AWS Certification Path
Overview
A million customers use Facebook, Netflix, and many other platforms efficiently and feasibly. Cloud computing is one of the keys to maintaining these platforms. In a short time, cloud computing has become an integral part of organizations. Recently, the demand for Cloud professionals has increased for a few years. To fulfill the demand, the different cloud service provider provides us with the leading certification to excel in Cloud Computing skills and get better career opportunities in this domain. One leading cloud service provider is AWS(Amazon Web Services). AWS provides us with AWS Certifications in the cloud domain to enhance our skills and get certified. Let’s find out more about AWS Certification Path in detail.
What are AWS Certifications and Why are They Important?
AWS Certification is the certification program provided by Amazon Web Services, which helps to validate the expertise in the cloud domain. The AWS Certification Path is a series of certifications to examine and validate the qualification in AWS cloud and data management services. AWS certification shows that we have the proper technical knowledge and skills to work in an AWS-related position.
AWS Certifications are proof of skills that one who gets certified is proficient enough to pass the exam. These are door openers in many jobs to get into the interview and also help to get promoted. Many different tech companies are looking out for cloud professionals. So. to grow more in the cloud domain in AWS, it is very much essential to get certified with AWS Certifications.
Experience Needed to Get AWS Certified
Many people come from different starting points, so they have confused regarding the experience or the eligibility criteria to get AWS certification. AWS removed the prerequisites from all AWS certifications from 2019 onwards, so we can now take any AWS certification at any time, according to the qualification we want. For beginners, there is a structure to the AWS certification learning paths. It is an excellent way to follow that structure to maximize the chance of exam success and ensure a good skill set to take into working life.
Different Levels of AWS Certification
AWS certification provides a better learning path to get certified from the basic to the advanced level. So, they categorized these AWS certifications into four different levels. Following are the different levels of AWS certification:
- Foundational Level AWS Certifications
- Associate-level AWS Certifications
- Professional-level AWS Certifications
- Specialty AWS Certifications
Let’s know more about these levels of certifications in detail.
Foundational-level AWS Certifications
The Foundational level is the basic and the first level in the AWS certification path. It covers the basics of AWS cloud and industry knowledge. For beginners, this is the best recommended AWS Certification. This level comes with only one certification, i.e., AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner.
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification comes under the Foundational level. For this exam, having at least six months of fundamental AWS Cloud and industry knowledge is recommended before applying for this certification. This exam covers basic global infrastructure, architectural principles, essential security, and pricing models of the AWS cloud.
Exam Details
- Cost: 100 USD
- Total questions: 65
- Time limit: 90 minutes
- Passing score: 700 out of 1000
Associate-level AWS Certifications
The next level in the AWS Certifications path is Associate-level. If we have experience in hands-on working with AWS services, then these Certifications can help us to move forward in the cloud career journey. It covers an in-depth and broad scope of AWS services. It is designed for individuals having at least one year of experience solving problems and implementing solutions using AWS Services. It is more difficult than the foundational level. This level comes with three certifications. They are:
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect
- AWS Certified Developer
- AWS Certified SysOps Administrator
AWS Certified Solutions Architect
AWS Certified Solutions Architect comes under associate-level certification. This AWS certification is designed for individuals with experience deploying applications to infrastructure in the AWS cloud. In this, we have to create, manage, and deploy applications on the AWS Services. It is the most popular associate-level certificate. It covers architecture, deployment of applications on AWS Services, solution-giving abilities for the project implementation, etc.
Exam Details
- Cost: 150 USD
- Total questions: 65
- Time limit: 130 minutes
- Passing score: 720 out of 1000
AWS Certified Developer
AWS Certified Developer also comes under associate-level certification. This AWS certification is designed for individuals who perform a developer role. If we have hands-on experience in developing and maintaining the AWS-based application, it will benefit them in preparing for this exam. It is required to have a good knowledge of programming language and in-depth concepts of core AWS services and basic AWS architecture.
