AWS Recertification

mnashe

I have another AWS question. It seems AWS Associate exams have to be renewed every 2 years, but if I'm reading it right, unlike other vendors (cisco/vmware), each exam has to be renewed

For instance, If I pass AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate, Sysop Associate and Devop Associate exams, I'll have to take 3 more exams to recertify them all?

Mitechniq

I would re-certify by taking the professional exam, then you do not have to be concerned with lower level certifications.

mnashe

Mitechniq wrote: »

I would re-certify by taking the professional exam, then you do not have to be concerned with lower level certifications.

Yes, but I believe (based off what I read on AWS site), if you have Solutions Architect Associate and Developer Associate, taking the Architect Professional exam will only recertify the Solution Architect Associate, not both of them

DoubleNNs

I'm curious of this too. I just sent Amazon an inquiry ticket, asking about what exams re-certify which exams and where we can find expiration dates of our exams. When they respond, I'll let you know what they say.

DoubleNNs

I got a response from Amazon within an hour of submitting the ticket. I was very surprised at the prompt response.
Their recertification scheme sucks. And it doesn't make as much sense to get all their certifications.

It's just as you mentioned mnashe -- I currently have the 3 Associate level AWS certifications. They expire next year, in 2018. In order to keep them up to date, I will need to re-certify all 3 of them separately by taking their individual exams.

Another option I could do is take the Solutions Architect Professional exam, which will ONLY renew my Solutions Architect Associate exam. And then I can take the DevOps Professional exam which will renew my SysOps and my Developer Associate exams. Moving forward, I will then have to renew both of my Professional level exams in order to renew all 5 of my AWS exams.

Not horrible. But doesn't seem like the best model unless you're specializing in AWS.

Let me know if I didn't explain any of that well enough and you need clarification.

Mitechniq

That is why I didn't feel any value in taking all three associates exam - besides bragging rights. The Solution Architect-Professional weighs more than having 3 associate exams and you only to need to focus on one re-certification exam.

JoJoCal19

DoubleNNs wrote: »

I got a response from Amazon within an hour of submitting the ticket. I was very surprised at the prompt response.
Their recertification scheme sucks. And it doesn't make as much sense to get all their certifications.

It's just as you mentioned mnashe -- I currently have the 3 Associate level AWS certifications. They expire next year, in 2018. In order to keep them up to date, I will need to re-certify all 3 of them separately by taking their individual exams.

Another option I could do is take the Solutions Architect Professional exam, which will ONLY renew my Solutions Architect Associate exam. And then I can take the DevOps Professional exam which will renew my SysOps and my Developer Associate exams. Moving forward, I will then have to renew both of my Professional level exams in order to renew all 5 of my AWS exams.

Not horrible. But doesn't seem like the best model unless you're specializing in AWS.

Let me know if I didn't explain any of that well enough and you need clarification.

All of that taken together makes me not want to bother. I was wanting to pursue them to add another dimension to my skillset (I deal in cloud security, but not vendor specific), but between a 2 year recertification and having to individually recert both, that's kind of a deal breaker.

MitM

I was wondering about this from reading their site. Seems way too much.

DoubleNNs

I think I'm going to let my AWS CSA lapse.

I do plan on taking the AWS DevOps exam, however. From there I can just focus on renewing that one cert every 2 years and I'll have AWS 3 certifications total.

mnashe

Thanks for clarifying the info!!

That seems like a good plan. For me, maybe I'll only go for the associate architect and professional. I'm still trying to figure out if this is the route I should be going

gkca

Great info! I was planning to take all of the tests but now I guess I'll just take the solutions architect associate and possible upgrade to professional or security specialty down the road. Better to re-target to other stuff with better shelf life like CISSP.