There are many available IT certifications, but choosing the right one determines which sort of career options you want to pursue. Whether its cloud, agile, project management or any other domain that interests you, you’re sure to find plenty of certifications that match what you’re looking for.

The certifications a technology professional should know.

 

1. AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect associate is one of the AWS Certification intended for candidates who perform a solution architect role.  This exam validates the candidate’s expertise on designing systems on AWS and their ability to effectively demonstrate knowledge of how to architect and deploy secure and robust applications on AWS technologies. To get certified, candidates need to have hands-on experience with AWS services and are used to architecting large-scale distributed systems. The exam takes 80 minutes for Computer Based Test (CBT) and is administered at PSI centres across the United States. Successful AWS Certified Solutions Architect associates can make an average of $121,292 per year. AWS Associate-level certification holders are required to get re-certified every two years as per remain valid.

 

Eligible candidates for this exam should possess:

• One year of hands-on experience designing available, cost-efficient, fault-tolerant, and scalable distributed systems on AWS
• Knowledge of recommended best practices for building secure and reliable applications on the AWS platform
• An understanding of the AWS global infrastructure and basic architectural principles of building on the AWS Cloud
• An understanding of network technologies and security features and tools that AWS provides and how they relate to traditional services.
• Excellent understanding of typical multitier architectures: web servers (Apache, IIS), caching, applications, RDBMS (MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server), NoSQL, servers and load balancers.
• Understanding of different consistency models in distributed systems.
• Network experience with route tables, access control lists, firewalls, NAT, HTTP, DNS, IP, and OSI.
• Knowledge of Restful Web Services, XML, JSON

Aws Certification cost is:

Exam registration fee is $150 USD.

For more details, refer here.

 

2. Project Management Professional (PMP)

PMP certification is one of the most recognized projects management certifications. It is designed to ensure that the individuals possess the skills and qualifications necessary to successfully manage all phases of a project, including initiating, planning, scheduling, controlling, monitoring and closing of the project. PMP certified projects managers should be skilled in managing various important aspects of a project regarding time, cost and scope. Employers depend on the skills of Project management professionals to manage budgets, track costs, manage scope creep, identify how changes to the time, cost and scope of the project may introduce risk into the project and minimize such risk to protect the project investment.

For PMP exam registration, individuals need to apply at the PMI web portal via given URL https://www.pmi.org/certifications/process and then once the application is approved, a candidate can sign up for the actual exam. The exam consists of 200 questions to be completed in 4 hours duration.

Prerequisite for taking PMP Certification exam:

• A Four-year degree, 4,500 hours in leading and directing projects, and 35 hours of project management education OR Secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree or equivalent), 7,500 hours leading and directing projects, and 35 hours of project management education.

Note: Credential holders must earn 60 professional development units (PDUs) per each three-year cycle to maintain PMP certification.

PMP Certification Cost is:

(Paper* and computer-based exams)

PMI member:  $405 USD

Non-member:  $555 USD

*Paper-based exam only available if the candidate lives more than 150 miles from the testing center or if testing center is not available in the country of residence and travel would provide an undue burden.

Note: Exam is administered by Prometric. Eligibility ID from PMI is required to register.

For more details, refer here.

 

3. Scrum Master Certification

The Certified Scrum Master is one of the popular scrum master certifications which is created and managed by the Scrum Alliance. Scrum is the agile development process that allows teams to deliver usable software periodically throughout the life of the project, absorbing change and new requirements as the project proceeds. The idea of a scrum in project management is that various teams huddle together daily to start each day in a stand-up meeting to review progress. The Scrum Master acts as the coach to direct the team to the values and framework of Scrum. Achieving a Scrum Master certification validates that you understand the Agile Scrum methodology and are well-versed in putting scrum into practice.

The CSM exam consists of a combination of around 35 multiple-choice and true/false questions. It will take approximately 60 minutes to complete it

Prerequisite for taking Scrum Master certification exam are:

• The certification requires the individual to attend the two-day (16-hour) Certified Scrum Master Workshop by a Certified Scrum Trainer where you’ll get a comprehensive overview of how to organize and support a Scrum Team.
• The CSM certification is valid for two years from the original certification date. In order to renew the certification, you will need to obtain 40 SEUs within each two-year period.

CSM Certification Cost is:

The exam fee is $315.03 USD.

For more details, refer here.

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