Google Cloud Platform Certification: Preparation and Prerequisites

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) has progressed from being a niche player to a serious competitor to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. In 2019, research company Gartner put Google in the Leaders quadrant in its Magic Quadrant for Cloud Framework as a Service for the 2nd consecutive time. In the record, Gartner advised the platform for its analytics, machine learning, and cloud-native applications. GCP has been proliferating and has landed big-name customers, such as Break, Spotify, Ideal Buy, and Coca-Cola.

With more and more businesses using GCP for at least a few of their cloud needs, there is an increased demand for Google Cloud Platform certification training. Google now has seven certification tests that teams and IT experts can use to validate their GCP skills.

What GCP certifications does Google offer?

Google uses 7 certifications for Google Cloud System:

• Associate Cloud Engineer
• Expert Cloud Architect 
• Professional Data Engineer
• Professional Cloud Developer
• Professional Cloud DevOps Architect(beta)
• Expert Cloud Network Engineer
• Professional Cloud Security Engineer

Associate Certification

There is currently one associate-level certification: Associate Cloud Engineer. This is designed for individuals who handle the daily maintenance of existing Google Cloud Platform implementations. The exam tests your capability to deploy applications, monitor operations, and maintain GCP projects.

Specialist Certifications

GCP Professional Certification is role-based and is used to prove you have advanced design and implementation skills. The tests anticipate you to have practical, hands-on expertise related to your particular task.

Since December 2019, there are six professional certifications provided (one in beta):.

• Professional Cloud Architect.
• Professional Data Architect.
• Professional Cloud Developer.
• Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer(beta).
• Professional Cloud Network Engineer.
• Professional Cloud Safety And Security Engineer.

What are some differences between these roles?

Among the biggest reasons companies select Google Cloud Platform is for its robust data services solutions, such as BigQuery, Cloud Dataflow, and Cloud AI Platform. While a Cloud Engineer recognizes how to use these services at a high level, a Data Engineer has a far better understanding of how to design, build, maintain, and troubleshoot data refining systems. For example, a Data Engineer needs to have experience with sophisticated concepts like semantic networks and streaming analytics.

Getting ready for a Google Cloud certification examination.

Google Cloud certification tests are known for their thoroughness and difficulty, so the importance of preparation and training ahead of time can not be overemphasized. Remarkably, Google doesn’t offer a rating at the end of an exam. Rather, it simply releases a “Pass” or “Fail” result, which does not give much help in regards to understanding where to study if you fail. This is another reason why it is necessary to thoroughly get ready for the examination, and this is where qualification training with ZaranTech can help.

Below are 5 steps to take before  examination:

• Take the pertinent learning course on ZaranTech. We offer Professional Cloud Architect, Professional Data Engineer, and Associate Cloud Engineer. These learning paths consist of training courses, labs, and exams for each certification.
• Get hands-on practice on Google Cloud Platform. Hands-on Labs and Lab Challenges provide easy ways for you to quickly obtain practical experience in actual cloud settings without releasing your own infrastructure.
• Review the summary in the exam guide (such as the Data Engineer exam guide) and look for any kind of skill gaps.
• The Cloud Architect and Data Engineer tests consist of questions about prolonged case studies. You can locate these case studies in the test guides. See to it you review them completely prior to preparing for the test.
• Write Google’s practice exam (such as the Cloud Architect practice test).
• Each exam is 2 hrs long and has to be taken at a Kryterion testing center. Kryterion has more than 1,000 screening centers in 120 countries, so you should be able to find one in your area.

What do I do after I take the exam?

As I mentioned earlier, the result shown after a test is mere “Pass” or “Fail.” If you do not pass, you’re permitted to take the exam again after 2 weeks. If you fail in the second attempt, then you have to wait for 60 days before the next attempt.

If you pass the exam, you will get an online certification badge that can be presented on sites like LinkedIn, and more importantly, a Google Cloud certification hoodie.

As soon as you’re certified, you’ll want to stay up-to-date on Google Cloud Platform as it continues to progress. Find Google Cloud System for Developers and various other subjects in our Google Cloud content library.

Summary

For more such informative and engaging articles on Google Cloud Platform, feel free to visit our website.

Also, at ZaranTech we offer self-paced online training on Google Cloud Platform. To learn more about our courses, feel free to visit our website.