AWS is the world’s largest cloud service provider with a majority share in the space, much ahead of its competitors. AWS offers various certifications across 4 levels, Foundational, Associate, Expert, and Specialty. Among all the certifications, AWS Solutions Architect certification is one of the most popular.

Well, what makes this certification so popular? Why do companies prefer professionals with this certification? Here are 7 steps to crack the AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification exam arranged as 7 questions:

1.     What is the AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification exam?

2.     What are the requirements of the exam?

3.     How to register for the exam, and other details that I should remember?

4.     How tough is this certification?

5.     What are the major areas that I should focus on?

6.     Are there any tips or tricks to help ace the exam?

7.     What are the right resources for cracking the AWS Solutions Architect certification exam?

Read on to find out the answers.

What is the AWS Solutions Architect certification exam?

AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification is an Associate-level certification from AWS or Amazon Web Services. This is a certification that validates your knowledge and expertise in handling the cloud space to build a secure cloud infrastructure. Now, you might know, what does an AWS Solutions Architect do? He is an AWS certified professional who takes care of application deployment in AWS and maintains a secure cloud environment.

What are the requirements of the exam?

The required set of knowledge for this certification are:

• Sound hands-on experience in working with various AWS services in computing, storage,    networking, database, deployment, and management.
• Should be able to understand, identify and define technical requirements, for an AWS application, and AWS services.
• A good understanding of the AWS global architecture, network technologies that relate to AWS, basic architectural principles to build AWS cloud, security features and tools, and their relation, etc.

 How to register for the exam, and other details that I should remember?

To obtain the AWS Solutions Architect certification, you need to register yourself by going to the official AWS website for certifications. You confirm your booking for the exam, that you could opt for an Online-proctored or test-center based by paying a registration amount of $150 (US) and $20 extra for the practical exam. And this amount is the same across the world.

The other important detail that you should remember is that all AWS certifications need to be renewed before the end of 3 years from the date of certification. And you need to retake the exam before the end of 3 years to keep the certification valid or else it will expire!

You need to be well-versed with the AWS platform, its services and validates majorly three things and they are:

• How well can you architect, deploy applications on AWS that are secure and robust at the same time?
• How can you define solutions you come up with using architectural design principles that are based on customer requirements?
• How will you provide implementation guidance that is based on best practices to the organization for the entire project lifecycle?

How tough is this certification?

All AWS certification exams are a little tough to crack, the difficulty level increases from the Foundational level and reaches its peak at the Specialty exam. Associate-level exam demands the rigor to crack it. Similar to all the AWS certification exams, the AWS Solutions Architect certification exam deals with scenarios, and thus asks scenario-based questions, to test whether the professionals have thorough knowledge and skills in handling the AWS cloud infrastructure and meet the industry standard, and their client requirements in designing the best architecture possible.

You need to score 720 or more out of 1000 marks to become AWS Solutions Architect! And this is the same for every AWS Associate-level exam.

What are the major areas that I should focus on?

The syllabus of the new format AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification exam focus majorly on 4 key sectors and they are:

• Designing cost-optimized architectures: 18%
• Designing secure applications and architectures: 24%
• Designing resilient architectures: 30%
• Designing high-performing architectures: 28%

These are the percentage of questions that will pop up in the exam, and it’s best to focus on all the sectors and follow a comprehensive preparation strategy to crack this certification exam.

Are there any tips or tricks to help ace the exam?

Yes, there are several tips and tricks that you can roll down from your sleeves, to help you attempt the exam smoothly and effectively by saving a huge chunk of time. And they are:

• If you are a beginner to the AWS platform, I suggest you take the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification exam, to help you get into the groove.
•  Always read the main question or kicker in every scenario-based question first, and then read the whole scenario. It will help you in better understanding the requirements of the scenario and help you quickly understand.
• Read every question twice, to properly understand, and ensure that you have understood the question well.
• The next best trick is to look for the incorrect options. Once you find them, remove them, the chance of your answer being right shoots up.
• And one of the best tricks up your sleeve are to use, “Mark for Review”, as using this will not only help in saving time but also helps in solving other questions, as one question which you find hard, could be a solution to other problems.

What are the right resources for cracking the AWS Solutions Architect certification exam?

Now, as we have come to the last step to obtain the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate certification. If you are aiming to crack this AWS certification, then I recommend you enroll in the course from Intellipaat. Intellipaat is one of those leading e-learning companies, that offer you an industry-grade AWS course tailor-made for the Solutions Architect role, with guided projects and exercises to help you enhance your practical skills and experience. Joining this course has its benefits like Lifetime 24*7 technical support and access,1:1 doubt clearing session, and Lifetime Free upgrades of the course to aid in conceptual clarity. Lastly, getting Intellipaat certified, opens your door for high-paying jobs, and better opportunities, as it is well-recognized in over 80 major corporations around the globe like Ericsson, Sony, Cognizant, TCS, etc.