As organizations are increasingly shifting their workloads to the cloud, cloud computing has become a core competency that enterprises need to abide by. It requires proper planning and understanding of the technology to make the shift possible. Moreover, it also makes it necessary to acquire a new set of skill to design, manage and deploy applications in the cloud. Since AWS is the most mature cloud service provider in this space, most organizations turn to AWS public cloud adoption and look up to the top AWS certifications that are available to cover the specialty and foundational topics to operate smoothly in the cloud.
As far as the DevOps certification is concerned, it's a relatively newer wing in the AWS certifications list. DevOps - which is a combination of development and operations - is a development methodology that focuses on information sharing, communication, automation, and integration between IT departments and software developers. By offering DevOps certification, AWS fulfills the goals of offering organizations the capability of leveraging this association to improve and speed up a company's software production. Some of the best examples of software packages that promote and support the implementation of DevOps across cloud infrastructures and data centers are orchestration tools including Ansible, Chef, Distelli, and Puppet.
Getting to Know the AWS DevOps Certification
A lot of organizations have a very specific approach when planning cloud deployments. Mostly, these are around the practices and philosophies of DevOps. Keeping the focus in mind, AWS presented a special certification called the AWS DevOps Engineer – Professional. The key is to offer both practical experience and significant knowledge to help the candidates pass the exam and become certified. With AWS certification in DevOps Engineering, you can expect a higher standard of practice at each stage of deployment and application development on the platform.
The professional AWS training and certification outlines the core concepts that need to be mastered before you are ready to appear for the examination. These outlines include:
- Significant knowledge of managing and implementing the core AWS methodologies and continuous delivery systems.
- Thorough understanding of the implementation of applications and automation of security controls. Information about compliance validation and governance processes are a plus.
- In-depth knowledge on how to define and deploy metrics, monitoring, and logging systems on the AWS platform.
- Design, maintain and manage tools for automating operational processes.
- Implementing systems that are highly scalable, available, and self-healing on the AWS platform.
Since this is a professional level certification, it is not suitable for anyone new to Amazon Web Services. In fact, you won't be even allowed to take the exam if this is the first time you are attempting for an AWS certification. To be eligible, you need to either have an AWS certified SysOps Administrator (Associate) certification or an AWS Developer (Associate) certification.
Moreover, these associate-level certifications are further built on the AWS Solutions Architect - Associate certification. In addition to this, Amazon also advises the candidate to have a proper understanding of the AWS general knowledge to be able to pass the exam. These points include:
- General monitoring and logging
- Effective usage of Auto Scaling
- The general idea about AWS services: CDN and Storage, Network and Computer, Analytics, Database, Management, Deployment, and Application Services.
- AWS best practices and security features
- Experience of using AWS production systems (minimum two years)
- Strategies and techniques for maintaining high availability
- Design of fault-tolerant and self-healing services
Improving Eligibility for AWS DevOps Certification
One of the best ways to further improve your eligibility to sit for the AWS DevOps Engineering certification exam is to check all the prerequisites on the list. In addition to the lists above, the following are some more prerequisites that can help you attain the certification and all the amazing benefits that come with it.
- Clear networking concepts
- Strong scripting skills
- Strong system administration (Windows or Unix/Linus)
- Deployment techniques and tools in a distributed environment
- Various configuration items, including templates, to enable automated control
- Multi-tier architectures: caching, load balancers, application servers, web servers, networking, and databases
- Basic techniques for management and monitoring in a dynamic environment
Some Additional Resources
Just like with any other certifications, you can find a detailed guide and even professional assistance with regards to the AWS DevOps exam. The format of the exam will remain the same. There will be multiple choice questions, and you will be given a certain time limit to complete your exam. Since this is a professional level certification, make sure you are ready to face some complicated questions. Sometimes, there are scenario-based problems in the exam too that needs to be figured out to pass the exam. Of course, having a proper AWS experience comes in really handy, but it is highly suggested that you sit for the exam well prepared if you want to clear it in the first attempt. Also, since you can only take this exam if you have taken an associate level exam earlier, you will be quite familiar with the format. It is best if you seek professional assistance before you are ready for the exam. Without a lot of exposure to DevOps practices, the exam can be pretty daunting.
Conclusion
With time, even more, companies are jumping on to the bandwagon and deploying applications on the cloud. By adopting DevOps practices, any organization can benefit from a predictable, secure, and stable IT environment with improved efficiency. The key is to ensure your IT team is up to date with the best of the AWS training and certifications available out there.
If you want to learn more about how cloud computing DevOps skills can make you stand out in the crowd and bring you better job opportunities, get in touch with us now and let a professional guide you.