AWS Certification Guide - 2021 Edition
In this article, we will cover the following key areas:
- Evolution of Cloud Computing
- Cloud Computing Career Outlook
- Value of Certifications in Cloud Computing
- AWS History and Roadmap
- AWS Certification Guide
- How Much Do AWS Certifications Cost
- AWS Recertification and Renewal
- AWS Certification Salary and Careers
- AWS Certification Training
Evolution of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing technology has been an unstoppable success since the very beginning, with an accelerating pace of acceptance post-2000s. As the day passes, we see organizations and businesses embrace applications that are remote, moving their data to the cloud. The reasons are many, most important of which are smooth connectivity, faster innovation, and save costs. Although the concept of cloud and its usage has taken off just when the 21st century started, the roots of this technology date back to as early as the 1950s. Let’s take a look at the decade-wise evolution timeline of cloud computing from the beginning to the 2010s.
The 1950s: The first-ever ideation of cloud computing popped up with mainframe computing that used access points to give a central computer’s access to multiple users. It certainly was a breakthrough, but not a problem-free one. The costs of purchasing and maintaining a mainframe computer were ridiculously high, and there was a need to buy and allocate access terminals for each added employee. Thus, the need to bring something more effective was felt quite soon.
The 1960s: The 60s mark the era of the birth of the internet. It all started when Advanced Research Project Agency developed ARPANET that took a series of transformations to become, what we know today as, internet. The purpose of ARPANET was to connect four computers belonging to different universities in the US, based in different geographic locations, for resource sharing and connectivity purposes. The idea was a success, and it grew to what we now know as the internet.
The 1970s and 1980s: Another milestone achieved in the world of cloud computing and technology was the advent of virtual machines (VM) in the 1970s. VMs allows users to run multiple operating systems in one computer machine. Later, we witnessed the availability of servers that allowed access to the data and applications from a central server, connected via a local area network.
The 1990s: The 1990s was a little more fast-paced in terms of cloud evolution. One of the major breakthroughs seen in this decade was virtual private networks that allowed users in multiple locations to access data available at one single physical infrastructure. In 1999, Saleforce.com was launched making enterprise applications available for access and download through a website for the first time ever. It was the same time when some other companies surfaced with services revolving around the cloud, making data and applications available for users to access and use from across the globe. There was Google that gave us a place to search for information, bringing content published from across the world in front of our screen on just typing a query and hitting the search button. Then we saw Netflix providing a hub of video content available on the cloud, for users to access from unlimited physical locations.
The 2000s: The first decade of the 21st century marked quite a few achievements for the contributors in the cloud computing industry. Web 2.0 was born in 2003, with rich content and dynamic interfaces coming alongside. Facebook was launched in 2004, carrying the potential to turn into one of the biggest cloud-based content and multimedia sharing platform. AWS, officially launched in 2006, only to become the leading cloud solutions provider. 2007 gave us Netflix, a video-streaming platform based on the cloud. Then we witnessed Dropbox, a well-known contributor in public cloud storage space. 2008 was the year private cloud really got famous within the leading, tech-savvy organizations which perceived it as a better version of the public cloud. A year later we could shift the load from desktop software to cloud software as we got introduced to initiatives like Google apps.
The 2010s: The last decade has been the most happening in the cloud industry as the world moved on from the awareness stage to the understanding and acceptance stage. OpenStack brought the first open-source cloud around 2010. A year later “Hybrid” cloud got introduced, bringing together the public and private cloud models. Then came iCloud by Apple, followed by Google Drive in 2011. An investment of around $6 million was made in cloud technology by the Central Intelligence Agency since the cloud was all about storing data, and the CIA is supposed to have more data than many companies combined. In 2014, AWS announced Lambda, bringing forth serverless computing. We then saw artificial intelligence being integrated with the cloud. Take the example of Salesforce. The company integrated Einstein, an AI-enabled business intelligence tool into its CRM.
Over the years, the cloud has really become the backbone of organizational IT infrastructure, software, and data. The worldwide public cloud market was recorded to be around $180 billion in 2018, and Gartner projects it to go as high as $305 billion in 2021.
Cloud Computing Career Outlook
The pandemic is going to be a huge benefactor to the already booming cloud industry. Amongst the pandemic, companies that were strong in cloud-based initiatives have been able to stay stiff and tolerate its sweeping impact. With work from home effective globally to contain the virus spread, the dependency on cloud-based applications has increased by manyfold.
