Welcome to the Solution Architecture Learning Track, this course is designed to help those interested in gaining the necessary skills to equip you on your Journey, not only in receiving the qualification of an AWS Solutions Architect Associate, but to give you that boost you need in the Job Market to really help you stand out. However before we dive into the Learning specifics, it’s good to actually understand, what is a Solutions Architect? and what would be your day to day responsibilities and duties once qualified. It’s a very fulfilling career, what’s important to note is that as a Solutions Architect you will be taking Business Specific Problems and Designing Technical Solutions to solve such problems.
Here is a video by one of my favorite YouTuber’s whom actually describes this in much better context actually working as a Solutions Architect at AWS herself. Please like and Subscribe to Lucy’s content!
Just to summarize Solutions Architects:
- Help Customers Implement Cloud Technologies
- Partner with Internal Customer Teams
- Leverage a deep knowledge of AWS Tools
- Craft highly-scalable cloud architectures
- Address customers’ business problems
What’s Important to note is AWS Solutions Architects Follow Best Practices which Include:
- Ensuring Solutions are Reliable
- Ensuring Solutions are Secure
- Ensuring Solutions are Performant
- Cost-Optimized in mind
- Are Fault Tolerant
What may surprise you is that there are actually 4x different Types of Solution Architects:
- Pre-Sales Solutions Architects
- Post Sales Solutions Architect / Delivery Architect
- Business Solutions Architect / Enterprise Architect
- Internal Solutions Architect
Trevor Spires another one of favorite YouTuber’s Explains these Different Roles in detail below – I encourage you to watch the Video in it’s entirety and please do like and subscribe to his channel.
Now that we understand what our Roles and Responsibilities are and what a Solution Architect actually is, we come down to Salaries, what’s important to consider is that there are a Number of factors that influence your salary whether it be when you are just starting off, mid-level or even Senior in your career, so its important to keep in mind the below:
- Location! No matter where you live in the world, living in your state’s capital will always give you a more lucrative salary. But consider this for a second, before you pack your bags, cost of living is also that much more expensive when living in more prominent areas in your country, so weigh your pros and cons before deciding to move.
- Hands on experience matters, the more projects you can take on and showcase your skills, the more marketable you will be, always connect with User Groups in your Communities, your Net Worth, is your Network! Remember that.
- Solutions Architects especially in the Pre-Sales field gain Commission in Sales, should you be able to pitch and win a contract with a new client for example a certain percentage of the sales value of the Contract is provided to you besides your Monthly Salary.
- Remote vs Onsite Work, we living in times we remote work is starting to become a thing of the past, there is still remote work available, but customers prefer engaging with consultants in person, the difference between your pay-check here will also come into play, whereby Remote work will start paying less in comparison to Onsite work, which will be incentivized with a higher cash component.
The Below Extract was taken from glassdoor.com link below under image for what your Salary Expectations could be, please note these may differ from company to company as well as the points mentioned above.
https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/aws-solutions-architect-salary-SRCH_KO023.htm
With all the above aspects at mind, you have great motivation to kickstart your studies, the next half of our course will provide you with all the Learning Material You need to get you on your way and what better way than signing up for an AWS Skills Builder Account! Official AWS Solution Architecture Learning Plan – 52 Hours
This Learning Path helps you build knowledge on how to design applications and large distributed systems on AWS. This Learning Path presents domain-specific content and includes courses, knowledge checks, and a knowledge badge assessment. This path is a guide and presents learning in a structured order, it can be used as presented or you can select the content that is most beneficial.
Intended Audience
This path is created to help Solutions Architects and Solution-Design Engineers identify services, features and best practices to build and design resilient, secure and highly available cloud-based solutions on the AWS Cloud.
AWS Knowledge Badge
To verify your knowledge, or identify any gaps that you might have, take the knowledge badge assessment. Score 80% or higher and earn an AWS Knowledge badge that you can share with your network. The assessment is based on the courses in the learning path so we recommend completing these courses as needed.
Are you wondering why your completion percentage has changed when you haven’t completed any new training? It changes as you complete training, and when we add, remove, and update training content.
