My Reluctant Journey to AWS Certifications

Why bother with AWS certifications? I questioned this like many others in my generation with legacy IT experience. My expertise is in on-premises ERP systems (PeopleSoft, Oracle E-Business, SAP and IBM CPQ) where the vendors were slow to adopt to the Cloud. I doubted whether the Cloud matched the stability, performance and security of the on-premises platforms (like Oracle, IBM, UNIX, and mainframes). These were some of the reasons for me to put Cloud skills on the back burner.

Then I got my first introduction 5 years ago when my company had an urgent need to upgrade our analytics and archiving application on Hadoop and Linux. Since the new version of the application was certified on the Cloud, we found it beneficial to go with the AWS option. After the successful migration, we observed improved stability, performance, and security at a fraction of the cost. We eventually enhanced the solution architecture by setting up automated failover between AWS regions using CloudFormation scripts (IaC). The complex infrastructure could be built in under an hour, which was beyond the capabilities of our previous systems.

This experience changed my outlook towards the Cloud, jumpstarting my journey to pursue AWS certifications. After passing the beginner level AWS Cloud Practitioner certification, my confidence to take up more challenging Cloud projects improved. Subsequently, I ventured into the world of associate, professional and specialty level AWS certifications. It was like peeling an onion where each level further deepened my knowledge and made me more grounded.

I’m not sure when I got so engaged with the certifications, but before I knew it, I had passed all the current AWS certifications and was working on the latest beta exams for machine learning and AI. In my case, I feel that I did not make any sacrifices to achieve this goal instead wisely invested my free time to gain valuable relevant skills.

Online education was critical to the success of my journey. Udemy, AWS Skill Builder, and Tutorials Dojo offers a variety of resources from skilled, engaging educators that helped me grasp the complex concepts. The online tools below were invaluable in preparing for my exams. I highly recommend taking advantage of them to advance your career goals.

The below are some of my preferred online learning platforms and instructors:

Please check my article Leap into the World of AWS Cloud Certifications where I have explained my strategy for preparing and passing the certification exams. I hope this article will inspire others interested in working on their AWS certification journey.