What is AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner?

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner is an entry-level Cloud certification that validates your skills on the Amazon Web Services cloud platform.

Amazon has a variety of Cloud certifications, including compute, server-less computing, machine learning, security, DevOps, SysOps, IoT, and more.

The AWS Cloud Practitioner certification is a fundamental-level certification that is designed for anyone who wants to understand the basics of Cloud computing, with a special focus on Amazon Web Services.

The AWS Cloud Practitioner certification is a great starting point if you want to launch a career in Cloud computing.

According to Robert Half’s 2020 Salary Report, Cloud computing is one of the top in-demand skills of 2020.

About 89% of hiring managers in the report said that Cloud computing is one of the skills that is difficult to find.

Solutions Architects, DevOps engineers, and Cloud Security experts are among the most in-demand jobs globally, according to the report.

The AWS Cloud Practitioner certification exam consists of 65 multiple-choice questions. The exam is 90 minutes long and costs $100 US dollars.

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Skills Measured by the AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification

This certification tests and validates your skills on the AWS ecosystem, which includes AWS Compute, Storage, Networking, Database, Security, and Management Services.

From the fundamentals of Cloud computing to creating your first EC2 instance, from Cloud billing to AWS DynamoDB, you will learn a host of skills and concepts that will equip you with enough understanding to grasp the complex, technical world of Amazon Cloud computing.

Let’s dive deeper and see what you will learn in the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification.

Cloud Concepts (Weightage: 28%)

• What is AWS Cloud and its value proposition
• The basics of AWS Cloud economics, and
• Cloud architecture design principles

Security (Weightage: 24%)

• What is AWS Shared Responsibility model
• What is AWS Cloud security and compliance concepts
• AWS access management capabilities, and
• Resources for security support

Technology (Weightage: 36%)

• Different methods of deploying and operating in the AWS Cloud
• AWS global infrastructure
• Core AWS services, and
• Resources for technology support

Billing and Pricing (Weightage: 12%)

• Comparing different pricing models for AWS
• Understanding different account structures in relation to AWS billing and pricing, and
• Resources available for billing support

For a more complete curriculum, download the latest AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam objectives.

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Pre-requisites for the AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification

There are no pre-requisites for this certification. However, Amazon recommends that you have at least six months of experience with AWS in any capacity, including sales, technology, services, or accounts.

If you have a basic-level understanding of information technology concepts and are willing to put in the effort and hard work, you are good to go for this certification.

How to Prepare for the AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification Exam

There are many options available to prepare for this exam.  Let’s look at them in more detail.

Self-Study Resources

Self-study resources are generally enough to pass the Cloud Practitioner certification exam. These resources include books, videos, study guides, and practice questions.

Books

One of the most useful books to prepare for the Amazon Cloud Practitioner exam is the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Study Guide: CLF-C01.

However, you should not rely on a single source. Amazon also recommends some excellent white papers to prepare for the certification. These include Overview of Amazon Web Services, How AWS Pricing Works and Compare AWS Support Plans.

Video Training

After getting a solid understanding of the core concepts related to AWS, you should use video training to strengthen your grasp of those concepts.  Videos help you retain information for longer periods.

Amazon has an excellent free video course that covers the basic objectives of the certification.

The course is 6 hours long, and can be completed at your own pace.

Another free video training method would be to print out the Amazon Certified Cloud Practitioner exam objectives and start searching for YouTube videos that cover those topics.

Instructor-Led Training

If you think self-study isn’t for you, you can use instructor-led training to prepare for the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam.

Amazon offers virtual and on-site classes for the certification. These classes also include hands-on lab exercises.

However, instructor-led training is expensive. For example, a one-day course for the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam costs around $900 US dollars.

Because the certification is entry level and its course content could be studied online for free, spending a lot of money could be of little value for many candidates.

Practice Tests

Just covering the course material of the Cloud Practitioner certification is not enough. Solving a lot of technical questions in limited time is not easy.

To give yourself the best chance of passing the exam, do as many practice tests as you can.

Start with Amazon’s official practice test for the Cloud Practitioner certification exam.

You can also find another free practice test from Digital Cloud Training.

Practice Labs

Cloud computing with AWS is practical. Even though the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification exam mainly covers theory, it still contains many practical areas.

For example, how to create an AWS EC2 instance, how to access an AWS database, and troubleshooting AWS problems.

These questions require a strong practical approach. That is why you should do practice labs before attempting the certification exam.

Amazon has self-paced practice labs where you can access a lot of labs.

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What Jobs you can get with an AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification?

Amazon is the market leader in the $100 billion public Cloud market. As of the second quarter of 2020, Amazon has over 30% market share in the Cloud industry, much higher than Google and Microsoft.

