AWS is considered to be the beast of a platform that requires extensive knowledge of application deployment and cloud management. At last count, AWS had well over 100 services — and new ones are added regularly. Each service has its lingo, own GUI, and own CLI command set. Mastery of any AWS service would first be required a firm understanding of the basics. Without knowing VPCs, regions, AZs, and security groups, you’re sunk before even getting started. Studying and regurgitating facts will only get you so far. If you’re looking to get certified in AWS, you need to know your stuff.

Let’s go through each of the AWS certification level, which would be correlating some opinions, and attempt to give you definitive answers about how difficult AWS exams are.

Foundational: Entry-Level Should Be Easiest, Right?

The first rung on the AWS cert ladder is Foundational, which would be included the Certified Cloud Practitioner certification. The exam tests the basics we mentioned earlier — plus the shared responsibility model, billing and account management, and support options. AWS recommends six months of experience with AWS in any capacity whether it is “technical, managerial, sales, purchasing, or financial.” That’s a good indicator for who should take this exam — basically anyone with skin in the game. Not just engineers. Thus, you should consider gaining good and reliable study dumps, which would be available at the SPOTO Club.

Are you an IT engineer with years of networking experience? This exam won’t be too hard. There might be some new concepts, but everything correlates to something you already know — S3 is file storage, EC2 is virtual machines, RDS is databases, etc. You might be itching to jump ahead to the Associate level. However, the consensus is to master the basics first with this Foundational cert.

Maybe you’re in your first IT role and a little more green? This certification is the perfect place to start. Expect lots of new stuff. Go through the material, set up a free tier AWS account to practice, and enjoy getting your hands dirty. You’ll get up to speed pretty quick.

The Verdict: If you’re brand new to AWS, you will need to put in the time to learn the minutiae of AWS to fare well. But if you’ve dabbled in cloud technologies and AWS (even in a free tier), this will probably be the easiest cert on this list for you to earn.

Associate: Don’t Go In Blind

The next AWS certification level is the Associate — which contains certifications in Solutions Architect, Developer, and SysOps. Earlier, we would be required to certain people could skip Foundation and jump straight into Associate. This is indeed possible, as there are no prerequisites for Associate tests. Get ready to start drinking from the firehose, though.

Those who have sat for Associate exams recommend the same two things — use every resource you can find and practice on the AWS console. Be ready to set up a study plan for yourself. Set aside a chunk of time to study. Use every resource you can find, including videos, labs, practice tests, and especially the AWS white papers. The white papers can get a little dry and dense, but they’re essential.

The Verdict: Associate-level AWS certification is considered where you would be taking your first step toward cloud specialty. It is considered as the most common AWS certification, so there would be a LOT of study materials available. This one’s not going to be a walk in the park even if you put in hours of studying.

Hence, if you wish to acquire the AWS Certification, you should check out for the study dumps which are being offered at the SPOTO Club.