Western Governors University

E033: Azure Solutions Architecture

A study guide to WGU's undergraduate course on designing scalable, secure and resilient solutions in Microsoft Azure.

Updated October 2026 · 5 min read

E033 is a three-unit course in the Azure version of WGU's Bachelor of Science, Cloud and Network Engineering. The guidebook states that Cloud Platform Solutions is a prerequisite.

It explores the design and implementation of scalable, secure and efficient solutions on the Azure platform, covering identity management, governance, monitoring, business continuity, data storage and infrastructure management.

The emphasis is on aligning architectural decisions with business requirements, optimizing performance and ensuring security and compliance.

The key skill is justification. A list of Azure services is easy to produce, but the course asks why each service suits the requirements in front of you.

Course at a Glance

ItemDetails
UniversityWestern Governors University (WGU)
CourseE033, Azure Solutions Architecture
Competency units3
LevelUndergraduate
ProgramBS Cloud and Network Engineering, Azure
PrerequisiteCloud Platform Solutions (per the guidebook)

What E033 Covers

Competency (WGU wording, summarized)What it asks of you
Design Azure application deployments for workloads, integration, performance, security and migrationChoose and justify deployment architecture
Design identity, governance and monitoring solutionsControl who can do what, enforce rules and observe systems
Implement backup, disaster recovery and high availabilityKeep services running and recoverable
Recommend data storage and integration solutions for relational, semi-structured and unstructured dataMatch storage type to data and use

Key Concepts Explained

Recovery Targets

Two measures drive resilience design. The recovery time objective is how long the business can be without the service. The recovery point objective is how much data it can afford to lose. Tight targets cost more, so they should reflect real business needs.

Illustration: An online booking system can be down for an hour but cannot lose confirmed bookings. That means a recovery time of about an hour and a recovery point of near zero. The design uses redundancy across separate locations and continuous replication of the booking database, while the marketing website, with looser targets, relies on simple backups.

Identity and Governance

Role-based access gives people the permissions their job needs. Governance tools apply rules at scale, such as required tags or approved regions, so that policy does not depend on memory.

Choosing Storage

Relational data with strict structure suits relational databases. Semi-structured data fits document or key-value stores. Unstructured files such as images and video belong in object storage. State the reasoning for each choice.

Typical Assignments and How to Approach Them

Task elementWhat it testsHow to approach it
Deployment designFit to requirementsLink each component to workload, performance or security needs
Identity, governance, monitoringControl and visibilityDefine roles, policies and alerts
ResilienceContinuity planningState targets and the design that meets them
Data storageSelectionMatch data types to storage options

Requirement-to-Design Table

Start with a table of requirements and fill the design column afterwards. This keeps every service you name connected to a reason.

RequirementDesign decisionReason
Stay available during a data center faultSpread across separate locationsRemoves a single point of failure
Limit who can change productionRole-based accessLeast privilege
Detect problems earlyMonitoring with alertsFaster response
Store customer documentsObject storage with access controlsFits unstructured data

A Study Approach for Each Competency

For the deployment competency, start with the workload: what it does, how many users it has, what performance it needs and how it will move to the cloud. For identity, governance and monitoring, picture the people who will operate the system and decide what each needs to see and change.

For the resilience competency, write recovery targets first, then choose backup, disaster recovery and availability measures that meet them without excess cost.

For data, list each type of data in the scenario and match it to a storage option with a one-line reason. Keeping requirements, decisions and reasons together in a table makes the final write-up straightforward.

Weak and Strong Design Justifications

The course rewards reasons. Compare the two styles.

WeakStronger
We will use a database and backups.Orders need a relational database with continuous replication to a second location, because the business can lose almost no data. Product images go to object storage, where cost per gigabyte matters more than query speed.
Access will be secure.Staff receive roles that match their jobs, administrators need extra verification, and policy requires every resource to carry an owner tag.

Where Students Get Stuck

Study Tips for E033

How We Help with E033

Send the task, your notes and the rubric. A writer can prepare a model design explanation, help you justify choices, or review your draft. This is study support; submit your own work under WGU's academic integrity policy.

GradeEssays is independent of Western Governors University and of Microsoft. Orders are written from scratch, include free revisions within the scope of your original request, and are refunded in full if late.

Get Your Azure Design Justified

Share the task, your draft and feedback. We help you link each decision to a requirement.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a prerequisite for E033?

Yes. The guidebook states that Cloud Platform Solutions is a prerequisite.

How many competency units is E033?

The guidebook lists 3.

Which program includes it?

The Azure version of the BS Cloud and Network Engineering.

What are recovery time and recovery point objectives?

How long a service can be down and how much data can be lost, respectively.

Is E033 hands-on?

Its competencies emphasize design and recommendation, with one on implementing resilience. Check your task instructions.

Can you review my design?

Yes. We check reasoning, requirement links and rubric match, and explain what to improve.