This blog was last updated on 30/05/2018
1. It is the only real certification available on the market
There are many public cloud providers on the market, especially at infrastructure level. AWS is the market leader, and by a large margin. Other popular ones include Microsoft Azure, Rackspace and Google Cloud, Rackspace and HP Cloud. AWS and Azure are the only cloud providers that have a comprehensive certification program. There are many other vendor-neutral certifications, but they only test basic skills and don’t prove any Cloud architecting skills. They are often ineffective and very few people ask for them.
AWS certification is the only real certification you can get until other cloud vendors offer their own. Watch our video to learn more about AWS certifications.
(Since this blog, Microsoft Azure have come up with their very comprehensive certifications. You can read more about it here.
2. Companies demand that their consultants are AWS certified
Companies are also realizing the importance of point 1 above. Any AWS consulting team, including ours, will agree that all consultants must be AWS Certified. AWS certification has been a success. Client companies now require all consultants to be AWS Certified. AWS certification has been a catalyst for companies to find talent and the ecosystem.
There are many Cloud experts out there, and many of them are snake-oil salesmen (will soon post an article “5 Signs that Cloud Consultants are Snake Oil Salesmen”). AWS Certification is more trusted by companies than individuals without it. If you are in the Cloud consulting space, this certification will be required sooner rather than later.
3. Questions are reasonable and pertinent
Many exams are filled with irrelevant jargon. You will need to read the books, even if you have been working in this area for a while. This certification is not one of those. The questions will be very relevant if you have had experience in AWS and have been building on AWS. It is a good idea to practice the questions before you take the exam. However, you won’t need to memorize too many acronyms. Here are some examples of questions.
4. There are fewer services available right now.
Although I love the speed at which AWS innovates it is also very taxing. It’s difficult to keep up with the new services they launch almost every month. I have not had the opportunity to experience newer services such as Amazon SageMaker. The newer services, such as Amazon SageMaker and Amazon Lex, Amazon Polly, etc., are now available. These services are not yet certified, possibly because they’re newer services and AWS recognizes that not everyone has the time or ability to use them. It is almost certain that they will include these services in the next update of the certification questions. You can either take the exam immediately or you will need to learn more services in order to pass the certification. You will need to learn less services if you take this exam sooner. So do it now.
5. It is the highest-paying certification available
Forbes magazine article states that AWS certification is the most highly paid certification on the market. AWS Certified Solutions Architects – Associate certification pays an average salary in the USA of $121,292. It is a highly-paid certification that I couldn’t find articles about in other countries.
Bonus: There will be more levels.
This is the best time to clear the Associate Level and be ready for the next certification.