Having the Cloud Practitioner certification will make you eligible for several job roles in the industry.

Keep in mind that you’ll get better and higher paying jobs if you pursue additional advanced or associate-level Cloud certifications, or enter the industry and gain hands-on experience.

This will prepare you for the following job roles:

• AWS SysOps Admin
• AWS Solutions Architect
• Cloud Engineer
• AWS Managed Services Expert
• DevOps Engineer
• Cloud Infrastructure Expert
• AWS System Administrator, and
• IT Support Executive

 Let’s now talk about how much money you can make with the…

AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification

Companies worldwide are moving to the Cloud. According to IDC, the size of the public Cloud market through 2022 is expected to reach $370 billion.

Companies need AWS professionals to design their Cloud infrastructure, manage their Cloud services, develop their Cloud applications, and databases. For these expertise companies are ready to pay a hefty sum.

According to PayScale, the average salary for AWS skills is $105,000 US dollars. But salaries vary heavily based on skillset, location, and company.

AWS Cloud Practitioner certification alone won’t make you eligible for high-paying jobs. You will have to pursue more advanced AWS certifications as well.

Let’s see what other people think about this certification.  Here are a few…

Observations from Successful AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification Holders in the Industry

If you want to know about the best strategies to prepare for the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam, pay attention to the experiences of those who have already passed the test.

Here is a comment from Reddit User “Sional”

I recently passed the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam. Here’s my study guide. I spent around 1 week to prepare for this exam.

First, I read the white paper Overview of Amazon Web Services. A lot of questions on the exam are related to this white paper. The question is scenario based, and they’ll ask which service are used for that scenario. There are a lot of services to remember, but I watched these two videos to have a high level of understanding of what services to use for each scenario.

 Acloud.guru Introduction To AWS This is free, but you need to create an account on Acloud.guru. I watched this series for 2-3 times after reading the whitepaper.

 AWS All Services Overview. Again, I watch this video for 2-3 times.

The second part is to read the paper Architecting for The Cloud. There will be questions on the exam which discuss about what design principles are applied for specific scenario, how to optimize for cost, scalability, loose coupling, etc.

The third part is to read the paper How AWS Pricing Works. In the exam, they talked a lot about how to save cost using AWS. The most important concept is the EC2 pricing model (On demand, reserved instance, spot instance, etc). Make sure that you understand when to use these pricing model because this type of question is really popular in the exam.

 You also need to check the AWS Support Plans. They have some questions like Who will have access to Technical Account Manager, who have AWS Trusted Advisor 7 Core Checks, etc.

 The AWS Free Digital Class (roughly 4.5 hours) to reinforce all the concepts above.

Here is another comment from Reddit User “Akintayoo”

10 minutes into exam, I was smiling, saying “boy you got this” :)) Most questions were from AWS core services like RDS, S3, Trusted Advisor, Cloud watch, etc. I feel I had more database and S3 related questions. Scenario questions were not that many, but the few I had were about deciding what pricing model or deployment model was best for the client.

 In all, I’ll say if anyone advises you not to read the whitepapers, slap them. 😂 Please read them whitepapers – they are lifesavers. Even though I didn’t read more than two, it helped reinforced what I watched and even explained some services better to me than I grasped on the videos and I swear they increased my chances. So far, the papers I read weren’t dry as most people claimed they are.

Here is another comment from Reddit User “SexyOverlord”

I work for Amazon, and I’m working on getting my Solutions architect certification. In order to transfer into AWS. Most people will not care about the practitioner certification unless you’re AWS itself. I did speak with a recruiter who did tell me to go get my practitioner and he can probably get me started on that side of the business. That being said I still feel like I should get my associates certification as I want to really know as much as I can about this industry. Looking around AWS I see plenty of people with the practitioner certification but that’s because they were hired into AWS and then told to go get it.

The Truth About AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner

AWS Cloud Practitioner certification validates your basic understanding of AWS Cloud computing.

To fully benefit from your AWS career you will have to pursue advanced-level certifications if you want to attain a high paying job.

You should also try to get some hands on experience as soon as you can. The best learning happens at the workplace, where you have to solve actual problems.

Amazon has many certifications for AWS because its web services business is vast and dynamic.

Try to be clear on the area you want to focus on in the AWS world. Then build upon your Cloud Practitioner certification in those areas by passing associate-level or advanced certifications.

Is the AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification for You?

AWS Cloud Practitioner certification is one of the best ways to start a career in the lucrative industry of Cloud computing.

Even if you have no degree or background in IT, this certification will give you enough basic knowledge to help you get your first Cloud related job or advance your career in the area of cloud computing.

So, is the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification worth it?

If you have a basic-level understanding of IT concepts, and want to improve your job prospects, the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification is a worthwhile option.