Should I do cloud certification? Which one to choose?

 This is one of the most common questions in many mainframe developers’ minds. The answer to this is a big YES.

The subsequent question (which one to choose?) is where the convolution starts. I will try to answer that question from my perspective and experience.


I had tried to answer “which cloud platform to choose” briefly in my blog post on what technologies should I learn. Which certification to choose will purely depend on your current role maturity and the technical career path you intend to choose.

At a high level, each cloud platform (AWS, Azure, Google or IBM) provides the following options for certifications linked to the roles played by the person:

  • Entry-level - topics typically cover cloud basics
  • Developer level - one programming language and information on microservices, Kubernetes, etc.
  • Deep Developer level - deep dive into programming for microservices
  • Operational level - to maintain microservices, Kubernetes, pods, etc. 
  • Site reliability level - for maintaining reliability in infrastructure for your applications. 
  • Solution architect level - For architects who would build solutions on cloud
  • Sales level - for sales team members to get used to cloud terminologies
  • Specific service level - Each cloud service provided have their own specific configurations and related technologies that have multiple levels from entry to deep dive. 

The key here is to relate yourself to these roles, understand the value of each certification and how it is useful in your career path. It is essential that you get a mentor who can guide you choose one or a few of these in the right sequence to achieve your cloud goals. 

 Without a doubt, a mainframe-only person should start with an entry-level cloud certification (like AZ900 in Azure) which gives a very good overview of different aspects of cloud and the breadth of topics that are available. From there, one can identify an area of interest that can be pursued further with help of a mentor.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What skills to develop to become an architect?

Image
The answer to this question as any seasoned architect will give you is "it depends". I can confirm that it's not cliché but reality. There are several types of "architects" in the market each having their own value, purpose and need. They may be Technology specific architects, Enterprise Architect, Business Domain architects, Lifecycle specific architects, Data Architect, Infrastructure architects, etc. to name a few. According to me, some key qualities that an architect would need are: Be the most adaptable and flexible person who can churn out solutions and alternatives within a given scope and constraints.  Be the first to break any bad news about things that may not work (technically) with reasoning.  Provide inputs to the organization's academy or learning department to add new skill courses needed by the employees for progress. In short, give information & indications to decision-makers on architecture and t...
Read more

What resources are available for learning?

Image
I believe most of you already know the answer to this. I will list some of the resources that are helpful for me to learn anything new or refresh concepts I used long ago to do Mainframe Modernization activities.  1. IBM DevOps for Enterprise -  This is your one-stop learning shop for all things modernization related to IBM products on z. Check on the Training, Resources, Downloads, and Documentation information available on this site.  You can download and try the free version of some products. 2. Interskill -  This is one of the official training partners of IBM and most of the corporates using IBM Z would have a training partnership with Interskill. Most services companies have also integrated their learning systems to embed courses from Interskill.  3. Google -  It is the best source of search and find for a specific topic to learn or understand. 4. Udemy - This has become my new favourite to learn any new technology or concept. Many courses are desi...
Read more

Do I really have career growth if I continue in mainframe projects?

Image
Unfortunately, I won't be able to directly give a binary “yes or no” answer to this question. Depending on your project, career, organization and domain situation, you must answer this question yourself. However, I will list down a few key factors that influence the answer and helps in decision making: The stretch of "core functionality” of the organization that is present the mainframe. 10-year roadmap of the organization The practise (extent and intent) of using the latest features and upgrades available in the mainframe as a culture within the organization. Investments (projects) to enhance or simplify maintenance of existing applications. Opportunity to work with different applications and modernization efforts. Popularity of using the mainframe within the industry or domain you are aligned with. Your own perception to present yourself as a mainframe person to your network. Most of these points above summarize the thoughts reflected in my previous blogs in th...
Read more