An Overview of Cloud Certifications: AWS, Azure, and GCP
Cloud Certs Comparison
The world of cloud computing has seen rapid growth in recent years. With this growth comes a rising demand for skilled professionals to manage and implement cloud solutions.
We’ll be going over the 3 players in enterprise Cloud and their respective certifications.
AWS
We’ll start with the biggest player in the market.
Many consumers don’t know that Amazon doesn’t make its big bucks from selling and shipping things to them in 2 days or less (what used to be books only), but in reality from Amazon Web Services.
AWS essentially powers a third of the internet, which is crazy to think about. There are many certifications offered by them, let’s take a 10,000 foot view.
From left to right we have: Cloud Practitioner, Solutions Architect - Associate, Solutions Architect - Professional, Advanced Networking, and the specialty certs. There are many choices of certs here but for the purpose of this post, we'll focus on some of the most common ones.
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
This is an entry-level certification designed for individuals who want to gain a foundational understanding of AWS cloud services. It covers basic cloud concepts, AWS architecture, and core services, as well as cost management.
In a nutshell here are the domains covered and the percentages they make up on the exam.
Cloud Concepts 26%
Security and Compliance 25%
Technology 33%
Billing and Pricing 16%
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate
This associate-level certification is aimed at professionals who design and implement scalable solutions on AWS. It requires a deeper understanding of services and best practices.
In a nutshell here are the domains covered and the percentage they make up on the exam.
Design Secure Architectures 30%
Design Resilient Architectures 26%
Design High-Performing Architectures 24%
Design Cost-Optimized Architectures 20%
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional
This advanced certification is for experienced professionals who design and implement complex solutions on AWS. It requires extensive knowledge of AWS services, as well as experience in migrating and managing multi-tier applications.
In a nutshell here are the domains covered and the percentage they make up on the exam.
Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity 26%
Design for New Solutions 29%
Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions 25%
Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization 20%
AWS Certified Advanced Networking - Specialty
This specialty certification focuses on designing, implementing, and managing complex networking solutions using AWS. It requires a strong understanding of networking concepts and AWS services related to networking.
Here are the domains covered and the percentage they make up on the exam.
Network Design 30%
Network Implementation 26%
Network Management and Operation 20%
Network Security, Compliance, and Governance 24%
Azure
Microsoft’s cloud computing arm.
Here are some of the most popular certifications for Azure.
From bottom to top, we have the most entry-level fundamental certifications offered, to the Expert level ones offered. We'll focus on some of the most common ones.
Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals (Exam AZ-900)
This foundational certification provides an understanding of core Azure services, security, privacy, compliance, and underlying technologies.
Below are the domains covered and the percentages they make up on the exam.
Describe Azure architecture and services (35–40%)
Describe Azure management and governance (30–35%)
Describe cloud concepts (25–30%)
Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (Exam AZ-104)
This associate-level certification is for professionals who manage and monitor Azure resources. It requires knowledge of Azure services, storage, networking, and security.
Below are the domains covered and the percentages they make up on the exam.
Manage Azure identities and governance (15–20%)
Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (20–25%)
Configure and manage virtual networking (20–25%)
Implement and manage storage (15–20%)
Monitor and maintain Azure resources (10–15%)
Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (Exam AZ-305)
This expert-level certification is aimed at professionals who design and implement Azure solutions.
It covers advanced topics such as compute, storage, networking, and security.
Below are the domains covered and the percentages they make up on the exam.
Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions (25–30%)
Design data storage solutions (25–30%)
Design infrastructure solutions (25–30%)
Design business continuity solutions (10–15%)
GCP
Google Cloud Platform is an interesting one here. It is the smallest of the three by market share, however it has the backing of Google, which has the backing of Alphabet. Also of note, its certs have been often referenced to lead to some of the highest salaries.
Top to bottom, is an overview from foundational fundamental certifications offered, to the Specialization level ones offered. We'll focus on some of the most common ones. Including one that is entry-level.
Cloud Digital Leader
This is GCP’s entry-level certification that is about understanding the broad aspects of their cloud concepts, services, and use cases.
The following are the sections covered in the exam guide
Innovating with data and Google Cloud (~30%)
Infrastructure and application modernization (~30%)
Google Cloud security and operations (~30% )
Digital transformation with Google Cloud (~10%)
Google Cloud - Associate Cloud Engineer
This associate-level certification is for professionals who deploy, monitor, and maintain projects on Google Cloud. It covers fundamental concepts as well as basic hands-on skills.
The following are the sections covered in the exam guide (no percentages offered)
Setting up a cloud solution environment
Planning and configuring a cloud solution
Deploying and implementing a cloud solution
Ensuring successful operation of a cloud solution
Configuring access and security
Google Cloud - Professional Cloud Security Engineer
This certification is for professionals who design and implement secure infrastructure on Google Cloud. It covers topics such as access control, data protection, and threat detection.
The following are the sections covered in the exam guide (no percentages offered)
Configure access within a cloud solution environment
Configure perimeter and boundary security
Ensure data protection
Manage operations within a cloud solution environment
Supporting compliance requirements
With all this in mind, a Cloud Guru also has a great resource on understanding the differences and the service equivalents between the 3 public cloud providers.
Cloud Dictionary of Pain
This will allow you to become more familiar with the terms and the differences that apply in each Cloud provider.
In conclusion, there are many routes you can go down when it comes to Cloud certifications.
All of them will provide you with concepts and skills that will benefit you in your cybersecurity journey. Having one (or more) of these certifications listed will help you in many ways in this field.
I hope this helped in your learning journey!