Exam Details
- Cost: 150 USD
- Total questions: 65
- Time limit: 130 minutes
- Passing score: 720 out of 1000
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator
The third AWS Certification, which comes under associate-level certification, is AWS Certified SysOps Administrator. This AWS certification is designed for systems administrators, IT Administrators, or DevOps Engineers. Within this, we need to deploy, manage, scale, highly available, and fault-tolerant systems on Amazon Web Services. It covers Monitoring and Metrics, High Availability, Analysis, Development and Provisioning, Data Management, Security, and Networking. This exam checks the candidate’s ability to deploy, manage, and operate workloads on AWS.
Exam Details
- Cost: 150 USD
- Total questions: 65
- Time limit: 180 minutes
- Passing score: 720 out of 1000
Professional-level AWS Certifications
The next level in the AWS Certifications path is the Professional Level AWS Certifications. It requires professional expertise in the selected role-based certification. It is designed for professionals with two years of experience designing, operating, and troubleshooting solutions using the AWS Cloud. Having the foundational and associate levels certifications will be a great benefit for this level of AWS certification. This level comes with two certifications. They are:
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect
- AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
AWS Certified Solutions Architect
AWS Certified Solutions Architect is a professional-level certification. It requires broad and in-depth technical knowledge and experience in designing AWS-based applications. This certification checks the candidate’s advanced technical skills and designing experience in distributed applications and systems on the AWS platform. It is recommended to clear the AWS Certified Solutions Architect (Associate-level) before applying for this certification.
Exam Details
- Cost: 300
- Total questions: 75
- Time limit: 180 minutes
- Passing score: 750 out of 1000
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer is another professional-level certification provided by AWS. DevOps Engineer is the most in-demand and searched job title nowadays. It includes Cloud and automation. These certifications majorly concern Continuous Integration (CI), Continuous Delivery (CD) methodologies, AWS automation processes, monitoring & log systems on AWS, etc. It is recommended to hold an AWS Certified Developer(Associate) or AWS Certified SysOps Administrator(Associate) before applying for this certification.
Exam Details
- Cost: 300
- Total questions: 75
- Time limit: 180 minutes
- Passing score: 750 out of 1000
Specialty AWS Certifications
To have advanced skills in a specific technical area using the AWS platform. AWS provides us with six different special certifications. It is required to have a deep knowledge of the particular domain because the level of exam of the specialty certifications is relatively higher. These six specialty AWS Certifications are listed below:
- AWS Certified Advanced Networking
- AWS Certified Data Analytics
- AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder
- AWS Certified Security
- AWS Certified Machine Learning
- AWS Certified Database
AWS Certified Advanced Networking
AWS Certified Advanced Networking specialty certification is built for individuals who set up and maintain network solutions in organizations. It validates expertise in handling complex networking tasks on amazon web services. We need at least five years of work experience with architecture & implementation of network solutions and hold AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification or any other Associate-Level certifications before opting for this certification.
Exam Details
- Cost: 300
- Total questions: 65
- Time limit: 170 minutes
- Passing score: Not published (~680 out of 1000)
AWS Certified Data Analytics
AWS Certified Data Analytics specialty certification is built for individuals with prior data analysis and lifecycle management experience. It checks the candidate's expertise in Data Analytics and designing ability for Big Data solutions using AWS services. We should have at least five years of experience in data analytics with two years of hands-on experience in AWS before opting for this certification.
Exam Details
- Cost: 300
- Total questions: 65
- Time limit: 180 minutes
- Passing score: 750 out of 1000
AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder
AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder validates the skills in AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder validates the skills in building, testing & publishing Amazon Alexa skills. Before opting for this certification, the candidate should have at least six months of experience building Alexa skills and a good knowledge of programming languages.
Exam Details
- Cost: 300
- Total questions: 65
- Time limit: 170 minutes
- Passing score: 750 out of 1000
AWS Certified Security
AWS Certified Security is a specialty certification for advanced knowledge in security. It checks the candidate’s skills in the security domain in AWS. Knowing the best security practices and experience a minimum of five years of designing and implementing security solutions is recommended. So the experience of at least two years of securing AWS workloads before opting for this certification. Before taking this certification, having the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification or any of the AWS Associate level certifications will significantly benefit you.
