CirrusHQ: Certified Cloud Experts

Skills shortages, gaps, cliffs… whatever you call it, we have seen organisations across the sector struggle to ensure they can recruit the right people with the right skills to meet their needs. 

While there is a broad range of reasons for this – not to mention education needing to keep pace with technology innovation and developments – there are many segments of the tech sector bucking that trend and ensuring that their teams participate in continual professional development.

The cloud sector is one of these and at CirrusHQ, we ensure that our team is kept abreast of the latest AWS cloud certifications and champion their ongoing upskilling. 

AWS offers 12 cloud certifications, including nine core certifications and three specialty certificates. Some of these include: 

• AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect 
• AWS Certified Developer 
• AWS Certified SysOps Administrator 
• AWS Certified Data Engineer 
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect 
• AWS Certified DevOps Engineer 
• AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty

Each of these can be held at a variety of levels: Foundational (i.e. entry-level), Associate (i.e. for new AWS users), Professional (i.e. for experienced users) and Specialty (i.e. focuses on specialisms like big data, security, and networking). 

At CirrusHQ, we actively champion our technical team to complete these and are incredibly proud of the high levels of AWS certifications they hold – currently we hold more than 100 AWS certifications. We also encourage our non-technical team to sit the Cloud Practitioner certification. Achieving these certifications means clients can be assured that our team has the technical skills and expertise to fully support them on their cloud journeys. 

One of the team who has recently been progressing on her AWS certification journey is one of our Cloud Systems Administrators, Elisha, who joined the company in 2023. 

We sat down with her to chat with her about what holding cloud certifications means to her.  

Q: What prompted a career in cloud computing?

A: During lockdown I took some time to think about what gave me the greatest sense of fulfillment in my role and realised tasks such as identifying root causes and pain points, devising an action plan and executing these were the things that brought me the most satisfaction. I spoke with a career mentor who suggested a role in IT could be something I would be interested in, and AWS came recommended in terms of certifications and career progression.

Q: What Certifications have you achieved?

A: When I started at CirrusHQ I came with two AWS Certifications and since I joined last year I have since sat three more – SysOps Admin Associate, Terraform Associate and Solutions Architect (Professional). I sat my initial two certs, Cloud Practitioner and Solutions Architect (Associate) whilst I was retraining. 

Q: What made you choose these certifications and how have they helped you in your daily role?

A: It’s been a combination of a recommendation from the business and also my own personal interests. I am very familiar with AWS and the array of certifications available but for my current role, the Sys Ops admin and Solutions Architect certifications are incredibly useful to have as I gained valuable hands-on experience throughout my studying which helps in all aspects of my day-to-day role.

Q: What’s next for you in terms of exams you’re keen to sit?

A: I’d be keen to sit other Professional certifications including the DevOps Engineer (Professional) certification as having a professional cert covers all the learning at the associate level whilst also going that step further to enhance knowledge and understanding. Watch this space!

It isn’t just the team that is certified, because as a business, CirrusHQ is an AWS Advanced Consulting and Solution Provider partner, providing security and compliance across wide IT estates and ensuring high performance for a broad spectrum of businesses and sectors. The company also holds three AWS Competancies including Education Consulting Competency, DevOps Consulting Competency and Migration and Modernization Consulting Competency. More information on the AWS validations and certifications can be found here. 

For example, we are an AWS Education Competency accredited partner with a Well-Architected Framework certification, this means that our multiple Education reference customers can save money and scale in times of high seasonal demand as well as safeguard sensitive data. Additionally, we are an AWS Public Sector and Public Sector Solution Provider partner, helping government agencies embrace the cloud as part of their digital transformation strategies.

To find out more about CirrusHQ and team AWS certifications, visit: https://cirrushq.com/about-us/