Cloud computing skills are highly sought after nowadays. If you want to secure a job or succeed in your career as a Cloud professional, it’s essential to stand out. Having the right set of skills in this field will help you progress in your career. Getting a relevant AWS certification can not only enhance your skills but also open doors to higher-paying jobs. This blog discusses different AWS certification paths and offers guidance on choosing the right one.
AWS certification signifies a level of expertise in Amazon Web Services acquired when an IT professional passes the necessary AWS exams. These exams are administered by the public cloud provider and validate technical cloud knowledge. Opting for a suitable AWS Training course makes it easier to pass the certification exam.
Each certification has various modules providing comprehensive guidance for candidates. Assess your prerequisites and choose the certification that suits you best. Becoming AWS Certified can significantly boost your career, whether you aim to land a new role, demonstrate your skills for a new project, or become your team’s expert. Here are three reasons why:
- Prepare for the future: Jobs requiring cloud skills are expected to grow by 28% in the next five years. Preparing for an exam is an excellent way to acquire new skills.
- Demonstrate innovation: Organizations with AWS Certified staff report a 91% increase in innovation with AWS services.
- Build credibility: IT leaders employing AWS Certified staff note a 90% improvement in productivity and an 89% faster troubleshooting rate after their staff earns AWS Certifications.
Choosing your AWS Certification Path: 2024
Finding the right AWS certification can feel confusing, and full of paths and possibilities. But fear not, This guide will help you chart your course based on your current and future aspirations. With the right map and a spirit of exploration, you can conquer the AWS certification and unlock the power of the cloud.
Beginner Level:
This certification is all about building a basic understanding of the AWS Cloud. No previous experience is necessary.
– AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
The AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification confirms a foundational and broad understanding of the AWS Cloud, its services, and relevant terminology. It serves as an excellent starting point for those transitioning to a career in the cloud with little to no prior IT experience. Additionally, it is beneficial for employees in non-technical roles seeking fundamental knowledge about the cloud.
The AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02) exam is designed for individuals who can showcase a comprehensive understanding of the AWS Cloud, irrespective of a specific job role. The exam assesses the candidate’s ability to:
- Explain the value of the AWS Cloud.
- Understand and articulate the AWS shared responsibility model.
- Grasp security best practices.
- Understand AWS Cloud costs, economics, and billing practices.
- Describe and position core AWS services, such as compute, network, database, and storage services.
- Identify AWS services suitable for common use cases.
Target Audience:
The ideal candidate for this certification has up to six months of exposure to AWS Cloud design, implementation, and/or operations. It is particularly suitable for individuals without an IT background who are either beginning their AWS Cloud career journey or collaborating with professionals in AWS Cloud roles.
To excel in the certification, candidates are recommended to know areas such as AWS Cloud concepts, security and compliance in the AWS Cloud, core AWS services, and the economics of the AWS Cloud.
Associate Level:
These certifications are role-based, proving your knowledge and skills in AWS. They boost your credibility as a professional in AWS Cloud. It’s recommended to have some experience with cloud or strong on-premises IT.
– AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate:
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate certification demonstrates expertise in AWS technology and a broad understanding of various AWS services. It focuses on designing solutions that are cost-effective and high-performing, emphasizing a strong grasp of the AWS Well-Architected Framework. Achieving this certification can boost your career and income while enhancing your credibility in interactions with stakeholders and customers.
Who should consider taking this exam?
This certification is ideal for those who:
- Have experience with AWS technology.
- Possess a solid background in on-premises IT and understand how to transition from on-premises to the cloud.
- Have worked with other cloud services.
What will you learn?
Preparing for and obtaining this certification will showcase your:
- Knowledge and skills in AWS compute, networking, storage, and database services, as well as deployment and management services.
- Ability to deploy, manage, and operate workloads on AWS, implementing security controls and ensuring compliance.
- Proficiency in using the AWS Management Console and the AWS Command Line Interface (CLI).
- Understanding of the AWS Well-Architected Framework, AWS networking, security services, and the global AWS infrastructure.
- Capability to identify which AWS services are suitable for specific technical requirements and define technical requirements for an AWS-based application.
– AWS Certified Developer – Associate:
The AWS Certified Developer – Associate certification demonstrates a person’s knowledge and grasp of essential AWS services, their uses, and fundamental AWS architecture practices. It also showcases proficiency in creating, deploying, and troubleshooting cloud-based applications using AWS. Obtaining this certification boosts confidence and credibility for those who hold it. Organizations benefit from having AWS Certified developers as they possess the right skills, providing a competitive edge and ensuring satisfaction among stakeholders and customers.
Who should consider taking this exam?
This certification is suitable for individuals who:
- Have experience working in a developer role and possess in-depth knowledge of at least one high-level programming language.