It is absolutely free to Enroll and You get both a AWS Badge and Completion Certificate to show potential employers you have the necessary skills for the job!
Once you have completed the above course I encourage you to sign up to the AWS Educate & AWS Emerging Community.
Within the Information Technology World, there is no better way to proof yourself then getting Certified. Getting IT Certifications Validates your expertise and stands you out as a professional, it shows that you have the in-demand skills that is expected of you to perform your job role of choice. Certification also is a merit in the form of credibility that boosts your confidence and globally recognizes you no matter where in the world you want to work one day.
As I understand we live in demanding times, finding free training providers to give you quality training is often not free and can conflict with your work schedule. What worked for me was signing up with https://aws.amazon.com/education/awseducate/
AWS Educate is open to any individual, regardless of where they are in their education, technical experience, or career journey.
If you’re overwhelmed by too many choices when it comes to learning about the cloud, AWS Educate is here to help. Cloud beginners like you are invited to check out our free, self-paced online training resources and labs designed to help you learn, practice, and evaluate your cloud skills without having to create an Amazon account.
What is even more amazing with this program is after completing just one cloud skill which for the AWS Solutions Architecture Track I recommend the Introduction to Cloud 101 Course. https://awseducate.instructure.com/courses/891
You get specially invited to the AWS Emerging Talent Community, there is no way to officially join the community without passing one of the above skill badges mentioned. Once you are in the AWS Emerging Talent Community, you can customize your experience based on what suits your cloud learning needs, find resources to guide you to the next steps on your cloud journey, and connect with cloud learners from around the world. You can also complete challenges to earn points that can be redeemed for rewards like digital backgrounds and 100% discounted AWS Certification Exam vouchers. It’s all possible in the community, so what are you waiting for? What I truly value about the community more than then the Perks mentioned above your ability to connect, network and learn with the community worldwide!. Meet Nova she has recently become a AWS Developer at a Technology Company in Japan. See how her life was transformed by following the above steps.
A Great Starting point – The AWS Solutions Architect Associate – Mission Get Certified.
Remember one vital fact and I tell all my students this worldwide, a Technical Certification only grants you a stepping stone to your Solution Architecture Interview, remember the most important part of your Certification, is embracing your journey learning the content and building out the different AWS Services mentioned within the course curriculum. This helps cement the content learnt, so lab as much as you possibly can and sign up for Amazon’s Free Tier Service, you can cancel at any point and I can ensure you, within a year, you will have landed your first Solution Architect Role.
Depending how much time and effort you put into upskilling yourself there is nothing preventing you from getting Certified, one of the Many Perks with the ETC, is getting a AWS Free Exam Voucher.
1.) AWS Skills Builder – Pursue the Solution Architect Associate Track.
There are requirements for the above reward, one of which is obtaining a AWS Skills Builder Certification from the Certification Track of Choice, this will be the Developer Associate Track for you. Once completed you will not only be eligible for the above incentive but AWS will also provide you with an Official Certificate of Completion.
hereafter all you need to do is engage with the community and achieve Knowledge Points, they may have a different name its just how I refer to them. Which you will require 4700 Knowledge Points, you can complete various challenges that are suited to the DevOps Track you choose, as well as logging in daily as you are incentivized to keep up to date with the community with the ability to claim daily paints.
I would not advise going for your AWS Cloud Practitioner first, infact, I will encourage you to complete all of the AWS Certifications in this method and finish with the Cloud Practitioner as it will be much easier to obtain. There are also Annual Challenges released by Amazon to Get AWS Cloud Practitioner Certified, so you should rather focus on specializing at this point.
Other Free Resources – To Pass your AWS Solution Architect Exam – by Micheal Gibbs (Please like and Subscribe to his channel to help promote free learning!)
