AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer Associate
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About the AWS CloudOps Engineer Associate
Find answers to the most frequently asked questions related to the AWS CloudOps Engineer Exam
What is the AWS CloudOps Engineer?
The AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer Associate certification is an associate-level certification that demonstrates experience in deploying, managing, and operating workloads on AWS. The AWS CloudOps Engineer exam is widely considered to be one of the hardest of the associate certifications.
This certification provides excellent recognition for those seeking a CloudOps cloud role or DevOps role working with AWS technologies. The new SOA-C03 version of the exam includes multiple choice and multiple response questions.
How difficult is the AWS CloudOps Engineer certification?
This is definitely the hardest of the associate-level AWS certification exams. With the introduction of the exam labs section in the new SOA-C03 exam, it just got harder. You will definitely need a strong working knowledge of AWS to be successful in this exam.
Our AWS CloudOps training has been designed to give you the best chance of success. You’ll find that between the video course, practice exam course, and cheat sheets (ebook), you’ll be well set with the knowledge needed. Make sure you also follow the many guided hands-on lessons so you develop the practical skills you’ll need for success.
What is the format of the AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer Associate exam?
The SOA-C03 exam includes 50 multiple choice questions and 3 exam labs. You can take the exam in a testing center or using an online proctored exam from your home or office. You have 180 minutes to complete your exam and the passing mark is 720 points out of 100 points (72%).
If English is not your first language you can request an accommodation when booking your exam that will qualify you for an additional 30 minutes exam extension.
What is the passing score for the AWS CloudOps Engineer exam?
All AWS certification exam results are reported as a score from 100 to 1000. Your score shows how you performed on the examination as a whole and whether or not you passed. The passing score for the AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer Associate is 720 (72%).
Note that there are two sections to the exam: the multiple choice section and the exam labs section. The multiple choice section of the exam accounts for 80% of the overall score and the exam labs section accounts for 20% of the score.
AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer Prerequisites
AWS does not have any prerequisites for taking any AWS certification exams. However, they do recommend that you have at least 1 year of hands-on experience working with AWS before sitting this exam. You should have experience in deploying, managing, and operating workloads on AWS as well as implementing security controls and compliance requirements.
Our recommendation is that if you don’t have this experience you should first take the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate and the AWS Certified Developer Associate certifications. There’s lots of overlap between these certifications and you’ll develop a stronger understanding of AWS when following this learning path which will definitely help you through your AWS exam.
How much is the AWS CloudOps Engineer exam fee?
The AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer Associate exam fee is $150 USD. If you’ve previously passed another AWS exam make sure you use your 50% discount token.
If you fail the exam you can take it again as many times as you need to but must wait 14 days between tests.
For more detailed information, check out this blog article on AWS Certification Costs.
Is the AWS CloudOps Engineer worth it?
This certification is suitable for technical staff working in system operations and administrator roles. If you’re working in a CloudOps or DevOps role or are planning to move into one of these roles, this certification will build your credibility, confidence, and necessary skills.
Who should take the AWS CloudOps Engineer certification?
We wrote an article on whether AWS certifications are worth it – but the short answer is yes!
AWS is the fastest growing cloud computing platform in existence and job opportunities are growing in number as more companies make the move to the cloud. It’s absolutely worth the effort to earn this certification as it is one of the most highly respected certifications due to its challenging nature.
This certification will make you stand out from other job applicants more than any other AWS associate-level certification!
AWS CloudOps Engineer Roles and Responsibilities
AWS CloudOps Engineer roles and responsibilities include the following:
- Installing software updates on servers and applications
- Monitoring performance and implementing optimizations
- Automating repetitive tasks on managed servers
- Deploying and managing infrastructure
- Estimating costs and identifying cost control measures
- Migrating workloads from on-premises to the cloud
CloudOps and DevOps are closely related roles in cloud computing. An AWS CloudOps Engineer is focussed on operations and management of systems, whereas a DevOps admin is focussed on development and operations of those systems.
How long does it take to study for the AWS CloudOps certification?
If you’ve already passed at least one of the other AWS associate certifications (which we strongly recommend) you can achieve the AWS CloudOps Engineer certification within around three weeks.
We provide a free study plan with the course that helps you to plan your time. The study plan assumes around 60-90 minutes per day to achieve the certification within the timeline.
What are the AWS CloudOps Engineer learning objectives?
