Google Cloud Architect Certification Experience

(I recently did my "Google Cloud Certified - Professional Cloud Architect" certification and wanted to write about my experience, so that it can help others considering it. So here goes ... )

Considering "Google Cloud Certified - Professional Cloud Architect" exam, but not finding much guidance/experience on the internet? Well you are not alone. Unlike other certifications, there is still isn’t much to go by. So, I am doing my bit by sharing my experience and I encourage others to do so as well!

How does it stack-up against other cloud certifications?

Compared to AWS's certifications, this one is probably closer to Professional level than Associate. Like AWS’ professional certification, most of the questions are situational and derived from practical scenarios that a cloud architect would face in real life. And as in real life, there aren't always straight-forward answers. So, don’t be surprised if there are more than one right-sounding answers.

While there are similarities with other certifications, one unique thing about GCP certifications is the use of case-studies. It's very important that you read all the case studies a few times and clearly understand the situation, landscape, priorities etc. Also understand various stakeholders and their expectations. Case studies cover a significant portion of the questions. Even though the case studies are available during the exam, that is not the time to read and understand them, but just to validate what you remember about them.

Breadth vs Depth?

It’s bit of both, but more of breadth than depth. There is a limit on how deep they can go considering the limited time of the exam, against the sheer number of services and offerings. Despite that, I thought Google has done a good job of making it challenging enough to be relevant. So, it’s important that you are well aware of all the services and offerings covered in the outline. It’s better if you have used, or at least tried, all or most of these services.

One problem that comes with breadth is choosing the right solution/product for the requirement. For example, you can use containers on GCE instances, on GKE or GAE Flexible Environment. There is no one right answer that fits any & every situation. That’s where the practical considerations come into picture. Looking at the case study you will have to pick one potential solutions that is the most appropriate in that situation.

More importantly this is not a GCP knowledge test. It also requires a good understanding (preferably coming out of real, hands-on experience) of datacenters, infrastructure, applications & data to say the least. If you have experience of working with GCP for building or migrating applications and services (or at least, if you have thought about different scenarios and potential solution options) you are better off.

What I did and did not do, and what you can do?

Nothing can prepare you better for this exam than the real-life, hands-on experience. Luckily enough, I get to work with GCP every day, so that helped. But if you are not working on GCP every day, not all is lost! You can make use of the free credits and try out various services, or do the Qwiklabs or something.

I did go through Coursera courses which are (or were) specifically designed for the certification. With all due respect, those are awfully inadequate. And not to mention, out of date. I had Linux academy subscription but didn’t go through it. But based on my other (generally satisfactory) experience with them, my hunch is they would treat the subject better.

No matter what else you do, you cannot not read the documentation. There are tons of pages on every service/product on GCP. Google can do a better job of organizing it, especially the navigation part (hint: https://aws.amazon.com/documentation). Having said that, the documentation is extensive yet easy to read which is commendable. For every service, I started off with the “Concepts” pages followed by the how-to pages. Important hint, don’t miss the how-to pages. Skim through if you are short on time but don’t skip. After reading the detailed docs, read the product description pages, that will help you to take a step back (or up?) and put things in perspective.

Do take the free practice exam after you have done your first run of the courses/labs/docs. That will give you a good perspective on what are your strong and weak areas.

If you are reading this paragraph (and assuming you started at the top 😉) you seem to be interested in GCP certification. I hope my experience helps you a little bit in preparing for it. Wish you all the very best! Don’t forget to share your experience though!

#googlecloudplatform #googlecloudcertified

(Opinions and views expressed here are my own)