Organizations that had cloud computing migration scheduled or planned for coming years have prioritized it before any other major shift, only to be prepared for a future crisis similar to the Covid-19. This means when the time starts moving toward normalcy, and the economies start to bounce back, cloud computing experts are going to be in hefty demand. The infamous IT skills gap is also very real, and opportunities of building a career in this field are innumerable, projected to go higher in the coming years.
Individuals who want to start or switch their careers in IT must definitely consider entering cloud computing. According to research, over 80% of cloud leaders identified a lack of skills and knowledge to be the top contributors to slow cloud success. TechNewsWorld highlights a survey conducted by A Cloud Guru that says over 90% of IT leaders surveyed are planning to expand their cloud services in the coming years. However, the skills gap will remain a major setback.
A career in cloud computing right now will only benefit you in the coming years. If there is a skill that can be promised success, it is cloud computing.
Value of Certifications in Cloud Computing
Certifications are credentials you achieve by going through and passing an official exam offered by an examination body. IT has been known for offering successful careers to professionals who are constantly decorating their resumes with certifications and credentials. Cloud computing is no different. There are a number of vendor-specific and vendor-neutral cloud computing certifications offered by top technology vendors like AWS, Microsoft, CompTIA, Linux, and GCP among others.
One reason why certifications are considered valuable by employers is that the technology vendors like AWS and Microsoft offer certifications that help individuals specialize in their own solutions while also building their basic knowledge and skills in cloud computing. For example, AWS offers certifications that would prepare individuals with understanding, skills, and knowledge about cloud computing before getting them specialized in AWS cloud solutions. Similarly, Microsoft offers certifications helping professionals specialize in Azure solutions.
Then there are vendor-neutral certifications, like CompTIA Cloud+, that enhances knowledge and skills in cloud computing from a neutral perspective, without focusing on specific platforms. All in all, certifications are proof of your credibility in a specific field or subject. Certified candidates are always preferred by employers since certifications validate your skills, they tell employers that a certified professional has been through a rigorous examination process to achieve the credential and comes with updated knowledge of the claimed skillset (certifications also need renewal and recertification which we have discussed ahead).
According to Indeed.com, Google-certified Professional Cloud Architect, AWS Certified Solutions Architect, and AWS Certified Developer Associate are among the top 10 highest paying IT certifications. Let’s take a look at the journey of AWS over the years before moving further to all the AWS certifications and their details.
AWS Along the Years
AWS was launched initially as a side business along with the original concept of Amazon.com, an online bookstore that evolved into the biggest online marketplace we know today. AWS came into being as a cloud Infrastructure as a Service business, which we now know as the biggest cloud solutions provider, leading with a huge margin in market share compared to its competitors Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.
How did the concept of AWS come into existence? The original Amazon.com was facing some scale problems that forced them towards pulling together a team and starting to build a solid internal system that could help them leverage and steer through the rapid growth smoothly. This need to develop the core systems for the parent business pushed them toward testing and realizing, over a period of three years, that their sheer potential and an eye for the future called for something bigger than just solving a problem for Amazon.com, and around 2006 we witnessed the launch of Amazon Web Services.
Let’s go back to how it all really started. Around the year 2000, Amazon.com wanted to provide e-commerce solutions to third-party e-commerce businesses like Target, helping them build online shopping websites on top of Amazon’s e-commerce engine. Now, it wasn’t as easy to build an organized external development program, as what they had created initially was just a mess and nothing close to a centralized development program. Once they realized they need to fix the mess first, a well-documented set of APIs was introduced that helped them develop solutions for third-party businesses as well as allowed teams to develop tools internally in a disciplined and organized manner. In Andy Jassy’s words in a conference, ““We expected all the teams internally from that point on to build in a decoupled, API-access fashion, and then all of the internal teams inside of Amazon expected to be able to consume their peer internal development team services in that way. So very quietly around 2000, we became a services company with really no fanfare,”.
The development teams at Amazon were building resources for their own use, but the requirement really was to build a centralized set of infrastructure services that everyone in the company could use. This was where the idea of offering cloud infrastructure to the world build upon. The team soon realized they are really good at running services like compute, storage and database. They were also able to run reliable, scalable, and cost-efficient data centers when needed. That was the time when they started thinking about formulating the idea of offering cloud infrastructure services to the world since they had become so good at it while dealing with internal challenges.
In August 2006, AWS launched the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud that was the first-ever modern cloud infrastructure offered as Infrastructure as a Service allowing companies or individual developers to run their applications on a cloud infrastructure technology provided by AWS. Since it was elastic, AWS knew how the needs were different and how their model could work for almost anyone or any business of the time.