- Have experience in AWS technology.
- Possess a strong background in on-premises IT and understand the process of transitioning from on-premises to the cloud.
- Have experience working with other cloud services.
– AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate:
The AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate certification helps organizations identify and nurture individuals with crucial skills for implementing cloud initiatives. Achieving this certification confirms expertise in deploying, managing, and operating workloads on AWS.
Who should consider taking this exam?
This certification is suitable for individuals who:
- Have experience working in a systems administrator role.
- Have experience in AWS technology.
- Possess a robust background in on-premises IT and understand the process of transitioning from on-premises to the cloud.
- Have experience working with other cloud services.
What will you learn?
Preparing for and obtaining this certification will demonstrate your:
- Experience in deploying, managing, and operating workloads on AWS, including the implementation of security controls and compliance requirements.
- Familiarity with using both the AWS Management Console and the AWS Command Line Interface (CLI).
- Understanding of the AWS Well-Architected Framework, as well as AWS networking and security services.
– AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate:
The AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate certification validates your skills and understanding of fundamental AWS data services. It confirms your ability to create data pipelines, troubleshoot issues, and optimize cost and performance using best practices. If you’re interested in utilizing AWS technology to transform data for analysis and actionable insights, this beta exam provides an early opportunity to earn this new certification.
Who is the ideal candidate?
The ideal candidate should have around 2–3 years of experience in data engineering. They should comprehend the impact of volume, variety, and velocity on aspects like data ingestion, transformation, modeling, security, governance, privacy, schema design, and optimal data store design. Additionally, the candidate should possess at least 1–2 years of hands-on experience with AWS services.
Recommended general IT knowledge:
Candidates should be familiar with:
- Setting up and maintaining extract, transform, and load (ETL) pipelines from ingestion to destination.
- Applying high-level programming concepts (language-agnostic) as required by the pipeline.
- Using Git commands for source control.
- Employing data lakes for data storage.
- General concepts related to networking, storage, and compute.
Recommended AWS knowledge:
Candidates should know of:
- Using AWS services to achieve the tasks outlined in the exam guide’s Introduction section.
- Understanding AWS services for encryption, governance, protection, and logging of data within pipelines.
- Comparing AWS services to discern differences in cost, performance, and functionality.
- Structuring and running SQL queries on AWS services.
- Analyzing data, ensuring data quality, and maintaining data consistency using AWS services.
Professional Level:
For those seeking advanced certifications, these roles validate your skills and knowledge needed to create secure, optimized, and modern applications. Additionally, you’ll learn how to automate processes on AWS. It’s advised to have at least 2 years of prior experience with AWS Cloud.
– AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional certification is designed for individuals with at least two years of hands-on experience in creating and implementing cloud architecture on AWS. Before attempting the exam, it is recommended that candidates possess the following:
- Familiarity with AWS CLI, AWS APIs, AWS CloudFormation templates, AWS Billing Console, AWS Management Console, a scripting language, and experience in both Windows and Linux environments.
- The ability to offer best practice guidance on architectural design for various applications and enterprise projects, along with the capability to align business objectives with application and architecture requirements.
- Proficiency in evaluating cloud application needs and providing architectural recommendations for the implementation, deployment, and provisioning of applications on AWS.
- Competence in designing a hybrid architecture using key AWS technologies such as VPN and AWS Direct Connect, as well as implementing a continuous integration and deployment process.
The exam assesses a candidate’s proficiency in tasks aligned with the AWS Well-Architected Framework, including designing for organizational complexity, designing for new solutions, continuously improving existing solutions, and accelerating workload migration and modernization.
Target Audience:
- The ideal candidate for this certification should have a minimum of two years of experience using AWS services to design and implement cloud solutions.
- This candidate should be capable of evaluating cloud application requirements and offering architectural recommendations for AWS deployment.
- Additionally, the candidate should provide expert guidance on architectural design across multiple applications and projects within a complex organization.
– AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional
The AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional certification highlights an individual’s technical skills in setting up, running, and overseeing distributed application systems on the AWS platform. This certification not only boosts confidence but also enhances credibility among peers, stakeholders, and customers. Organizations benefit from having qualified professionals as they can ensure the prompt delivery of secure, compliant systems that are both highly available and scalable.
Who should consider taking this exam?
The AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional is designed for individuals with a minimum of two years of experience in setting up, operating, and managing AWS environments. Before attempting the exam, it is advisable to have:
- Experience in coding using at least one high-level programming language, creating highly automated infrastructures, and managing operating systems.
- An understanding of modern development and operations processes and methodologies.
- The ability to implement and oversee continuous delivery systems and methodologies on AWS.
- Proficiency in implementing and automating security controls, governance processes, and compliance validation.
