Why are AWS Certifications important, and which one should I choose?

Are AWS Certifications important?

AWS is a pool of services and resources. AWS Certification validates your knowledge and skills in using AWS services, enhancing your credibility and marketability. It holds importance not only in a limited place but also as a validation of your knowledge globally, which opens not one but many job opportunities for you, which is respected in the cloud computing industry. They open several job opportunities, and many employers consider AWS certifications as a valuable criterion when hiring for cloud-related positions. Certified professionals often command higher salaries than their non-certified counterparts. AWS certifications can contribute to increased earning potential. 

Which certification to choose? 

So, the hierarchy of certifications goes from Foundational to Specialty, where the foundational course ranges around 100 USD, the next step is Associate level certificates, which range around 150 USD, and the next comes Professional and Specialty Certificates ranging around 300 USD.  

Again, with AWS, we have several certifications, starting with Foundational to Specialty.  

The foundational certificate is the AWS Cloud Practitioner Certificate, which is suitable for individuals who are new to AWS and cloud computing. It provides a broad overview of AWS services and concepts. It doesn’t require extreme technical dept knowledge; however, it does require you to have a good level of understanding of the core services and basic level knowledge in the other additional services.  

In terms of enhanced learning, to segregate your learning based on your interests and career calls, we have 3 Associate certifications.  

1. AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate: 
2. AWS Certified Developer – Associate:  
3. AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate: 

If an individual is focused or his core responsibility involves designing and deploying scalable, cost-effective solutions on AWS, this certification is a good starting point — AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate is the right choice.  

If a person’s focus is on application development and maintaining applications on AWS, this certification is appropriate. It’s ideal for developers to go with AWS Certified Developer – Associate certification.  

While not strictly a “professional” certification, it’s worth mentioning this intermediate-level certification, as it serves as a stepping stone to professional certifications. It validates skills related to operating, managing, and troubleshooting AWS environments. So, what are you supposed to do here? Say you, as an employee, are responsible for managing and maintaining systems on AWS. Your way should lead to AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate. It’s suitable for system administrators and operations personnel. 

For experienced architects, developers, or operation administrators who want to design complex, scalable, and secure applications or want to automate and improve the development and operational aspects of applications on AWS, you can go with the professional certifications on AWS such as AWS Solution Architect Professional or AWS DevOps Engineering Professional Certification.  

These professional certifications are highly regarded in the IT industry and can enhance career prospects and earning potential. To prepare for these exams, candidates often take AWS training courses, practice with hands-on labs, and study AWS documentation. It’s essential to keep in mind that AWS updates its certifications regularly, so it’s advisable to check the AWS website for the most current information on available certifications and their requirements.  

Stating the next hierarchy to the chart AWS Specialty Certifications

If you are interested or are one who specializes in networking on AWS and is focused on covering advanced networking concepts, including VPC design, VPN connectivity, Direct Connect, and optimizing network performance – AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty is your destination. 

Similarly, if you are into data background or are an expert in database technologies and want to gain and enhance your knowledge in databases on AWS, then AWS Certified Database – Specialty it is. It covers various database services, including Amazon RDS, DynamoDB, and Aurora, as well as topics like database design, migration, and optimization.  

Or, say you are aimed at professionals who work with data analytics on AWS, then AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty certificate it is. This certification covers topics such as data lakes, data warehousing, data visualization, and big data processing using AWS services like Amazon Redshift and AWS Glue.   

Considering the fact that GenAI is booming in the industry, or you are an individual who works with machine learning and data science on AWS, then AWS Certified Machine Learning – Specialty is an appropriate choice for you as it assesses your knowledge of machine learning algorithms, model deployment, and AWS AI services like SageMaker. 

We also have a certification on AWS Certified Security – Specialty. This certification is for professionals with extensive knowledge of AWS security services and best practices. It covers topics like identity and access management (IAM), encryption, incident response, and compliance. 

These specialty certifications are designed to validate your expertise in specific areas of AWS cloud computing. They are a great way to demonstrate your expertise in specialized areas of AWS. Again, to prepare for these exams, AWS offers official training courses and documentation.  

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