AWS Certifications
Since AWS is the leading cloud provider across the globe, professionals skilled in AWS solutions are supposed to stay in high demand. AWS certifications allow you to prepare for exams that validate knowledge and skills in AWS and its services. There are four levels that define the expertise level or career paths of the applicants: Foundational, Associate, Professional, and Specialty. The first three levels are interconnected, taking professionals from foundational to professional levels in chosen career paths. However, specialty certs, as the name suggests, allow individuals to specialize in different areas and are offered as standalone certification exams.
Below we have listed all the certifications you can take to build your career in cloud computing. You will find the certification, a broad view of topics covered, prerequisite requirements, relevant exam to be taken and the recommended knowledge and/or qualification you must have before you study and apply for any particular cert.
Foundational Level Certs
AWS offers only one foundational level certification which is suitable for beginners in IT or cloud computing, with a foundational knowledge base of AWS or half a year of experience using AWS in any capacity.
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CCP)
Since it is a foundational level certification, it is designed for entry-level IT and business professionals having a basic level of knowledge about the AWS platform. Following are the topics covered in the cert:
- Foundational architectural principles
- Key services
- AWS security and compliance
- Billing and pricing
This certification is most suitable for beginners in AWS expertise, even for non-technical professionals involved in an AWS project.
Exam
Candidates need to pass one exam to get AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification, the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C01).
Prerequisites
No prerequisites required.
Recommended Knowledge and Experience
At least six months of using AWS as an IT professional, a non-technical, or an executive-level professional. A fundamental understanding of IT is also recommended by AWS before taking this exam.
Cost
100 USD
Associate Level Certs
There are a total of three associate-level certifications AWS offers:
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate
- AWS Certified Developer – Associate
- AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate
Achieving associate-level certifications is not necessary for individuals to apply for professional level certs but getting certified with these can increase your chances to perform, pass and achieve the professional level certs. Here are the details for these certifications.
AWS Certified Solutions Architect
IT professionals who are already serving in the roles dealing with cloud solutions architecture, specifically in AWS. Professionals who take this exam will be tested on their ability to design and deploy solutions on AWS technologies. Following topics are included in the preparation for this certification exam:
- Use architectural design principles to design solutions as per customer requirements
- Guiding the implementation of AWS based on best practices by AWS in projects
Exam
Candidates need to pass one exam to get AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate certification, the AWS Solutions Architect - Associate exam.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites required.
Recommended Knowledge and Experience
AWS recommends a minimum of one year of experience in designing distributed systems on AWS.
Cost
150 USD
AWS Certified Developer
IT professionals in development roles are the best candidates for this associate-level developer certification. Some work experience in development roles will be a great help in pursuing this certification exam. The topics included in the exam preparation are:
- Building an understanding of AWS services, users, and architecture best practices
- Expertise in developing and deploying cloud apps using AWS
Exam
Candidates need to pass one exam to get AWS Certified Developer certification, the AWS Developer - Associate exam.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites required.
Recommended Knowledge and Experience
Candidates for this certification must have a year of experience in developing, deploying, and maintaining AWS apps.
Cost
150 USD
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator
This certification pertains to the systems operation field in the cloud. It is designed for professionals who have a couple of years of experience in system operations as a system administrator. The exam will be testing professional’s knowledge in the following key topics:
- Deploying, managing, and operating scalable, available, and secure systems on AWS
- The flow of data to and from AWS - implementation and controlling
- Determine appropriate AWS services based on compute, data, or security requirements
- Using best operational practices in AWS
- Estimate AWS usage costs and identify operational cost control mechanisms
- Migration of workloads from on-prem to AWS cloud
Exam
Candidates need to pass one exam to get AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate certification, the AWS SysOps Administrator - Associate exam.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites required.
Recommended Knowledge and Experience
One year of hands-on experience in managing and operating on AWS.
Cost
150 USD
Professional Level Certs
This level is for experienced professionals, hence the professional level certifications. As mentioned earlier, professional level certifications do not require candidates to have achieved any of the associate level certifications, but aiming for these certs would require a professional to be experienced in relevant sub-fields pertaining to AWS solutions. There are two professional level certs offered by AWS:
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional
- AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional
Here are the details for each certification.
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional
It is again suitable for professionals already working in solutions architect roles and would require high degree technical skills in designing applications and systems in AWS infrastructure. Knowledge on the following topics is validated in the certification exam for this professional level cert:
- Designing and deployment scalable, available, and secure applications on AWS
- Knowledge of appropriate AWS services to design and deploy applications
- Migration of complex applications on AWS
- Enterprise-wide scalable operations of AWS
- Cost-control strategies implementation
Exam
Candidates need to pass one exam to get AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional certification, the AWS AWS Solutions Architect - Professional exam.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites required.
