ICYMI: November 2020 news from AWS Training and Certification

Below is a summary of AWS Training and Certification news and updates for the month of November. Dive in and explore more training content, stories, and resources.

Events

AWS Training and Certification at AWS re:Invent 2020
Explore and take advantage of skill-building resources from AWS Training and Certification during re:Invent. You can go from learning to doing with AWS training free of charge and on demand during re:Invent. Also, tune into the speech from Maureen Lonergan, director of AWS Training and Certification, on Tuesday, December 8 at 11:30am PST. Learn all the AWS re:Invent training opportunities.

Maureen Lonergan speaks at Women in IT Awards NY
Maureen Lonergan delivered the keynote speech at the Women in IT Awards NYC last month. The event, in its third year, recognizes the dedication and efforts of women and allies in the tech community. Maureen shared the importance of removing barriers and creating builders through education and training to elevate women and other underrepresented groups. Read her prepared remarks.

What’s new in AWS Certification

New analyst research on the organizational value of AWS Certification
According to a study by the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), 97% of IT leaders who employ AWS Certified staff say doing so puts their company in a better competitive position. Other reported organizational benefits include attracting and retaining cloud-focused talent and increasing productivity. Learn more about the research and how AWS can support you in meeting your cloud goals.

Major Enhancements to the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate Exam
In Q1 2021, we will launch a beta phase for a new AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate exam. It will be the first exam to allow candidates to demonstrate their skills with exam labs. Learn more in the updated exam guide.

Exam Retirement for AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty
We constantly evaluate the needs of our customers and make adjustments to our offerings. We will retire the AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty exam (AXS-C01) and corresponding practice exam (AXS-P01) on March 23, 2021. The last day to take the exam will be March 22, 2021. After this date, we will not issue new AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty certifications, and we will not support re-certifications. Learn more on the Coming Soon page.

How My Houseplants Helped Me Grow My Career in the AWS Cloud
Learn about one customer’s journey to get AWS Certified after losing his job. To prepare for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exam, he decided to get hands-on with AWS and build something that ended up helping him grow his career and collaborate with his wife. What do plants have to do with it? Watch the video.

New training courses from AWS

AWS Power Hour: Cloud Practitioner on Twitch
The live weekly episodes of the AWS Power Hour: Cloud Practitioner and AWS Power Hour: Q&A on Twitch have wrapped up, but you can still catch the recorded episodes on demand. This interactive, fun, and casual six-episode series is designed for anyone who wants to learn about the AWS Cloud or prepare for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam. Learn more about the Twitch series.

Updated AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials
We’ve released an updated AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials course to help you gain a foundational understanding of the AWS Cloud. The new course is more structured, interactive, and includes knowledge checks and learner activities within each module. It replaces the English version of AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials (Second Edition) and is available on demand across the globe. Learn more about this free course.

AWS Security Deep Dive: AWS Identity and Access Management
AWS Security Deep Dive: AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a new, on-demand course that provides you with a deep dive into AWS IAM and best practices for using IAM policies. The advanced course is designed for security professionals with a working knowledge of AWS and it includes five learning modules, video demonstrations, assessments, and three optional self-paced labs. Learn more about this course, and other security trainings.

Introduction to AWS IAM
Introduction to AWS IAM introduces you to IAM, one of the key services that helps you securely control access to your AWS resources. You’ll learn several different approaches to consider when addressing identity and access management, including users, groups, roles, and policies and applying best practices for securing your deployments and cloud assets. Learn more.

AWS IoT: Developing and Deploying an Internet of Things
AWS IoT: Developing and Deploying an Internet of Things provides an overview of the IoT, IoT services, and dives deep into topics such as the device gateway, device management, the device registry, and shadows. You’ll learn about security capabilities and implications, and core- and edge-computing capabilities and benefits. Lastly, the course covers the integration of IoT solutions with analytics tools, equipping you with the skills to analyze the collected data from your fleet of IoT devices. Learn more.

Break Free of Legacy Databases
Break Free of Legacy Databases explains how to modernize a legacy, monolithic application by transforming it into a microservices-based application that uses serverless, scalable, and fully managed databases. The two-hour foundational curriculum includes three self-paced modules with video demonstrations and is designed for data platform engineers, database developers, and solutions architects. Register for this course: Customers and AWS Partners.

Updated AWS Solutions Training for Partners: Machine Learning on AWS (Business)
AWS Solutions Training for Partners: Machine Learning on AWS (Business) is an intermediate-level, non-technical course that focuses on teaching account owners and pre-sales representatives at AWS Partner organizations how to have effective conversations with customers to drive opportunities in machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI). The course is now available in English for AWS Partners.

AWS Training and Certification helps the builders of today and tomorrow leverage the power of the AWS Cloud. For more information, visit https://aws.amazon.com/training