The exam validates your ability to perform system operations and administration activities for workloads deployed on AWS. You’ll need to know how to do the following:
- Deploy, manage, and operate workloads with services including AWS CloudFormation, AWS Systems Manager, and AWS OpsWorks
- Monitoring and logging with services including Amazon CloudWatch, Amazon EventBridge, and AWS CloudTrail
- Ensure reliability and business continuity through best practice architectures based on auto scaling, load balancing, high availability, and disaster recovery
- Implement security controls and ensure compliance requirements are met with services including AWS IAM, AWS KMS, AWS Organizations, AWS Secrets Manager, and AWS Config
- Deploy networking and content delivery solutions with services such as Amazon VPC, Amazon CloudFront, and Amazon Route 53
- Identify cost and performance optimizations and implement strategies for remediation
Our popular training covers everything you need to know to ace your AWS CloudOps Engineer exam
On-demand Training Resources
Set yourself up for Success
1. Video Course +
2. Practice Exam Course +
3. Training Notes (ebook)
Out of the three associate certifications this one is the real differentiator. Having the CloudOps Engineer certification on your resume will make you stand out from the crowd and put you in the best position to score your next cloud role.
Our unique AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer learning path combines video-based training, guided hands-on exercises, practice tests and comprehensive cheat sheets. Through these learning modalities you’ll be best prepared to pass your exam and gain employment as an AWS CloudOps Engineer.
Click on the items below to learn more.
On-demand video course (instructor-led)
This instructor-led video course combines essential theory with guided practical exercises that are backed by high-quality diagrams and references.
- 12 hours on-demand video training with guided hands-on exercises
- Coverage of the latest exam topics for the SOA-C03
- Hands-on lessons using the AWS Management Console
- Separate theory lessons with amazing architectural diagrams
- Exam Scenario Lessons
- All diagrams, code, links, files and slides are available for download
- 21 day study plan included to help with exam preparation
- Course Certificate is issued upon successful completion of the course
The video course is taught in a style that includes theory lessons with lots of visualization such as architectural diagrams and animated graphics (this is not death by bullet point).
After the theory lessons you’ll get to put your knowledge into practical use with hands-on lessons that teach you how to use AWS and complete exercises that reflect real-world situations. Learning by doing is the best way to ensure you build practical skills and increases knowledge retention.
AWS services covered in this training include:
- Amazon EC2, EBS, Auto Scaling and Elastic Load Balancing
- Amazon S3, EFS, and AWS Storage Gateway
- AWS Systems Manager, CloudFormation, and Elastic Beanstalk
- Amazon VPC, Route 53, and Resource Access Manager
- Amazon RDS, ElastiCache, DynamoDB and Elasticsearch
- AWS Organizations, Config, CloudWatch, EventBridge, and CloudTrail
- AWS IAM, KMS, Inspector, Certificate Manager and Directory Services
On-demand practice exam course
Test your knowledge and assess your exam readiness with practice questions that match the difficulty of the real AWS exam.
Practice exams are delivered in 4 different formats:
- Exam Mode – 4 sets of practice exams with the same number of questions (65), time limit (130 mins), and pass mark (72%) as the real AWS exam
- Training Mode – Check answers and explanations after every question (no time limit)
- Knowledge Review – Focussed practice exams for a specific knowledge area (no time limit)
- Final exam simulator – 65 questions are pulled randomly from our pool of practice questions. Same time limit (130 mins) and pass mark (72%) as the real AWS exam
You will be presented with an overall score at the end of the exam with a pass/fail message.
A Certificate of Achievement is issued when you score 72% and above in your final exam simulator.
Training notes (PDF) for offline study
Take your studies offline with this ultimate compilation of cheat sheets for the SOA-C03 exam.
- Downloadable training notes (PDF) with detailed facts, tables and diagrams.
- This is a great resource for diving deep into each AWS service covered on the AWS exam which saves you from needing to browse hundreds of AWS FAQ pages and sorting through stacks of irrelevant information.
- For easy navigation, the information on each AWS service in this document is organized into the same categories as they are in the AWS Management Console.
- Ideal resource for last-minute revision.
- Get straight to the facts and shortcut your study time.
We teach you all of the skills required to successfully pass your exam
What you'll learn [Scope & Content]
The AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer Associate exam guide groups the skills required into six domains. In our AWS training courses, we teach you all of the skills required to successfully pass your AWS CloudOps Engineer Associate exam.
You’ll learn the following skills (grouped by domain):
- Implement metrics, alarms, and filters by using AWS monitoring and logging service
- Remediate issues based on monitoring and availability metrics
- Implement scalability and elasticity
- Implement high availability and resilient environments
- Implement backup and restore strategies
- Implement and manage security and compliance policies
- Design, implement, and troubleshoot authorization for AWS resources
- Implement networking features and connectivity
- Configure domains, DNS services, and content delivery
- Troubleshoot network connectivity issues
Choose our monthly plan for ultimate flexibility, or opt for our yearly plan to maximize savings
Subscription Options tailored to your Needs
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– Current and Future –
If you’re looking for high-quality certification training that will fully prepare you for your AWS CloudOps Engineer Associate exam – this on-demand training is for you.
