Cloud Journey I, Associate Trifecta+

Last June I completed the AWS Associate Trifecta (SAA, SOA, DVA) and the Google Professional Cloud Architect (PCA). It's been quite a journey. But as Aristotle once said, "The more you know, the more you realize you don't know."

I have just over a decade of software development experience. I've been designing and building solutions in GCP for three years and AWS for at least a year. I've been part of large enterprise teams and helped build small startup teams.

It took me more than a year to complete all four certifications — from March 2020 to June 2021. In truth, most of the actual preparation lasted 4–6 weeks each. I spent most of the year working on both cloud platforms and building real experience.

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate

February 2020

I had been working with GCP on side projects for about two years when my previous company decided to start migrating to the cloud. Unfortunately (or fortunately) AWS was the vendor of choice. This meant I had to learn — and learn fast if I wanted to be part of the process.

I enrolled in CAMP8, a six-week program with eight-hour on-site sessions every Saturday. I didn't plan to take any certification, but the class came with an exam voucher. The first thing we did was schedule for SAA-C01 — it set a clear goal and kept everyone on their toes.

I wanted to make the most of the class. Since my company had a free Udemy Business subscription, I enrolled in Stephane Maarek's course to go through topics in advance, then discussed anything complicated with the instructor during class.

For practice exams, I used the official AWS Practice Exam and additional exams from Neal Davis's Udemy course. By the end of six weeks, I was scoring above 85% and felt confident going in.

Google Cloud Certified - Professional Cloud Architect

March 2021

A year after passing SAA-C01, I decided to sit for the PCA exam. By then I had more than three years of GCP experience, and my role at a new company had given me exposure to both GCP and AWS environments over the past year.

Google provides a well-defined learning path for each certification, so there was no need to enroll in external courses. For PCA, this included 5 courses and 33 labs. I booked the exam six weeks out, then worked through the material for two hours every evening until exam week.

For practice exams, Google offers one for free — but it's not as comprehensive as the AWS resources. I spent additional time going through the Case Studies, which wasn't something I had to do for SAA.

AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate

May 2021

Right after passing GCC-PCA, I booked SOA-C01 for end of month — about 4 weeks of prep time. By then I'd discovered the /AWSCertifications subreddit and had a better sense of what resources people were using.

Stephane Maarek's course came highly recommended again — same as my SAA prep. I enrolled, reviewed the AWS White Papers, and went through the Service FAQ pages as part of my preparation.

For practice exams, I used Jon Bonso's Udemy course. I'd heard good things, and it delivered.

Of the three associate exams, this one was personally the hardest. It covered a lot of services I rarely used.

AWS Certified Developer - Associate

June 2021

To keep the momentum going, I booked DVA-C01 for end of month — again, 4 weeks of prep.

Satisfied with the previous results, I enrolled in Stephane Maarek's course again. There's overlap with the SysOps content, so I was able to skip sections I'd already covered. This course had a lot more hands-on work, which I found especially helpful for this exam.

For practice exams, I used Jon Bonso's Udemy course again. I later discovered their exams are also available on TutorialsDojo for a fraction of the price and with more testing modes. If you haven't purchased yet, go through their site instead of Udemy.

Maybe it was my developer background, or the compounding prep from the previous three exams — either way, DVA-C01 was the easiest of the three.

Next Steps

July 2021

At the end of the day, certifications are only worth the knowledge you gain in the process. Preparing for the three associate exams filled a lot of gaps in my AWS knowledge.

Earning three certs in three months has put me on a one-per-month streak. I'm currently preparing for the Security Specialty (SCS-C01) at the end of July to keep it going. The final goal is to knock out both professional exams (DOP-C01, SAP-C01) before the year ends.