The demand for cloud skills is increasing sharply. IDC predicts that by 2021, 31 percent of IT positions will be related to the cloud. So, there is no better time to learn cloud skills than now.
To help experienced IT professionals and beginners learn cloud computing skills, cloud companies and certification providers are introducing certifications. Certifications are blueprints for learning. They are also a great way to convince employers that you have the right set of skills and knowledge necessary for the cloud computing job. Certifications validate your skills against the industry benchmark and prove that you are qualified for the job.
If you are new to the IT field and want to begin your career with a cloud computing job, you can consider vendor-neutral cloud certifications that give an overview of cloud architecture and cloud management. If you want to learn about a specific cloud technology thoroughly, you can opt for vendor specific certification.
Here is a list of some of the most respected certifications in the cloud computing world.
AWS Certified Solutions Architect
AWS Certified Solutions Architect is a certification offered by Amazon for IT professionals working with AWS. The associate level certification will evaluate your knowledge of core AWS services and AWS architecture best practices, ability to evaluate cloud application requirements, and skills in developing, deploying and testing cloud-based applications using AWS. The professional level certification will assess your expertise in designing, deploying and migrating distributed applications on AWS, and ability to select the right AWS service for an application.
Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge
Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge is a vendor-neutral certification. The test for this certification is based on ‘Security Guidance for Critical Areas of Focus in Cloud Computing v3’ by Cloud Security Alliance and ‘Cloud Computing Risk Assessment’ by the ENISA. To earn this certification you must be proficient in cloud architecture, cloud security, operations, virtualization, and encryption, and demonstrate your expertise in developing a holistic cloud security environment.
Certified OpenStack Administrator
OpenStack Foundation offers the OpenStack’s Certified OpenStack Administrator (COA) certification. The certification test is based on the OpenStack Pike version and it will measure your proficiency in managing an OpenStack public or private cloud. To be able to take this test, you need to have at least six months of hands-on experience with OpenStack.
Certified System Administrator in Red Hat OpenStack
System Administrators in Red Hat OpenStack is the certification offered by Red Hat. The test will measure your expertise in designing, building, deploying, and managing Red Hat OpenStack platform based private clouds.
Cisco CCNA-Cloud
The CCNA cloud certification is a job role focused certification. Cisco CCNA Cloud certification is a job role focused certification for Cloud engineers, Cloud Administrators, and Network Engineers. To be able to get through this test, you should learn how to identify the components of the Cisco Cloud management software, understand the basics of cloud infrastructure administration and be able to perform cloud management.
Cloud Credential Council
The Cloud Credential Council (CCC) offers one Cloud Technology Associate certification and five Professional Level vendor-neutral cloud certifications. These certifications help you learn how to define, choose, build, operate and manage cloud services.
ITJobCafe 