The cloud computing landscape in India is one of the biggest revenue drivers as of now. Studies have shown that this increased usage is expected to add around one million jobs in cloud computing by 2022. The IDC also study highlighted how cloud computing will add 500,000 jobs in India alone and also add $4.2 billion in revenue to the country’s ecosystem by 2020. In fact, 83 percent of enterprise workloads are moving or adopting cloud now.
With the recent developments, this is the best time to jumpstart a career in cloud computing. A recent survey by Microsoft indicated enterprise architects and developers the most sought-after roles in cloud technologies. Developers and IT professionals understand the importance of cloud skills and key cloud vendors — AWS, Microsoft and Salesforce — are constantly upgrading their cloud offerings. With cloud computing driving job growth, the demand for cloud certifications has gone up significantly.
However, it is difficult to decide which certification holds more value — AWS or Azure. AWS is the dominant cloud player with a 49 percent increase in growth rate and has a 33 percent share of the market. But, despite its impressive revenue, Microsoft is quickly gaining ground on its rival with 13 percent market share and is also billed to be more enterprise-focused.
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Meanwhile, the cloud computing market is expected to grow to $26 billion by 2021. Given the exponential growth which is driving cloud-related jobs, AWS vs Azure certification is a hotly-contested debate among IT professionals looking to add cloud skills to their portfolio.
The Roadmap
Before you dive into a vendor-specific certification, brush up on the basics of storage, compute and the basics of network, routing and VPN. It is important to have a good understanding of basic cloud computing architecture before deep diving into a vendor-specific technology.
AWS Certification
AWS Certified Solutions Architect is one of the most sought-after cloud certifications and employers are on a look-out for cloud professionals who can design and deploy applications on AWS infrastructure. To take the certification, one should have a minimum of two-year experience in designing applications with AWS technologies. The certification tests the candidate’s ability to make architectural recommendations for deployment and provisioning applications on AWS.
This certification can open a career pathway as an AWS Solutions Architect Associate. After clearing the AWS Solutions Architect exam, candidates go for Developer Associate exam.
The foremost reason to open for AWS is that it is the undisputed cloud leader with the largest enterprise base. There are also plenty of free resources to get one started, for example, A Cloud Guru with practice exams and IAAS Academy. Most IT professionals are able to knock out the Solutions Architect certification easily and have a in-depth understanding of EC2, S3 and VPC. While the most popular AWS certification is for Solutions Architect, the other popular certifications are DevOps, Developer and SysOps. According to a news report, the average salary of AWS certified professional is around $100,000 with an annual 5 percent increase.
Azure Certification
Meanwhile, Microsoft offers three certifications for Azure. There is one aimed at architects, one for Linux and the other one for Visual Studio web developers. Experts peg that Azure cloud job postings are on a rise since enterprises across the globe are choosing Azure over other cloud vendors.
Azure has been growing at a steady rate and news reports indicate that Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud Division, which comprises Azure posted $7.9 billion in revenue in 2018 quarterly earnings report. The growth is an indicator of Azure’s expanding market share and its enterprise footprint. The Redmond giant is giving healthy competition to AWS and Azure developer jobs are on the rise.
When it comes to charting the cloud computing career path, Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert has emerged as the most popular certification. This popular certification will lead to cloud administrator, cloud architect and information security analyst roles in enterprises. However, before you embark on this advanced certification, you will have to complete the Microsoft Certified Solutions Architect certification intended for IT professionals looking for entry-level jobs in organisations. This certification is a prerequisite for more advanced certifications.
Outlook
Even though AWS is the most popular cloud certification preferred by IT professionals and candidates looking to add cloud skills to their resume, Azure is soon gaining ground on AWS, the market leader. Azure is also more enterprise focused while AWS is more customer-focused. However, if you are looking to broaden your fundamental knowledge of cloud concepts, the entry-level certifications from Azure are widely popular.
