Cloud Computing delivers computing services like networking, storage, intelligence, servers, analytics, databases, and software over the cloud. A majority of an organization’s investments are in the cloud. These investments are not just in terms of money but also skills. Cloud facilitates faster innovation and flexible resources, which is very economical for the organizations using them. The operating costs of the cloud are less since the organizations need to pay only for the services they are using. The infrastructure can be scaled according to the needs of the organizations. More and more companies are transitioning their infrastructure to the cloud. Even startups are also preferring cloud services since they are economical. Leading tech giants are offering lucrative salaries for skilled professionals.
Certifications serve as a validation of the skills that organizations are looking for in their candidates. You need to earn and acquire skills to clear the certification exams. Hence, certification shows your commitment to this area. Certification can impact your career hugely as they make your resume stand out among a bunch of resumes during a hiring process. You can easily pass the screening round based on your certification. Even if you are already working, you can upgrade your career with a certificate. Your seniors in your organizations get a good impression of you, and you get to work in challenging roles. Having a certification can also get you promoted. Even if you are a software developer, you can shift your career to the cloud for better career opportunities. There are several certifications that you can consider if you are looking to fortify your cloud expertise. Here, we list down top cloud certifications that will ace your career.
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate: It’s one of the most popular cloud certifications. Nearly one out of every three cloud professionals have earned the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate. Cloud professionals with this certification have an average salary of about $130,883 per annum. This certification is ideal for individuals who design the cloud infrastructure and architectures and deploy services based on stakeholders’ demands. It’s essential for candidates to have at least one year of experience with cost-effective, scalable, and fault-tolerant distributed systems on AWS. Furthermore, hands-on experience is the best way to prepare for this exam. You must gain knowledge of AWS global infrastructure and network technologies.
- Microsoft Certified – Azure Administrator Associate: Microsoft keeps updating its certification according to the latest trends and innovations. Essentially, you will be required to have a minimum of six months of hands-on experience implementing Azure, with a solid understanding of core Azure services, security, workloads, and governance. You should have experience in working with Azure CLI, PowerShell, and Azure Resource Manager templates. The market share of Microsoft Azure is 16.8%. The top companies using Microsoft Azure are Samsung, Boeing, eBay, GE Healthcare, BMW, Travelocity, etc. Hence, you can work in leading organizations that will give you good work experience and lifestyle. This certification validates your ability to manage virtual machines, services, Azure storage, identities, applications, and more. You can gain higher-level certification, Azure DevOps Engineer Expert Certification, after acquiring the Associate level certification.
- Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect: Google cloud is gaining popularity at a verified fast rate. IT professionals are increasingly using Google cloud technologies, hence seeking validation of their skills and knowledge. This Cloud Architect certification validates your ability to design, manage, and develop cloud architecture on the Google Cloud Platform. And for this certification, you must have proficiency with command line, Linux operating systems, and system operations. This is an online proctored exam with a time limit of 2 hours. This exam is conducted in English and Japanese. As a professional cloud architect, you are expected to ensure solution and operations reliability. You must have the ability to analyze the technical and business processes using Google cloud resources.
- Google Certified Professional Data Engineer: A data engineer is expected to transform the available raw data into a helpful format for analysis and manipulation. You must have data processing capabilities. It is an online proctored exam. A candidate needs to have at least three years of industry experience, including a minimum of one-year experience in designing and managing solutions using the Google Cloud platform. This certification exam is conducted in English and Japanese language. The total duration of the GCP Data engineer exam is 2 hours. As a professional data engineer, you must build and operationalize data processing systems and ensure solutions quality. While designing data processing systems, you must emphasize robustness, scalability, and security to drive business objectives.
- AWS Certified Developer – Associate: You must have one or more years of hands-on experience developing and maintaining an AWS-based application. You can take this exam at the testing center or in online proctor mode. This exam is conducted in English, Japanese, Korean, and simplified Chinese languages.
The AWS Developer Associate certification is among the highest-paying certifications. Certified professionals earn 18% more than non-certified professionals. An individual who achieves the AWS Developer Associate certification has proficiency in developing, debugging, and deploying cloud-based applications using AWS. This exam has 65 questions which are multiple-choice or multiple response types. It would help if you were thorough with the features of AWS services.
Microsoft Certified – Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
Fundamental cloud training and certification are essential due to the high demand for cloud skills. Microsoft Azure fundamentals certification validates your understanding of core cloud concepts, Azure storage, services, privacy, and security. You can go for this certification as a starting step towards your career in cloud computing. Candidates should be aware of general technology concepts like compute, storage, networking, support, and application development. The job roles available after this certification are cloud administrator, technology manager, cloud developer, etc. If you are a complete beginner and aspire to start your career in cloud computing, this certification is ideal for you. Preparing for this certification will help you to prepare for advanced certifications.