Recommended Knowledge and Experience
Two or more years of hands-on experience in designing and deploying AWS cloud architectures.
Cost
300 USD
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
Professionals working in the DevOps engineering roles are the most suitable candidates for this DevOps engineer professional level certification by AWS. With DevOps experience under the belt, the candidates are expected to have expertise in provisioning, operation, and management of applications with AWS. The exam for this certification will validate skills in the following topics:
- Continuous delivery systems of AWS
- Security control, governance and compliance implementation, and automation
- Monitoring, metrics, and logging systems designing and deployment on AWS
- Implementing available and scalable systems on AWS
- Designing, managing, and maintaining tools for operational processes automation
Exam
Candidates need to pass one exam to get AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional certification, the AWS DevOps Engineer - Professional exam.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites required.
Recommended Knowledge and Experience
Two or more years of experience in managing, operating, and provisioning AWS environments.
Cost
300 USD
Specialty Certs
Candidates can also specialize in technical areas by taking one of the six specialty certifications. These certifications also require no strict prerequisites, but each of them has a recommended set of knowledge and certifications which we will see while discussing them. Following are the six certifications in the specialty category:
- AWS Certified Advanced Networking
- AWS Certified Security
- AWS Certified Data Analytics
- AWS Certified Machine Learning
- AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder
- AWS Certified Database
These technical areas must be strong before taking the specialty certification exams since they don’t cover the fundamentals but teach how these specialty areas relate to AWS cloud solutions and the job roles of specific areas.
AWS Certified Advanced Networking
As the name suggests, this specialty certification is for professionals who are capable of performing networking tasks of complex nature. The exam for this certification will validate the following skills and technical knowledge:
- Design, develop, and deploy cloud solutions in AWS environment
- Core AWS services implementation
- Network architecture design and maintenance for AWS
- Automating AWS networking tasks with tools
Exam
Candidates need to pass one exam to get AWS Certified Advanced Networking certification, the AWS Advanced Networking - Specialty exam.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites required.
Recommended Knowledge and Experience
Minimum five years of hands-on experience in architecting and implementing network solutions. Candidates with knowledge of generic solutions for network security including IDS, WAF, IPS, Economic Denial of Service/Sustainability (EDoS), and DDoS protection would find it easy to study and pass this exam. Expertise in advanced networking architecture, CIDR and sub-netting, IPv6 transition challenges, and OSI model technologies would also greatly help in securing this certification.
Cost
300 USD
AWS Certified Security
Cloud security experts with experience in the field are the best candidates for this certification. It will help them pick the skills to secure AWS platforms for their organizations. Following are the skills that are validated in the exam for this specialty certification:
- Data classification and protection mechanisms in AWS
- Data encryption in AWS
- Secure internet protocols and mechanisms in AWS to implement it
- AWS security services and features
- Deployment with AWS security features
- Security operation and risk understanding
Exam
Candidates need to pass one exam to get AWS Certified Security certification, the AWS Security - Specialty exam.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites required.
Recommended Knowledge and Experience
Five years of IT security experience, where designing and implementing secure cloud architectures are included, and a minimum of two years of experience in securing AWS workloads. A solid understanding of security controls for AWS workloads would also be beneficial before starting to prepare for this exam.
Cost
300 USD
AWS Certified Data Analytics
Professionals who are in data analytics, analyzing raw datasets in large quantities are suitable candidates for this specialty certification exam. This certification exam will validate the following skills and knowledge:
- Implementing AWS big data services
- Designing and maintaining big data
- Automating data analysis with tools
Exam
Candidates need to pass one exam to get AWS Certified Data Analytics certification, the AWS Data Analytics - Specialty exam.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites required.
Recommended Knowledge and Experience
Aws recommends appearing candidates to either be AWS cloud practitioner certified or have any associate-level certification. AWS also recommends at least five years of experience in the data analytics field, a little knowledge about AWS data analytics services and the ability to design cost-effective architecture for data processing.
Cost
300 USD
AWS Certified Machine Learning
Data scientists with involvement in designing and deploying machine learning solutions. Since this is also a specialty cert, experience in the relevant field is of utmost importance. Following skills and knowledge will be tested in the exam for this certification:
- Grip of identifying suitable machine learning approach
- Identifying AWS services to implement ML solutions
- Design and implement scalable, cost-optimized, reliable, and secure ML solution
Exam
Candidates need to pass one exam to get AWS Certified Machine Learning certification, the AWS Machine Learning - Specialty exam.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites required.