- The capability to define and deploy monitoring, metrics, and logging systems on AWS.
Target Audience:
- The ideal candidate for this certification should possess two or more years of experience in setting up, operating, and managing AWS environments. Additionally, they should have experience in the software development lifecycle and expertise in programming and/or scripting.
Recommended general IT knowledge and experience for the target candidate includes:
- Experience in constructing highly automated infrastructures.
- Experience in administering operating systems.
- Familiarity with modern development and operations processes and methodologies.
Specialty Level:
Dive deeper into specific strategic areas and position yourself as a trusted advisor to stakeholders or customers.
– AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty
The AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty is designed for individuals engaged in complex networking tasks, backed by a minimum of five years of hands-on experience in architecting and implementing network solutions. Before attempting this exam, it is advisable to have:
- Professional experience using AWS technology, understanding AWS security best practices, familiarity with AWS storage options and their underlying consistency models, and knowledge of AWS networking nuances and their relevance to integrating AWS services.
- Knowledge of advanced networking architectures and interconnectivity options, such as IP VPN, multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), and virtual private LAN service (VPLS).
- Familiarity with developing automation scripts and tools, encompassing the design, implementation, and optimization of routing architectures (including static and dynamic), multi-region solutions for global enterprises, and highly available connectivity solutions like AWS Direct Connect and VPN.
- Understanding of CIDR and sub-netting (IPv4 and IPv6), IPv6 transition challenges, and generic solutions for network security features, including AWS WAF, intrusion detection systems (IDS), intrusion prevention systems (IPS), DDoS protection, and economic denial of service/sustainability (EDoS).
Target Audience:
- The ideal candidate for this certification should have a minimum of five years of networking experience, with at least two years specifically focused on cloud and hybrid networking.
Recommended AWS knowledge:
- The candidate should be well-versed in AWS networking nuances and their implications for integrating AWS services, AWS security best practices, as well as AWS compute and storage options and their underlying consistency models.
– AWS Certified Database – Specialty
The AWS Certified Database – Specialty certification is designed for individuals who have hands-on experience and expertise in working with both on-premises and AWS Cloud-based relational and non-relational databases. Before attempting this exam, it is advisable to have:
- Five years of experience with common database technologies.
- Two years of practical experience and expertise in working with on-premises and AWS Cloud-based relational and NoSQL databases.
- The ability to understand and distinguish the key features of AWS database services.
- Proficiency in analyzing needs and requirements to design and recommend suitable database solutions using AWS services.
Target Audience:
The ideal candidate for this certification should meet the following criteria:
- At least 5 years of experience with common database technologies.
- At least 2 years of hands-on experience working on AWS.
- Experience and expertise in working with both on-premises and AWS Cloud relational and NoSQL databases.
– AWS Certified: SAP on AWS – Specialty
The AWS Certified: SAP on AWS – Specialty certification is designed for individuals holding roles that demand experience in both SAP and AWS. Before attempting this exam, it is advisable to meet the following requirements:
- Five or more years of experience in SAP.
- One or more years of experience working with SAP on AWS.
- Proficiency in designing an SAP solution to run in the AWS Cloud, following best practices outlined in the AWS Well-Architected Framework, and meeting SAP certification and support requirements.
Target Audience:
- The ideal candidate possesses the knowledge, skills, experience, and competence to design, implement, migrate, and operate SAP workloads on AWS. This person likely has five or more years of SAP experience and at least one year of experience working with SAP on AWS.
Recommended SAP knowledge and other IT knowledge:
The target candidate should have knowledge in SAP or general IT in the following areas:
- SAP Basis and SAP NetWeaver administration.
- SAP supported databases (including SAP HANA).
- SAP supported operating systems (Linux and Windows).
- SAP migration and installation tools.
- Sizing.
- Identity management.
Recommended AWS knowledge:
The target candidate should have AWS knowledge in the following areas:
- High availability and disaster recovery.
- Core AWS infrastructure services.
- AWS migration tools.
- AWS Global Infrastructure.
- Security best practices.
- Multi-account scenarios and multi-Region scenarios.
- Operations and management services and tools.
- AWS transfer services.
– AWS Certified Machine Learning – Specialty
The AWS Certified Machine Learning – Specialty is designed for individuals in development or data science roles who have over one year of experience in developing, architecting, or running machine learning/deep learning workloads in the AWS Cloud. Before attempting this exam, it is recommended to have:
- At least two years of hands-on experience in developing, architecting, and running ML or deep learning workloads in the AWS Cloud.
- The ability to explain the intuition behind basic ML algorithms.
- Experience in basic hyperparameter optimization.
- Familiarity with ML and deep learning frameworks.
- Proficiency in adhering to best practices for model training, deployment, and operations.