Specifically designed to ensure your success with this challenging exam, we provide video-based training, practice tests, cheat sheets, and hands-on practice. Fully updated for the latest SOA-C03 exam blueprint, you’ll find all the knowledge and practice you need to earn one of the most sought after certifications in the cloud industry.
With our monthly or yearly plans, you’ll gain access to our entire library of video courses, practice exams, training notes and master classes.
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What other Students say
Thank you for your courses, tests and cheat sheets. I started with many courses but I was not quite there! Then I purchased this course and it was amazing. Neal's course will prepare you to answer the questions without having to remember. Also check the course's extensive Exam scenarios - super helpful for the exam.
One of the best instructors to teach AWS Cloud. I have taken courses from Neal for AWS cloud practitioner, AWS Solution Architect and now I am studying for the CloudOps examination. I recommend everyone to at least take one course from Neal and then you'll become a big fan of his teaching. Thanks, Neal Davis for these awesome courses.
Thank you Neal for this wonderful course and really speechless about your exam scenario lecture in each section that really helped me in the real exam. I got 10-15 question from the exam scenarios only. I cracked certification by scoring 904 in exam. Again thanks a lot and keep making these type of course and helping us.
Neal is an incredible teacher. He has created a brand which topples all AWS courses from other instructors. He details relevant sections of the course and explains vividly with diagrams. Absolutely love his style.
I just passed the "AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer - Associate" exam. By far this is one of the best courses available out there. Neal is an amazing instructor and the material very easy to understand.
This course helped me to pass the the CloudOps Admin exam yesterday. Neal does a great job with the exam scenarios. The scenarios really help you to prepare for the exam and get a great score.
Neal is a natural instructor. Very clear communication, logical structure. Great use of my time. Thank you, Neal - money well spent.
The great thing about Neal is that he makes sure you'll understand the basic concepts which is key to learning aws and will help you in real world.
instructor does a great job of teaching the subjects. Detailed and to-the-point and the most up-to-date course available.
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Frequently Asked Questions
I don't have ANY cloud experience. Is this training right for me?
If you don’t have a background in cloud computing, we recommend you first do the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner course and/or the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate course.
Are your training courses up to date?
Our training is based on the latest SOA-C03 exam blueprint for the AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer Associate. All of our video lessons, practice exams and training notes are regularly updated to reflect the latest AWS changes.
What's included in the video course? Do I get to access all course materials?
All diagrams, code, files and slides are available for download (in PDF format).
The video course also includes the following:
- Exam Scenario lessons
- 21 Day Study Plan
- Visuals and diagrams
Practice Exams are available in exam and training mode. Plus, there's the knowledge reviews and the final exam simulator. What's the difference?
Exam Mode: In exam mode, you complete one full-length practice exam and answer all 65 questions within the allotted time.
Training Mode: When taking the practice exam in training mode (no time limit), you will be shown the answers and explanations for every question after clicking “check”.
Knowledge Reviews: Now that you have identified your strengths and weaknesses, you get to dive deep into specific areas with our knowledge reviews. You are presented with a series of questions focussed on a specific topic. There is no time limit and you can view the answer to each question as you go through them.
Final Exam Simulator: The exam simulator randomly selects 65 questions from our pool of practice questions – mimicking the real AWS exam environment. The practice exam has the same format, style, time limit and passing score as the real AWS exam.
Do you offer any free resources to get familiar with your training?
If you’re not quite ready to commit to our in-depth AWS training, check out our FREE training resources for the AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer Associate below. These free AWS training materials are a great way to familiarize yourself with Neal’s training style and format.
- Free Practice Questions
- Free AWS Cheat Sheets
- Free Study Plan
- Free Video Tutorials
- Free Guide to AWS Certification
While these free resources are a great starting point – to best prepare for your exam, we highly recommend enrolling in our in-depth AWS training.
How do I earn my certificate of achievement?
With practice exams, a Certificate of Achievement is issued when you score 72% and above in your online exam simulator.
A certificate of completion is issued upon successful completion of the video course.
I need to gain practical experience. Do you offer Hands-on Cloud Labs?
All of our AWS training courses include guided hands-on training where you can follow along in an AWS Free Tier account. Additionally, we offer Challenge Labs for those who are looking for extensive hands-on practice opportunities to develop real-world cloud skills. Challenge Labs are scenario-based hands-on exercises that run in a secure sandbox environment.
How do I access your on-demand training courses?
When you sign up for our monthly or yearly plans, you get access to our entire library of AWS training courses (current and future).
Our subscriptions come with no lock-in or minimum terms and can be cancelled at any time.
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