AWS solution architect (associate)

Azzizz81

Suspended
Joined
May 4, 2001
Messages
49,430
Reaction score
2,303
Hi,

I like to take up this certificate, what are the things I should look out for I terms of time, learning path, costs and grants?
 

davidktw

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
13,391
Reaction score
1,180
Hi,

I like to take up this certificate, what are the things I should look out for I terms of time, learning path, costs and grants?

When I first took up the SA exam, I didn't attend any courses before it, basically just sign up for the exam and go for it :)
I was already a solution architect and also have been using AWS for quite awhile before I went for the certification, hence the cost of USD100++ is really cheap :)

I think official training is one thing. Basically you want to be at least get your hands dirty and use AWS to get yourself familiar with the management of your services in it.

I think you can find much about the cost involved here
https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-solutions-architect-associate/
https://www.bespoketraining.com/citrep/
 

Azzizz81

Suspended
Joined
May 4, 2001
Messages
49,430
Reaction score
2,303
When I first took up the SA exam, I didn't attend any courses before it, basically just sign up for the exam and go for it :)
I was already a solution architect and also have been using AWS for quite awhile before I went for the certification, hence the cost of USD100++ is really cheap :)

I think official training is one thing. Basically you want to be at least get your hands dirty and use AWS to get yourself familiar with the management of your services in it.

I think you can find much about the cost involved here
https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-solutions-architect-associate/
https://www.bespoketraining.com/citrep/

I have a couple of toy projects in mind that I was going to try out and AWS is definitely one of the candidate platforms, it'll be interesting to see how to get it up on AWS :)

I'm quite an independent learner. I have tried out a couple of labs at https://amazon.qwiklab.com and will be trying out online courses at EDX/Udemy. For the Bespoke training part , $3,500 seems a bit expensive since it's coming out of my own pocket. Is there any particular reason why you are recommending them? :)
 

davidktw

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
13,391
Reaction score
1,180
I have a couple of toy projects in mind that I was going to try out and AWS is definitely one of the candidate platforms, it'll be interesting to see how to get it up on AWS :)

I'm quite an independent learner. I have tried out a couple of labs at https://amazon.qwiklab.com and will be trying out online courses at EDX/Udemy. For the Bespoke training part , $3,500 seems a bit expensive since it's coming out of my own pocket. Is there any particular reason why you are recommending them? :)

Well then before you really get yourself in a course, why not you try out the platform first. There is the free web tier to get you started and with a small cost like just <USD100, you can easily test out quite a large number of services available in it. Just know the cost and remember to shut down your services after you have tested them

Well I am not recommending you anything specifically, it's just what I found online. Generally if you have been a solution architect, the AWS shouldn't be too difficult to grasp, no doubt that you will need to rethink some concepts since they wouldn't be an exact fit to the on-premise architecture.

BTW you might want to check up on https://www.imda.gov.sg/industry-de...infocomm-technology-resource-programme-citrep

Call up bespoke and see if the listed price is before or after the CITREP subsidy.

I think if you are comparing this
https://www.udemy.com/aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate/
and this
https://www.bespoketraining.com/citrep/

They are rather very different. The bespoke training is a 4.5days training, which the udemy is just an online course ? Bespoke is a certified training partner of AWS.

But if you ask me, well you can learn AWS on your own without this training at associate level.
 
Last edited:

nolife89

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2008
Messages
242
Reaction score
16
how are the job opportunities for AWS certified person in singapore? Any idea?

Being AWS certified is one thing. Plenty of Indian FTs in the market with AWS logos in their resumes. So, you need to get your hands dirty, in having the work experience pushing applications through AWS for example, or other Cloud like Openshift etc...
 

BusteR

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
1,901
Reaction score
52
sorry to dig this thread.

i thinking to go bespoke course $3.5k this dec with government 70% discount.
i bear myself 30% of out 3.5k.

or i should just study ownself and take exam - way cheaper.
but what are the pros n cons attend the 5 days course?
 

davidktw

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
13,391
Reaction score
1,180
sorry to dig this thread.

i thinking to go bespoke course $3.5k this dec with government 70% discount.
i bear myself 30% of out 3.5k.

or i should just study ownself and take exam - way cheaper.
but what are the pros n cons attend the 5 days course?

If you have been using AWS for quite awhile like for year+ or more, the associate exam is not hard. But you have to ask yourself, what do you want to get out of it? Just a cert, or the ways of architecting properly in a mature cloud platform. There are quite a fair bit of quirks in the AWS platform and to my understanding the associate course does introduce them to you. I was attending the professional level course when I did learn about what I have experienced myself throughout years of using AWS was discussed in those courses. :)
 

BusteR

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
1,901
Reaction score
52
If you have been using AWS for quite awhile like for year+ or more, the associate exam is not hard. But you have to ask yourself, what do you want to get out of it? Just a cert, or the ways of architecting properly in a mature cloud platform. There are quite a fair bit of quirks in the AWS platform and to my understanding the associate course does introduce them to you. I was attending the professional level course when I did learn about what I have experienced myself throughout years of using AWS was discussed in those courses. :)

I wan the cert for new job change n of course deploy efficiently. I only use ec2 n elastic ip n email blast on aws. Current job not related to cloud. Is more for future jobs.
 

davidktw

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
13,391
Reaction score
1,180
I wan the cert for new job change n of course deploy efficiently. I only use ec2 n elastic ip n email blast on aws. Current job not related to cloud. Is more for future jobs.

Then you will want to attend the course to know more than just treating it like a VPS managed solution. AWS is much much more than that, and you can still take the exam after that, not like the course will take a long time to do. :)
 

davidktw

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
13,391
Reaction score
1,180
is there any guideline to study for the exam?

What guidelines are you referring to? Know ur architecting knowledge? Know AWS :)

You can go online and search for some mock exam for Associate SA certification questions and you will have an idea what type of questions they will be posting or actual exams. The questions are across the board on AWS services and architecting and deployment and operations.
 
Last edited:

sunset80

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2016
Messages
591
Reaction score
64
SA or security engineer, which will have better prospect?
 
Last edited:

davidktw

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
13,391
Reaction score
1,180
In term of job opportunities & pay?

Both are important roles in the IT industry, if you choose security but you can't perform in it, would you have better job opportunities and remuneration ? You have to ask yourself, what you are more interested in. That will determine how far you can progress and how long you can sustain.
 

enimen

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2018
Messages
11,801
Reaction score
2,916
with close to zero networking knowledge (but plenty of desktop support experience), is it ok to dive into AWS Cloud Practitioner and progress from there, or should i take other fundamental networking courses like CCNA first?

It seem cloud and data center are the future moving forward, not sure how relevant CCNA-CCNP, etc are?

If not AWS, are there any essential or basic networking courses I can start with to build foundation and climb from there?
 

absoluthk

Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2003
Messages
215
Reaction score
1
i am thinking to retake my SA cert which i failed a few years ago. I had noticed that there is practitioner path now. do i need to clear it?
 
Important Forum Advisory Note
This forum is moderated by volunteer moderators who will react only to members' feedback on posts. Moderators are not employees or representatives of HWZ. Forum members and moderators are responsible for their own posts.

Please refer to our Community Guidelines and Standards, Terms of Service and Member T&Cs for more information.
Top