“No-brainer” is the term given to cloud computing by the business world and Hosting Tribunal. The companies today are continuously shifting their workloads to the public cloud. This has made cloud computing the core competencies among the enterprises.
In the cloud computing space, the most mature cloud services provider and the global market leader, AWS is considered as the point of reference for all its competitors in the market. In 2020 also, AWS continues to lead the cloud computing adoption.
The business world is taken up by storm by the cloud services; let’s have a look at some of the stats.
According to a report by Gartner, the public cloud service market is anticipated to reach $623.3 billion by 2023 globally. There are 94% of enterprises that are already using a cloud service.
Another report by Flexera says that AWS continues to be the leader among cloud services providers with a 67% adoption rate. AWS brought in a record $10 billion of revenue, which accounts for around 13.5% of the overall revenue of Amazon, in the first quarter of 2020. It has grown steadily for the past few quarters in a 30% range.
What do you get by reading these figures? Well, you get to know how cloud computing and eventually the AWS adoption is growing and why taking an AWS course is best for you to upgrade your career.
Now let us dive deep into what is AWS, its benefits, and what are the certifications offered.
What is AWS?
Amazon Web Services or AWS is always heard as the leader in the cloud services provider. It serves as a significant profit driver of Amazon. Simply put, when the data is stored and accessed over the Internet, it is referred to as cloud computing. You don’t need to store the data on your system, the cloud stores it for you and you can access it anytime from the remote server.
AWS is one such platform that provides cloud services that are flexible, reliable, easy-to-use, scalable, and cost-effective. This platform is developed as a perfect blend of IaaS (Information as a Service), packaged SaaS (Software as a Service), and PaaS (Platform as a Service).
Some of the services that are offered by AWS are:
- Computing
- Storage
- Database
- Migration
- Networking
- Messaging
- Analytics
- Management tools
- Security and Identity Compliance.
These serve as different business-purpose global cloud-based products that are available with a pay-as-you-go basis. The other services include desktop and app streaming, artificial intelligence, business productivity, mobile services, developer tools, deployment and management, Internet of Things, Management services, AR&VR (Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality), Game Development, Customer Engagement, and more.
The top companies using AWS include Instagram, Etsy, Dropbox, Netflix, Pinterest, Talkbox, and many more. AWS offers enhanced security, stability, gives companies greater flexibility, and helps in reducing costs.
Now that almost every small and big companies are using AWS to run all the aspects of their business, a great surge is seen in the demand of cloud computing professionals.
The popularity of AWS has opened up hot career options in the cloud computing world. Getting any of the certifications provided by AWS can pave a way for great career opportunities for you.
Let us look at the certifications offered by AWS.
AWS Certifications
An AWS Certification demonstrates your cloud expertise so that you can highlight in-demand skills regarding the cloud, and organizations can build innovative and effective teams for cloud initiatives by using AWS. Currently, there are twelve certifications offered by AWS. The image above gives you an overview of the certifications available.
There are role-based certifications like Cloud Practitioner, Architect, Developer, and Operations roles. For specific technical areas, AWS offers Speciality Certifications too.
In this article, we will discuss the AWS Solutions Architect Associate Certification and how to achieve it.
AWS Solutions Architect Associate Certification
Among all the certifications offered by AWS, AWS Solutions Architect Associate is the most in-demand certification by far. The average annual salary for a certified AWS Solutions Architect is around $127,000.
This certification demonstrates your knowledge of creating and deploying robust and secure applications on AWS technologies. This certification is designed for candidates who have some experience in designing distributed applications and it validates that you can define a solution with the help of architectural design principles that are based on customer requirements.
In addition, this certification provides you guidance on implementing the solutions based on best practices to the organizations all around the life cycle of the project.
To earn this certification it is required that you understand AWS infrastructure thoroughly, and have hands-on experience using networking, computing, storage, database, deployment, and management AWS services. You must be able to find out the feasible AWS services relating to a given technical requirement. You need to learn to deploy hybrid systems with an on-premise data center and AWS components.
Also, the exam domain includes designing highly scalable and available systems, implementing and deploying in AWS, troubleshooting, and disaster recovery techniques. You can take the certification exam by paying a registration fee of USD 150 (USD 20 for practice exam). You will get 130 minutes to solve the questions that are multiple-choice format. You can take the proctored exam that is conducted on-site or you can go for an online exam.
Preparation
You can always opt for self-study, but it is highly recommended to take up a training course so that you are likely to pass it in the very first attempt. If you concentrate properly on learning for the exam, 50 hours of preparation is optimal.
Bottom Line
Every year, the need for AWS certified professionals is increasing exponentially. It is anticipated that the AWS market will reach $236 billion by 2020 at a CAGR of 22%; creating 380,000 jobs worldwide, says Indeed.com. Clearly, you would wish to make your career, specifically in AWS Solutions Architect Associate.
There are online training providers that make the preparation hassle-free by keeping all the stuff ready for you. They train you according to the level of your understanding. Moreover, you get the flexibility of choosing from the learning modes such as online training, instructor-led, or a blended approach. You are free to learn it anytime at your own pace, there is no time-limitation or a deadline. All you need to do is register into any of the training courses available online.
So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and register for the training course.
