AWS certification course provides an overview of the skills required for this purpose. The certification exam also tests the competency of the candidate and makes it easier for them to gain a position and work for AWS. There are various AWS certifications that can be earned. Wondering which AWS certification is fit for you and you should go ahead with? Here are the available core AWS certifications:
Which are the Best AWS Certifications?
As of now, AWS offers 11 certifications that help candidates to stand out from the rest and make it big with the world’s biggest cloud platform. Each of them categorizes into four levels:
- Foundational – 1 certification
- Associate – 3 certifications
- Professional – 2 certifications
- Specialty – 5 certifications
Although each certification test varies in exam time and exam cost, all of them follow a multiple-choice, multiple-answer exam format.
Also, all certification tests are available in some non-English languages except the AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty certification, which is available only in English. Each one of the AWS Cloud certifications (Amazon Web Services Certification) is explained in detail as follows
Let’s begin with the big picture:
Foundational Level
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner – Format: multiple-choice – Length: 90 minutes
This foundational exam covers the core principles of the AWS cloud platform. You’ll answer questions concerning essential AWS services and features, including business use cases. The exam also covers AWS security and compliance fundamentals and requires you to demonstrate a working knowledge of AWS billing, support, and pricing. You should also expect questions about deploying resources and services in the AWS cloud.
Associate Level
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate – Format: Multiple-choice, multiple-answer – Length: 130 minutes
This is the cert you’ll want to prove you know how to build and deploy systems in the AWS cloud. This exam will ask questions about cloud-based solutions for deployments that follow strict requirements and require you to demonstrate knowledge of architectural best practices. You’ll need considerable experience deploying, configuring, and managing computes, network, storage, and database services in AWS. I also strongly suggest going into this exam with working knowledge of AWS security and compliance policies.
- AWS Certified Developer – Associate – Format: Multiple choice, multiple answer – Length: 80 minutes
This certification is related to developing and maintaining AWS-based applications. Meant for individuals who have one or more years of professional experience in developing and preserving AWS-based applications
Passing this exam also demands a functional understanding of code-level security practices, including credential creation and encryption strategies.
- AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate – Format: Multiple choice, multiple answer – Length: 80 minutes
The only certification focusing on system administrators is the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate certification.
Designed for professionals with at least one year of experience in deployment, management, and operations on AWS.
This exam certifies your ability to deploy, manage, and operating system resources in the AWS cloud. You should understand what it takes to manage cloud systems for both fault tolerance and high availability. You should also be able to match resource deployment to requirements; and to account for operational needs, such as security and cost control.
Professional
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional – Format: Multiple-choice, multiple-answer – Length: 130 minutes
Choose appropriate AWS services for designing and deploying an application based on given requirements,
Design and deploy dynamically scalable, fault-tolerant, highly-available, and reliable applications on AWS
Design as well as use enterprise-level scalable operations on AWS
Implement cost-control strategies, Migrate complex, multi-tier applications on AWS
In this exam, you’ll prove your ability to build and deploy distributed systems in the AWS cloud to spec—plus understanding how to deploy them at scale with fault tolerance and high availability. This cert also requires the ability to deploy multi-tier applications to the AWS cloud, and to build enterprise-scale cloud solutions with AWS resources—all while managing your cloud spend.
- AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional – Format: Multiple choice, multiple answer – Length: 130 minutes
The DevOps Engineer certification is all about testing your ability to manage distributed applications in the AWS cloud—from provisioning to full operational management. You’ll face questions about continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) methodologies and automation best practices, including best practices for automating security and compliance checks. You’ll also need to show a working knowledge of monitoring and logging practices as they pertain to the AWS platform.
- AWS Certified Big Data – Specialty – Format: Multiple choice, multiple answer – Length: 170 minutes
This exam will demonstrate your ability to use various AWS services to get the most of your data analysis—including knowing how to automate key data analysis tasks.Designed for those with a background in data analytics, AWS Certified Big Data – Specialty certification is meant for those individuals with at least two years of experience using AWS technology and performing complex Big Data analysis.
- AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty – Format: Multiple-choice, multiple-answer – Length: 170 minutes
The AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty certification is for professionals involved with performing complex networking tasks. Candidates interested in the AWS certification must have a background in architecting and implementing network solutions on AWS. The exam requires you to know how to manage network architecture for any service on the AWS platform; and also how to automate most networking tasks.
- AWS Certified Security – Specialty – Format: Multiple-choice, multiple-answer – Length: 170 minutes
This exam is all about advanced methods for securing the AWS cloud platform. Candidates for this cert should be seasoned IT security experts who can demonstrate expert-level knowledge of data protection and encryption techniques for AWS environments; and mastery of AWS tools for implementing and managing cloud security. Specialty certification offers topics that are required by security professionals and teams to follow best practices, champion security fundamentals, and build in-depth knowledge of critical services about the AWS platform.
- AWS Certified Machine Learning – Specialty – Format: Multiple-choice, multiple answer – Length: 170 minutes
The AWS Certified Machine Learning – Specialty certification is designed for individuals assuming a Development or Data Science role this exam emphasizes designing and deploying machine-learning solutions to solve practical business problems. You can expect questions that ask you to choose the best machine learning solution to a problem—and why the chosen approach is better than others. You’ll also need to understand which AWS services are relevant to delivering a machine-learning solution, and you’ll need to know how to optimize your AWS services to deliver scalable, reliable, and secure solutions.
- AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty – Format: Multiple choice, multiple-answer – Length: 170 minutes
For individuals with an Alexa Skill Builder role, the AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty is the ideal AWS certification to go for. The AWS Certified Machine Learning – Specialty certification is designed for individuals assuming a Development or Data Science role. This exam is all about advanced methods for securing the AWS cloud platform. Candidates for this cert should be seasoned IT security experts who can demonstrate expert-level knowledge of data protection and encryption techniques for AWS environments; and mastery of AWS tools for implementing and managing cloud security.
Conclusion
Amazon Web Services is continuously expanding in terms of products and features. Hence, anyone aiming to make it big with AWS must stay up-to-date with the latest happenings.
Having an AWS certification on your resume will put you a distance ahead of your peers to grab a lucrative AWS opportunity. So, better get started today.
These best AWS tutorials will also help you prepare for your AWS certification exam.
