and accommodation timing qualified; no account, course, lab, assessment, exam sandbox, booking, or checkout was used.
Python-JavaScript fixture parity, runtime privacy patterns, article structure, source integrity, media identity, and fail-closed mutations are validated before delivery. The next planned review is October 13, 2026 or sooner if a required source changes materially.
Sources
- Security+ Certification - CompTIA. Checked . Use only the bounded SY0-701 exam and recommended-background facts used in the Security+ course-selection guide; do not infer current pricing or availability from the redirect.
- CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 Exam Objectives, version 5.0 - CompTIA. Checked . Use only the five approved domain weights and objective-mapping role; the planner does not reproduce protected exam content.
- Security+ Certification Training - CompTIA. Checked . Training categories are inventory labels, not quality ratings or required purchases.
- CertMaster Learn for Security+ Training - CompTIA. Checked . Public product description only; no account, lesson, assessment, or access test.
- CertMaster Labs for Security+ Training - CompTIA. Checked . The existence of a lab product does not establish reliability, quality, or learner fit.
- CertMaster Practice for Security+ - CompTIA. Checked . Treat practice as a distinct assessment/gap-filling surface, not proof of readiness.
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate - Amazon Web Services. Checked . Exam overview and four-step preparation framing only; career marketing and outcome language are excluded.
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03) Exam Guide - Amazon Web Services. Checked . Use target-candidate and domain-weight information; do not convert a planner output into a pass prediction.
- Before Testing: AWS Certification Policies - Amazon Web Services. Checked . AWS has no mandatory training prerequisite, but its recommended experience and accommodation timing remain separate planning checks.
- Learn AWS Online with AWS Skill Builder - Amazon Web Services. Checked . Resource inventory only; no catalog entitlement, lab access, or learning-quality claim.
- After Testing: AWS Certification Policies - Amazon Web Services. Checked . Post-exam policy context only; no score interpretation or outcome prediction is produced.
- AWS Certification FAQs - Amazon Web Services. Checked . General program context only; volatile scheduling, pricing, and account details require purchase-time verification.
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals - Microsoft Learn. Checked . Use current certification-level, duration, and linked preparation resources; do not infer readiness from completion.
- Study Guide for Exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals - Microsoft Learn. Checked . Skills measured as of July 20, 2026 and published domain ranges only; ranges are not silently converted into official point estimates.
- Introduction to Cloud Infrastructure: Describe Cloud Concepts - Microsoft Learn. Checked . Current public path structure and stated prerequisites only; no module completion was tested.
- Introduction to Cloud Infrastructure: Describe Azure Architecture and Services - Microsoft Learn. Checked . Current public path structure only; no account, exercise, or assessment was used.
- Introduction to Cloud Infrastructure: Describe Azure Management and Governance - Microsoft Learn. Checked . Current public path structure only; no learner journey was tested.
- Introduction to Cloud Infrastructure: Apply Azure Skills in Guided Projects - Microsoft Learn. Checked . The eight-module guided-project path is a documented practice option, not evidence that the projects were completed or free of external costs.
- AZ-900 Practice Assessment - Microsoft Learn. Checked . Availability signal only; the assessment was not started, scored, or evaluated.
- Accommodations for Microsoft Certifications - Microsoft Learn. Checked . Accommodation workflow and advance-notice boundary only; no individualized eligibility determination.