AWS Knowledge: Cloud Essentials

A dress rehearsal for Cloud Practitioner, with a souvenir

The heart of the learning plan is AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials, at close to thirteen hours by far its largest course, and its name tells you which exam it has in mind: the paid Cloud Practitioner. Around it sit a short module on cloud job roles, one on how organisations buy cloud services, one on billing, a getting-started module and five introductory labs. The labs are the part worth noticing: launching a virtual server, storing objects, building a small network, setting permissions and putting a content delivery layer in front of a site, each as a guided AWS Builder Lab rather than a video. Plenty of Cloud Practitioner candidates only ever read about those services.

The assessment at the end checks the same broad territory. AWS does not publish how many questions there are or a time limit; the catalogue lists it at ninety minutes, and the questions change between attempts. You can skip the courses and go straight to it if you already know the material. Pass with 80 per cent and the badge arrives on Credly within about a week.

Who it is for

• People testing whether cloud suits them before paying for an exam. The badge gives a structure and a finish line.
• Cloud Practitioner candidates who want an honest practice round. If 80 per cent on this assessment is a struggle, the paid exam is not yet a safe booking.
• Non-technical staff asked to understand what their organisation's AWS bill is paying for. The billing and acquisition modules are aimed squarely at them.

What it will not do is stand in for the certification. Employers who ask for AWS credentials mean the certifications, and a training badge sits in a different category on AWS's own badge page. Its value is as evidence of initiative and as preparation. Treat it as the free first step it is designed to be, and plan the paid exam as the second.

Claiming and showing the badge

AWS issues training badges through Credly, a separate company, so you need a free Credly account using the same email address as your Skill Builder profile, or the badge will not find you. AWS notes that most badges pass through a review before issue, which is why the assessment page quotes five to seven business days. Once it arrives you can share it from Credly or switch on the Skills Profile in your Skill Builder settings so that it appears there too.

On time: Skill Builder puts the whole plan at just under twenty-two hours, and more than half of that is the Cloud Practitioner Essentials course alone. The five labs take between forty-five minutes and an hour each. AWS describes the plan as a suggested order rather than a fixed one, so you can pick the parts you need and still sit the assessment.