I advise you watch along and build alongside him with your AWS Free Tier Service Account. If you Follow these Steps, I assure you can Pass. Once complete visit the following websites for free Practice Questions that will help give you experience with how to approach exam questions and more importantly exam agility, you only have a set number of time to complete your exam, so you must ensure that you are comfortable with completing the exam within 130 Minutes. Find the full Exam Guideline here: https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-solutions-architect-associate/
MORE OFFICIAL AWS TRAINING (AWS Power Hour: Solutions Architect Associate – Watch all the Episodes)
Practice Exams
Here are the Links to the Free Practice Exams you can use, Digital Cloud’s Training https://digitalcloud.training/aws-solutions-architect-free-practice-questions/ Thanks to Neal Davis & the Team for providing this for the community. Whiz Lab’s is offering a free practice Tests as well https://www.whizlabs.com/aws-solutions-architect-associate/ I do strongly recommend that you don’t just memorize what the correct answer is, but follow the AWS Whitepaper’s, regarding the service, in relation to the question you may have gotten incorrect and Build it out on your AWS Free Tier Service Account. You are also welcome to sign up for Udemy Trial’s a week before your official exam and try out Jon Boso’s exam practice exams, personally if you have $15 to spare I know Tutorial Dojo always provides discounts weekly, I would purchase his practice questions as they have similar technical breadth to the experience you will get on the official exam, again his site offers multiple free resources that will help you ace the exam. https://tutorialsdojo.com (Please note this is optional)
Lastly I encourage you to go through a few Labs / Workshops which are free with AWS Workshops https://workshops.aws It’s not certification based, but you can use your exam guide to practice on the various services offered on the exam. The above is adequate enough for you to take the exam and I implore you to do research of your own, I can only guide you through your journey, different people have different learning styles. This approach however is what worked for me.
2.) NDG Linux Essentials (Provided thanks to Cisco & Linux Professional Institute)
Nearly Every IT Job Requires Some Linux Knowledge
As one of the most successful open source collaborations, Linux has evolved into the most reliable operating system on the planet. It’s used for embedded systems to virtually all supercomputers for a good reason. NDG Linux Essentials quickly builds your Linux knowledge and prepares you for the Linux Professional Institute Linux Essentials certificate, your proof to employers that you know Linux! Many concepts in this course are covered at a more demanding pace in NDG Linux I. No prerequisites required. This course will come with a certificate of Completion as well for prospective employers.
You’ll Learn These Core Skills:
- Acquire open source concepts and progressively master Linux commands.
- Understand how Linux is used and the basics of its command line.
- Become skilled at using the Linux virtual machine for experiments.
- Prepare for LPI Linux Essentials Professional Development Certificate (PDC).
Your Just one Click Away from Learning Linux: https://www.netacad.com/courses/os-it/ndg-linux-essentials
Once you complete the above you will receive a coupon code and you may write and pass your LPIC Essentials / LPIC-1 depending if you have the budget to do so, this is not mandatory, but will give you an extra step ahead of the rest. The exam is not expensive as well with your Discount Voucher from Cisco it should be under $99.
3.) Learning the Technical Fundamentals (Adrian Cantrill – learn.cantrill.io)
his course is specifically aimed at beginners who are interested in learning about various technical concepts that will help them in their job interviews and when studying other tech-related topics.
In this course, you will be taught through theoretical explanations that are designed to help you grasp the underlying principles of each topic. The course is structured in a way that allows you to learn @ your own pace & enables you to revisit the content as many times as you need to ensure that you fully understand each topic.
Whether you are an aspiring IT professional or someone who wants to develop a foundational technical knowledge to navigate the digital world more effectively, this course is for you.
Networking is super important no matter whether you are a Computer Programmer, DevOps Engineer, Cloud Engineer or Solutions Architect.
Visit the site to sign up now for free: https://learn.cantrill.io/p/tech-fundamentals
4.) Hands on Tutorials (Get started with step-by-step tutorials to launch your first application) AWS Architecture Center – Hands on Labs
With so much knowledge powered at your finger tips, I encourage you to explore the internet and conduct research that best tailor suits you, but with all the content provided and free of charge programmes and Exam Vouchers, There is nothing stopping you from starting your Journey at Becoming a Solutions Architect Today!