With the technological advancements and accessibility of the internet, more businesses are shifting their operations and availability to the cloud. As a result, there has been an increase in the demand for cloud computing experts.
Cloud experts generally hold one or more cloud computing courses proving their expertise and skills in a particular cloud technology. There are three major cloud service providers in the fast-evolving landscape – Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.
As a boon to cloud experts, these platforms also allow you to earn their certificates after passing an exam. You can also pursue cloud certificate training programs, such as those available on Simplilearn, to help improve your chances of passing the exam.
However, with all three being big names, deciding whether to pursue an Azure, GCP, or AWS certification can get challenging. Therefore, comparing the three platforms, their features, and career scope is vital when pursuing cloud certificates.
Amazon Web Services
Amazon started its cloud services in 2006 with the brand name – Amazon Web Services or AWS, making it the first cloud service provider. The list of services and products given by AWS is exhaustive, including storage, computing, mobile, analytics, networking, database, management, and developer tools, among 200 others.
Why Choose AWS
- AWS has constantly evolved and expanded over the years, holding the largest public cloud market share of 33% and is available in 26 global regions.
- The AWS cloud service is available worldwide, offering low-cost infrastructure scalability to businesses.
- AWS certifications can cost between $100-$300, depending on the level of complexity.
- On average, AWS-certified professionals earn $138,000 to $276,500.
AWS Certifications
The different AWS Certifications offered by the platform include:
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional
- AWS Certified Developer Associate
- AWS Certified SysOps Administrator
- AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
- Advanced Networking Specialty
- Data Analytics Specialty
- Database Specialty
- Machine Learning Specialty
- Security Specialty
- SAP on AWS
With its diverse range of certificates, AWS suits those interested in services catering to various business needs, aiming to become cloud architectures or practicing well-established cloud technologies.
Microsoft Azure
The second-largest cloud provider in the world with a market share of 21%, Microsoft Azure is most popular for its Microsoft software suite. Additionally, Azure specializes in working with data centers and a hybrid cloud system.
Azure cloud professionals are in demand since the interface makes the cloud transition easy and offers a quick hybrid model adaptation to businesses.
Also Read, Microsoft Outlook
Why Choose Microsoft Azure?
- Microsoft Azure is available in 60 regions, offers a familiar user interface, and can be seamlessly integrated with the in-use Microsoft products.
- Microsoft Azure certifications cost between $100-$200.
- Certified professionals can earn anywhere between $96,469 and $106,210.
Azure Certifications
The top Azure certifications include:
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
- Microsoft Certificate: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert
- Microsoft Certified: Azure AI
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Data
- Microsoft Certified:: Azure Security Engineer
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Scientist
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator
You can consider an Azure certification if you want to take advantage of the familiarity of the Microsoft interface, work with businesses that are already using Microsoft products or wish to integrate existing Microsoft applications with Azure services.
Google Cloud Platform
Preferable due to its competitive pricing and flexible availability, the Google Cloud Platform is famous for the wide use of Google’s search engine. Google Cloud has multiple services and products offering data storage, networking, analytics, and machine learning.
While it only holds an 8% market share, GCP is fast-growing and attracts cloud practitioners to its certifications.
Why Choose GCP
- Many businesses prefer GCP due to its open source, multi-cloud technology, providing over 100 products.
- It offers live migration of virtual machines and seamless integration with Google’s technology suite.
- It is available in 33 regions.
- The certifications can cost around $200.
- Certified professionals earn between $134-$174 annually.
GCP Certifications
You can pursue the following certifications for Google Cloud Platform:
- GCP Cloud Digital Leader
- GCP Associate Cloud Engineer
- GCP Professional Cloud Architect
- GCP Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer
- GCP Professional Cloud Developer
- GCP Professional Cloud Security Engineer
- GCP Professional Machine Learning Engineer
- GCP Professional Data Engineer
- GCP Professional Cloud Network Engineer
- GCP Professional Collaboration Engineer
These certifications are preferable since Google’s platform is familiar to most. Moreover, GCP’s integration with open-source technologies like Kubernetes makes GCP-certified professionals highly valuable, making them one of the highly paid cloud workers.
Conclusion
With Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft Azure being the top three cloud service providers, a certification in either can offer you a chance to build a lucrative career with a high salary and impeccable career growth.
Your certification choice should be based on your knowledge of the cloud platform, career goals, and the market you want to enter. It is also vital to consider which platform prevails in your area and the kind of cloud technologies that need to be integrated.