Amazon AWS certification

ChooseLife

Amazon AWS has announced a training and certification program:

https://aws.amazon.com/training
https://aws.amazon.com/certification

Quote from the link above:

AWS currently offers the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate Level certification, and additional certifications are being developed for the Developer and SysOps Administrator roles across the three proficiency levels.

The exam is delivered through Kryterion, exam fee is $150.

qwertyiop

Krypterion? By that do you mean that that you take it from your home computer and install that some anti-**** software?

ChooseLife

qwertyiop wrote: »

Krypterion? By that do you mean that that you take it from your home computer and install that some anti-**** software?

The candidate takes the test at one of the authorized Kryterion test centres, similar to Pearson/Prometric.

Essendon

Doubt there'll be many takers for this one though it may gain some traction as time rolls by. You interested in this ChooseLife?

ChooseLife

Essendon wrote: »

You interested in this ChooseLife?

At first I was seriously tempted, but the only reason I could come up with is "just 'cuz I can"

I'd certainly go for this cert if I was in a consulting role, mainly to distinguish myself from competition. From what I'm seeing the demand for AWS administration and design skills is present and is growing continuously, and there are not many people who have decent experience with that

Now, like many others I'm not fond of certs not backed by experience, but reality is such that this cert may also be a good way for someone without practical experience to make their way into "the cloud administration". FWIW, if tomorrow someone showed up for an interview with this cert on the resume, I'd be inclined to give them at least some credit in the AWS experience department (and grill 'em further, of course )

NightShade03

I know a few people are work that are going for this new cert...mostly because they are dealing with the "cloud" customers everyday. I think it was a smart move by Amazon, but difficulty of the exam I think will really be the driving factor for how many people go after it. As ChooseLife mentioned this would def be a good way to distinguish yourself as a consultant

Sounds Good

Anybody have any good resources for the cert? Aside from the paid training, where can I find free resources for the cert? Tried searching google, but seeing as how this is a brand new cert, no luck. Asking just in case someone knew of anything.

ChooseLife

Sounds Good wrote: »

where can I find free resources for the cert?

If I was preparing for this cert, I'd hit up the official AWS documentation that is freely available on their site:
https://aws.amazon.com/documentation/
It is pretty decent in quality and should cover most if not all of the exam subjects.
For hands-on training you could use, well, AWS, and leverage their free tier as much as possible.

Sounds Good

I've been reading up a lot on this and it just begs the question of why would anyone NOT want to have their services on the cloud through a provider such as AWS? I foresee the death of an in-house IT infrastructure for Small businesses and general shift to cloud management for medium as well as large enterprises.

So my question is, what are the negatives of having everything hosted on the cloud like AWS?

the_Grinch

I'm definitely going to look into this! I see so many jobs with AWS as a requirement that this would definitely set you apart from others. We have to face the fact that a lot of start-ups are using AWS to host their infrastructure and you will be doing yourself a disservice by not knowing this stuff. It's just like Salesforce, people are jumping on it in droves and you don't want to be the last one to the party.

As for training, I think this would definitely help!

http://www.cbtnuggets.com/it-training-videos/series/amazon-web-services-foundations

Sounds Good

the_Grinch wrote: »

I'm definitely going to look into this! I see so many jobs with AWS as a requirement that this would definitely set you apart from others. We have to face the fact that a lot of start-ups are using AWS to host their infrastructure and you will be doing yourself a disservice by not knowing this stuff. It's just like Salesforce, people are jumping on it in droves and you don't want to be the last one to the party.

As for training, I think this would definitely help!

Amazon Web Services: AWS Foundations Video Training Online | CBT Nuggets

Thanks so much man! Will definitely sign up for it for like a month and see what I can get out of it.

tbgree00

Sounds Good wrote: »

I've been reading up a lot on this and it just begs the question of why would anyone NOT want to have their services on the cloud through a provider such as AWS? I foresee the death of an in-house IT infrastructure for Small businesses and general shift to cloud management for medium as well as large enterprises.

So my question is, what are the negatives of having everything hosted on the cloud like AWS?

We are deploying some AWS stuff for a client and we're running through a couple of issues, mainly with how to do a good file level backup. We know the stuff is replicated so we're not worried about availability, just how to save end users from themselves. I'm not involved yet so I don't know all the details, just what I hear in our monthly meeting. It can also get expensive since you pay for storage, cpu cycles, etc. New businesses and SMBs with ancient hardware are the prime customers for sure, I just don't know if the ROI is better there or a Small Business server and google apps/office 365 hosted exchange.

the_Grinch

Each business needs to weigh their options and know exactly what they are getting into. If you're a small business who knows you will be growing, AWS would make sense since you can spin up new instances very quickly. But if you will be a mom and pop shop the entire time, it may serve you better to stick to the traditional methods. I tend to think that a hybrid approach is what most SMB's are going for and are smart for doing it.

Where I'm out we've done this and it has been very successful. Rackspace hosts all of our servers (minus three we have here locally) and with that manage our infrastructure. We're too small to do it on our own and it's nice not to get a call at 3 AM because the website is down. All of our backups are in the cloud. We use Salesforce for a host of different things and again never have to worry about any infrastructure related issues (for the most part). I'd argue that we wouldn't be as successful as we have been without the "cloud" and the foresight to use it.

chanakyajupudi

Anyone know the cost of this exam ?

Sounds Good

chanakyajupudi wrote: »

Anyone know the cost of this exam ?

Last sentence in the first post. $150

gogoisgone

Anbody completed it recently ?

How long is a good estimate for preparation ?

osPrime

I too am interested in this cert and have been trying to find some good free resources/study materials.

bibinwilson

I cleared AWS CSA with 87%..I have shared my experience in my blog..
How To Prepare For AWS certification - AWS Solutions Architect Associate Level - Cloud Computing and Amazon Web Services Tutorial Blog[h=1][/h]

chanakyajupudi

I have just enrolled in the three classes available and I will be posting reviews of the courses soon.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/virtualization/99142-amazon-aws-essentials-course-wellington-april-1st.html

Materials are available for the exams
1. CBT Nuggets
2. Amazon Documentation

Use the free tier to get as much exposure as you can.

Any comments or questions are welcome !

Cheers

Chanakya

ben_manchester

Hi chooseLife,

I need one of AWS certification to save my job and I have least time to prepair for it so which one of them would you suggest can be covered quickly and passed

1: AWS certified SysOps administrator
2: AWS certified Solution Architect.

My level of experience to cloud is beginning.