Recommended Knowledge and Experience
Expertise with at-least two years of experience in developing machine learning workloads
Cost
300 USD
AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder
Developers who build, test, and publish Alexa skills are suitable candidates for this certification. Following skills will be validated in the certification exam:
- Explaining the value of voice
- User experience design
- Architecture design to build the skill
- AWS and Alexa best practices
- The cycle of development, testing, validating, and troubleshooting the skill
- Alexa Developer Console
Exam
Candidates need to pass one exam to get AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder certification, the AWS Alexa Skill Builder - Specialty exam.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites required.
Recommended Knowledge and Experience
At least six months of experience developing and publishing skills with Alexa Skills kit.
Cost
300 USD
AWS Certified Database
This certification is designed to help cloud professionals who design and maintain AWS database services. Following are the skills and knowledge areas this exam will validate:
- Key features of database services by AWS
- Analyzing the requirements to apply suitable database solutions with AWS services
Exam
Candidates need to pass one exam to get AWS Certified Database certification, the AWS Database - Specialty exam.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites required.
Recommended Knowledge and Experience
Five years of experience in database technologies and at least two years of AWS experience.
Cost
300 USD
AWS Recertification and Renewal
These certifications mostly come with a time period of validity, the reason for which is the constantly evolving landscape of technology. In order to keep the skills and knowledge updated with the recent changes, recertification is required after a certain time. Recertification allows candidates to stay up to date with the new technicalities introduced so they can implement the latest changes in their respective work environments.
We will provide you ways to recertify in accordance with the levels of certifications you have acquired.
Foundational-Level Certs
Candidates with an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification can retake the same exam or any other associate or professional level certification to recertify themselves with this certification having a new validity period.
Associate-Level Certs
You can retake the associate certification that you already have, or pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional cert or AWS Certified DevOps Engineer cert depending on the career path you are on.
Professional-Level Certs
Retake the exam for the certification you have and want to recertify for.
Specialty-Level Certs
Similar to the professional level certifications, candidates are required to retake the specialty exams they want to recertify for.
Recertification is a simple process with AWS, and the benefit they provide is the 50% discount of retaking the exam.
AWS Certification Salary and Careers
AWS is the leading cloud platform by a huge margin. This makes AWS skills in high demand and therefore certified candidates are enjoying higher salaries than their non-certified counterparts. According to Indeed.com’s recent study, the list of top 10 highest paying certifications has AWS Certified Solutions Architect and AWS Certified Developer - Associate certifications included in it, with an estimated annual salary of $133k and $130k respectively.
Salaries and benefits go higher as the certification levels increase. Associate level certified candidates will earn more if they pass professional level certifications. However, we should keep in mind the usual factors that impact the earning. These may include the area you’re working in, the company you’re working for, and the experience you have earned in the field. Some of the highest paying roles in AWS cloud expertise include:
- Cloud Solutions Architect
- Cloud Engineer
- Cloud Security Engineer
- DevOps Engineer
- Cloud Developer
- AWS Big Data Scientist
- AWS Systems Integrator
- Cloud SysOps Manager
AWS Certification Training
AWS certifications hold value, and for good reasons. The skills you learn while preparing for the certifications are technical and require a deep understanding of the topics. Certification training from a credible institute that offers facilities, various learning modalities, practical exposure, and relevant curricula is crucial to prepare for the certification exams.
QuickStart is an IT workforce readiness and career development platform that is based on AI and adaptive learning to recommend suitable certification training as per their career or IT project goals. With a training library of over 900 courses, QuickStart features self-paced courses for flexible learning, informal content to support the learning, one-on-one mentor sessions, virtual instructor-led classes, an expert community to discuss your learning and work-related challenges with thousands of active field expert community members, social peer-to-peer learning and much more.
Start your 30 days free trial with QuickStart and take the AWS certification training suiting your cloud career path.
QuickStart has also partnered with various top universities in the US to offer cloud computing bootcamps that offer fundamental to expert level cloud expertise, getting candidates trained for top industry-recognized certifications. Our partner universities include names like Florida Atlantic University, James Madison University, Northeastern Illinois University, Becker College, Santa Clara University, the University of Texas at Arlington, and the University of Texas - Austin, among others.
Enroll in our bootcamps to get your cloud computing career journey started. You can also connect with our experts for guidance on which AWS bootcamp or certification training will be best suitable, keeping in view your interests, past experience, goals, and career ambitions.
We hope this certification guide has helped you get answers to many of your questions regarding AWS certifications, and we wish you good luck for your career ahead. With everything said, Cloud Computing is a fantastic career to step in as we get into 2021.