Aws, Azure and GCP. Which track to take?

rs23

I have about 8 to 10 months to prepare for 4 certifications. I have about 10 years IT experience in office 365, soc/noc(sharepoint on premise before) and a masters in network security. I am looking to move into cloud security for better marketability and honestly better compensation. The first cert I am doing is security + to brush up on concepts and many folks have told me to go for CISSP and that leaves me with a big question. Which vendor specific cloud cert or product do I focus on? Aws, gcp or Azure. I have zero hands on experience on these 3 so starting with a clean slate.

LordQarlyn

AWS is by a large margin the market leader in cloud services, that would be a good one to start. Indeed, AWS may eventually own the market. If time permits, you could later pursue entry level certs for Azure and GCP. But if you do get a job working with the cloud, it's a good chance it will be AWS.

However, the CISSP covers information security from management perspective and only touches on the cloud, I can't remember seeing any cloud related questions on the CISSP. Perhaps you are thinking of the Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP).

TechGuru80

rs23 wrote: »

1. I have about 8 to 10 months to prepare for 4 certifications.

2. The first cert I am doing is security + to brush up on concepts and many folks have told me to go for CISSP and that leaves me with a big question.

3. Which vendor specific cloud cert or product do I focus on? Aws, gcp or Azure. I have zero hands on experience on these 3 so starting with a clean slate.

1. Why? What is creating that deadline? What is determining that you "need" 4?

2. If you already have 10 years experience, you probably could go directly for CISSP...or at minimum go for CASP.

3. Which aspect of cloud security? AWS with the security specialty seems like a good fit, but that also more than likely will get you into an IT role with some security responsibilities and not a full blown security job (depends on the company and size though)...this seems to mesh with what your background most likely contains. CCSP from ISC2 is a vendor neutral cloud certification that would give you knowledge without forcing you to pick a vendor just yet. Honestly, regardless of cloud being utilized in an organization or not, a lot of the roles exist across the board so skills like packet analysis and GRC will be relevant.

rs23

TechGuru80 wrote: »

1. Why? What is creating that deadline? What is determining that you "need" 4?

2. If you already have 10 years experience, you probably could go directly for CISSP...or at minimum go for CASP.

3. Which aspect of cloud security? AWS with the security specialty seems like a good fit, but that also more than likely will get you into an IT role with some security responsibilities and not a full blown security job (depends on the company and size though)...this seems to mesh with what your background most likely contains. CCSP from ISC2 is a vendor neutral cloud certification that would give you knowledge without forcing you to pick a vendor just yet. Honestly, regardless of cloud being utilized in an organization or not, a lot of the roles exist across the board so skills like packet analysis and GRC will be relevant.

1) this was a high level game plan. I wanted to set up a time frame to finish this as that's how I operate. 4 was just a number I picked for financial and time reasons as I'll be paying out of pocket and I want to cover my base with both security and cloud

2) with almost 10 years in middle management for the same company my role which started as technical has morphed into something of a hybrid management and technical and its not that marketable anymore if I had to leave this agency. Hence I wanna do security + since I honest forgot some concepts that I learnt in masters or in early years as a Noc analyst. I see your point about cissp.

3) with 3 small children I don't prefer working in a nigh shift noc/doc role. I am looking for regular hours and on call is understandable That's why I'm looking for advise on what sort of cloud security roles I need to explore. Currently I own office 365 product for over 3000 users. Open to answering more.

LordQarlyn

TechGuru80 wrote: »

1. Why? What is creating that deadline? What is determining that you "need" 4?

I can't speak for the OP, but I have to set myself arbitrary deadlines to "light a fire" under me to focus on getting a certification. It's not that I am not motivated, but work and life sometimes can distract and divert me. A deadline keeps reminding me to STUDY!

rs23

Totally agree!

odysseyelite

I'm in the same boat as you. The product my company sells works with Azure and AWS but we have customers asking about GCP.

When looking at Gartner, AWS has been and still is the leading player in cloud hosting platforms and Microsoft is getting closer every day. GCP is third.

I decided the following route:

1.)AWS: quickest to obtain in the shortest amount of time. I already purchased the Udemy acloud guru course a couple years ago. One exam and you have something already under your belt. I'm using this to also help me spring back into studying for certs. I'm debating on going for more than one or just stick with the Architecture cert.

2.) Azure, until a week ago, the only certification was MCSA and higher requiring 4 exams and much more time to complete. They just announced a Azure Administrator certification which will be two exams. My thought is after I complete the AWS, there will be training material and more information on how the admin exams fall in place with their Azure MCSA/MCSA track.

3.) GCP. A cloud guru has a training course in beta now. I hope to obtain this to let me stand out among my peers when we finally support GCP. It a pure speculative play in getting this cert and how useful it will be in the market.

rs23

Thank you for posting this. This is a good game plan. In the DC metro region Security+ is almost a must so i am trying to tailor my learning path. I have never worked on azure, aws or GCP so i will be starting fresh. I do see a lot of good courses on A cloud guru.

odysseyelite wrote: »

I'm in the same boat as you. The product my company sells works with Azure and AWS but we have customers asking about GCP.

When looking at Gartner, AWS has been and still is the leading player in cloud hosting platforms and Microsoft is getting closer every day. GCP is third.

I decided the following route:

1.)AWS: quickest to obtain in the shortest amount of time. I already purchased the Udemy acloud guru course a couple years ago. One exam and you have something already under your belt. I'm using this to also help me spring back into studying for certs. I'm debating on going for more than one or just stick with the Architecture cert.

2.) Azure, until a week ago, the only certification was MCSA and higher requiring 4 exams and much more time to complete. They just announced a Azure Administrator certification which will be two exams. My thought is after I complete the AWS, there will be training material and more information on how the admin exams fall in place with their Azure MCSA/MCSA track.

3.) GCP. A cloud guru has a training course in beta now. I hope to obtain this to let me stand out among my peers when we finally support GCP. It a pure speculative play in getting this cert and how useful it will be in the market.

EagerDinosaur

I'd say that AWS is the most commercially important platform, followed by Azure. Some people say that GCP is very similar to AWS, but I've never tried it.

I've got both AWS and Azure certifications, and because both platforms are trying to solve the same business problems, there's quite a lot of cross-over. So learning about AWS introduces concepts that crop-up in Azure, and vice-versa. For example, both have multiple types of load balancers that operate at different levels in the ISO network model. I'm currently using both in my day job. If you have time, knowing both is worthwhile.

I think Azure exams tend to be more challenging than the AWS associate-level ones. The Azure exams often contain groups of linked questions, which require rapid analysis of large chunks of information. The AWS associate-level exams tend to be just a series of stand-alone multiple-choice questions.

snokerpoker

EagerDinosaur wrote: »

I'd say that AWS is the most commercially important platform, followed by Azure. Some people say that GCP is very similar to AWS, but I've never tried it.

I've got both AWS and Azure certifications, and because both platforms are trying to solve the same business problems, there's quite a lot of cross-over. So learning about AWS introduces concepts that crop-up in Azure, and vice-versa. For example, both have multiple types of load balancers that operate at different levels in the ISO network model. I'm currently using both in my day job. If you have time, knowing both is worthwhile.

I think Azure exams tend to be more challenging than the AWS associate-level ones. The Azure exams often contain groups of linked questions, which require rapid analysis of large chunks of information. The AWS associate-level exams tend to be just a series of stand-alone multiple-choice questions.

100% Spot on here.