Target Audience:
- The ideal candidate should have at least two years of experience in developing, architecting, and running ML or deep learning workloads in the AWS Cloud.
Recommended AWS knowledge:
The candidate should possess the following AWS knowledge:
- The ability to explain the intuition behind basic ML algorithms.
- Experience in basic hyperparameter optimization.
- Familiarity with ML and deep learning frameworks.
- The ability to follow best practices for:
- model training
- deployment
- operations.
– AWS Certified Security – Specialty
The AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification confirms your expertise in developing and implementing security solutions within the AWS Cloud. It also affirms your comprehension of specialized data classifications, AWS data protection mechanisms, data encryption methods, and how to implement them, along with secure internet protocols and their AWS implementations. The exam ensures that a candidate possesses:
- An understanding of specialized data classifications and AWS data protection mechanisms.
- An understanding of data encryption methods and AWS mechanisms for their implementation.
- An understanding of secure internet protocols and AWS mechanisms for their implementation.
- A practical knowledge of AWS security services and the features required for a secure production environment.
- Competency gained from at least two years of hands-on experience deploying AWS security services and features.
- The ability to make decisions balancing cost, security, and deployment complexity to meet application requirements.
- An understanding of security operations and risks.
Target Audience:
- The ideal candidate should have the equivalent of 3–5 years of experience in designing and implementing security solutions, with a minimum of 2 years of hands-on experience securing AWS workloads.
Recommended AWS knowledge:
The candidate should possess knowledge in:
- Understanding the AWS shared responsibility model and its application.
- General knowledge of AWS services and deploying cloud solutions.
- Security controls for AWS environments and workloads.
- Logging and monitoring strategies.
- Vulnerability management and security automation.
- Integrating AWS security services with third-party tools.
- Disaster recovery controls, including backup strategies.
- Cryptography and key management.
- Identity access management.
- Data retention and lifecycle management.
- Troubleshooting security issues.
- Multi-account governance and organizational compliance.
- Threat detection and incident response strategies.
– AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty
The AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty certification is designed for individuals who have experience and proficiency in using AWS services to create, secure, and manage analytics solutions. Before attempting this exam, it is recommended to have:
- Five years of experience with common data analytics technologies.
- At least two years of hands-on experience and expertise working with AWS services for designing, building, securing, and maintaining analytics solutions.
- The ability to define AWS data analytics services and understand how they integrate.
- Proficiency in explaining how AWS data analytics services fit into the data lifecycle, covering collection, storage, processing, and visualization.
Note: This certification will be retired on April 9, 2024. Exam preparation resources in the Exam Review tab will be available until April 8, 2024, and will also retire on April 9, 2024.
The exam assesses a candidate’s capability to:
- Define AWS data analytics services and understand their integration.
- Explain how AWS data analytics services fit into the data lifecycle, covering collection, storage, processing, and visualization.
Target Audience:
- The ideal candidate should have a minimum of five years of experience with common data analytics technologies. Additionally, the candidate should possess at least two years of hands-on experience and expertise working with AWS services to design, build, secure, and maintain analytics solutions.
Things to remember when choosing an AWS certification path:
- Current IT & Cloud Experience: Are you a beginner, intermediate, or advanced practitioner? This guides your starting point.
- Career Goals: Aiming for architect, developer, operations, or a specific niche? Align your path with desired job roles and responsibilities.
- Strengths & Interests: Enjoy design, coding, automation, or security? Choose a path that fuels your passion and leverages your natural skills.
- Job Posting Research: Analyze desired job descriptions in your target field. They often list preferred certifications, giving you valuable insights.
- AWS Certification Website: Explore detailed descriptions of each path, exam prerequisites, and covered topics. Understand what each certification entails.
- Community & Forums: Join AWS communities and forums to connect with fellow learners and experienced professionals. Seek advice and learn from their experiences.
- Time & Resource Commitment: Associate-level exams require roughly 6 months of preparation, while Professional and Specialty certifications might demand more. Ensure you have the time and resources to dedicate.
- Cost Analysis: Factor in training materials, exam fees, and potential for resitting costs. Choose a path within your budget constraints.
- Flexibility & Adaptability: Remember, your path can evolve. Don’t be afraid to start and adjust based on your learning progress and changing career goals.
- Seek Professional Guidance: If unsure, consider consulting career counselors or experienced AWS professionals for personalized advice.
- Utilize Training Resources: Leverage AWS training materials, online courses, and bootcamps to prepare effectively for your chosen exams.
- Practice Makes Perfect: Take advantage of practice exams and hands-on labs to build confidence and identify areas for improvement.
By focusing on self-assessment, thorough research, and practical considerations, you can confidently choose the right AWS certification path and embark on your successful cloud journey. Remember, the ideal path is the one that ignites your passion and paves the way for your dream career in the cloud.