Exam Details
- Cost: 300
- Total questions: 65
- Time limit: 170 minutes
- Passing score: 750 out of 1000
AWS Certified Machine Learning
AWS Certified Machine Learning is a specialty certification for those who perform a development or data science role. It checks the candidate’s skills in deploying and maintaining Machine Learning project solutions using AWS. It covers Data Engineering & Analysis, training of the model, and implementation & Operations of the models. Before opting for this certification, the candidate must have experience in AWS's development and architecture of Machine Learning projects.
Exam Details
- Cost: 300
- Total questions: 65
- Time limit: 180 minutes
- Passing score: 750 out of 1000
AWS Certified Database
AWS Certified Database is a specialty certification that checks the candidate's skills in designing and maintenance of AWS database solutions as per the requirements. It is recommended to have at least five years of experience in the database, a minimum of two years of experience on AWS, and some hands-on experience with AWS Cloud-based relational and non-relational databases.
Exam Details
- Cost: 300
- Total questions: 65
- Time limit: 180 minutes
- Passing score: 750 out of 1000
Tips for Getting the Right AWS Certification
Let’s discuss the tips for Getting the Right AWS Certification for individuals, professional goals, and career growth.
Following are the tips for getting the right AWS Certification:
1. Decide a specific domain of AWS as a career AWS is a vast network that provides many different services. We must choose according to our skills to become an AWS Solutions Architect, AWS SysOp Administrator, or AWS Certified Developer. The best fit for a beginner to be AWS certified is AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner.
2. Join AWS certification training classes AWS also provides training classes that are available for each AWS certification. Joining these classes helps a lot in getting this certification.
3. Get hands-on practice and gain experience Practicing the concepts multiple times is the best way to gain experience. The more use of the AWS services, the more fluent you are in that domain which helps us get the AWS certification.
4. Use internet resources Many online study guides and exam guides are tailored to your AWS specialty. Use them to learn the services of AWS and use them hands-on to get the certification in one go. This increases the independent study to supplement the learning skills in the certification training class.
5. Trial run exams Go through the different course sites that offer practice exams. Give those exams and practice them as how much you learn. This will helps in the final exam for AWS certification.
Benefits of AWS Certifications
AWS Certifications are the most-demanded and preferable certifications by almost every IT company, such as Amazon, IBM, Uber, etc., for cloud professionals. Let’s point out its benefit.
The following are the benefits of AWS Certifications:
- An AWS Certified individual gets career opportunities with better paychecks compared to others who don’t have the certifications.
- It helps us to demonstrate our Cloud Expertise across the globe through digital badges, certificates, etc.
- Connections with other brilliant minds with the help of the AWS Certified community.
- It has many good programs, such as the Subject-Matter Expert (SME) Program, AWS Partner Network (APN), etc.
- Get invited to regional events conducted by AWS like AWS re: Invent and AWS Summit events.
- If you become AWS certified in any one category, for any further AWS certification you will get a discount voucher of 50%.
- You will also get access to gift tokens and AWS merchandise.
- You can showcase the digital badges received as a part of the AWS certification program on social media accounts. These will enable you to get access to AWS-sponsored Certification events.
- AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification provides you with an overall understanding of the AWS cloud platform.
- AWS Solutions Architect Certification helps you master essential architectural services of AWS, commonly AWS IAM, AWS EC2, AWS VPC, AWS EBS, etc.
- There is an increasing demand for solutions architects in the cloud market. The AWS Solutions Architect certification gives you the upper hand.
- Using the AWS Developer Associate Certification path, you can start your journey as an AWS developer.
- If you have the zeal to develop and maintain AWS-based applications then the AWS Developer Associate certification path is the right choice.
Conclusion
Within this article, we learned about the following:
- AWS certifications are demanded by almost every IT company.
- AWS certification guarantees a better career path.
- There are different levels of AWS certification which include:
- Foundation-level
- Associate level
- Professional level
- Specialty
- AWS provides training resources, user guides, etc., to prepare for the certification exams.
- Depending on your skill and interest, you can choose a particular AWS certification.
- AWS certification verifies our skills in a particular domain or service.
- Knowing the importance of AWS certifications and the ways to get AWS certified, you can start your journey to becoming AWS certified in the domain of your choice.