AWS certified solutions architect associate
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Check out our popular training for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate that will maximize your chances of successfully passing your exam with confidence
About the AWS solutions architect associate
Find answers to the most frequently asked questions related to the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Exam
What is the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Certification?
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate is an associate-level certification designed for individuals performing in solutions architect roles. It is ideal for beginners to AWS and cloud computing, as well as more experienced IT professionals. To pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03) exam you’ll need to have good knowledge of how to design and implement secure and robust distributed systems using AWS technologies.
Is the AWS Certified Solutions Architect worth it?
We wrote an extensive article on the general question of whether AWS certifications are worth it here but the short answer is absolutely, yes!
With average increases in salary of over 25% for certified individuals, you’re going to be in a much better position to secure your dream job or promotion if you earn your AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate certification. You’ll also develop strong hands-on skills by doing the guided hands-on lab exercises in our course which will set you up for successfully performing in a solutions architect role.
How long to study for the AWS Solutions Architect exam?
All of our video-based certification courses come with a free study plan that helps you plan your study period. We recommend that you allocate at least 60 minutes of study time per day and you will then be able to complete the certification within 5 weeks (including taking the actual exam). Study times can vary based on your experience with AWS and how much time you have each day, with some students passing their exams much faster and others taking a little longer.
How hard is the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam?
The AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam is an associate-level exam that requires a solid understanding of the AWS platform and a broad range of AWS services. The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam questions are scenario-based questions and can be challenging. Despite this, the AWS Solutions Architect Associate is often earned by beginners to cloud computing.
Who Should do the AWS Solution Architect Certification?
The AWS Solutions Architect Associate is ideal for those performing in Solutions Architect roles and for anyone working at a technical level with AWS technologies. Earning the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate will build your credibility and confidence as it demonstrates that you have the cloud skills companies need to innovate for the future.
What is the format of the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam?
The SAA-C03 exam is a multiple choice examination that is 65 questions in length. You can take the exam in a testing center or using an online proctored exam from your home or office. You have 130 minutes to complete your exam and the passing mark is 720 points out of 100 points (72%). If English is not your first language you can request an accommodation when booking your exam that will qualify you for an additional 30 minutes exam extension.
What is the passing score for the AWS Solutions Architect exam?
All AWS certification exam results are reported as a score from 100 to 1000. Your score shows how you performed on the examination as a whole and whether or not you passed. The passing score for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate is 720 (72%).
Are there any prerequisites for taking the AWS Certified Solutions Architect exam?
There are no prerequisites for taking AWS exams. You do not need any programming knowledge or experience working with AWS. Everything you need to know is included in our courses. We do recommend that you have a basic understanding of fundamental computing concepts such as compute, storage, networking, and databases.
Can I take the AWS Exam from Home?
Yes, you can now take all AWS Certification exams with online proctoring using Pearson Vue or PSI. Here’s a detailed guide on how to book your AWS exam.
How much does the AWS Solution Architect Exam cost?
The AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam cost is $150 US.
Once you successfully pass your exam, you will be issued a 50% discount voucher that you can use towards your next AWS Exam.
For more detailed information, check out this blog article on AWS Certification Costs.
The Role of an AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate
AWS Certified Solutions Architects are IT professionals who design cloud solutions with AWS services to meet given technical requirements. An AWS Solutions Architect Associate is expected to design and implement distributed systems on AWS that are high-performing, scalable, secure and cost optimized.
On-demand training resources
Our popular training covers everything you need to know to ace your AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate certification is the most popular AWS certification and the most in-demand for cloud jobs. AWS Solutions Architects can earn over $150,000 p/a and your chances of getting a job will increase dramatically by getting AWS certified.
With our monthly and yearly plans, you’ll have everything you need to pass your AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam: Video Course + Practice Exam Course + Training Notes (ebook).
With this powerful combination of the instructor-led course, practice exams and training notes (PDF for download), you’ll maximize your chances of successfully passing your exam at the first attempt.
Click on the items below to learn more.
Overview - Who this Training is suitable for
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03) is the most popular AWS certification and one of the most valuable and highly sought after certifications in the cloud computing industry. This is a fast growing industry with high demand for certified professionals.
We designed our AWS Solution Architect training course to fully prepare you for the exam through a combination of video lectures, guided hands-on exercises, practice questions, and cheats sheets.
You’ll learn the major components of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and how to design secure and robust solutions using AWS technologies. We use a “learning by doing” approach so you can build practical skills and deepen your understanding.
Absolutely no prior experience of AWS is required for this certification path and you don’t need any programming knowledge. Everything you need to know is included in our course materials so you can be fully prepared to pass the challenging SAA-C03 exam on your first attempt.
On-Demand Video Course (instructor-led)
This instructor-led video course combines essential theory with guided practical exercises that are backed by high-quality diagrams and references.
- 23 hours on-demand video training with guided hands-on exercises
- Coverage of the latest exam topics for the SAA-C03
- Hands-on lessons using the AWS Management Console
- Separate theory lessons with amazing architectural diagrams
- Exam cram lessons summarizing key knowledge
- Architecture patterns lessons where you’ll learn how to respond to solutions architecture requirements
- 120 Quiz questions to test your knowledge
- All diagrams, code, links, files and slides are available for download
- 30 day study plan included to help with exam preparation
- Course Certificate is issued upon successful completion of the course
The video course is taught in a style that includes theory lessons with lots of visualization such as architectural diagrams and animated graphics (this is not death by bullet point).
After the theory lessons you’ll get to put your knowledge into practical use with hands-on lessons that teach you how to use AWS and complete exercises that reflect real-world situations. Learning by doing is the best way to ensure you build practical skills and increases knowledge retention.
On-demand Practice Exam Course
Test your knowledge and assess your exam readiness with practice questions that match the difficulty of the real AWS exam.
Practice exams are delivered in 4 different formats:
- Exam Mode – 6 sets of practice exams with the same number of questions (65), time limit (130 mins), and pass mark (72%) as the real AWS exam
- Training Mode – Check answers and explanations after every question (no time limit)
- Knowledge Review – Focussed practice exams for a specific knowledge area (no time limit)
- Final exam simulator – 65 questions are pulled randomly from a pool of over 500 questions. Same time limit (130 mins) and pass mark (72%) as the real AWS exam
You will be presented with an overall score at the end of the exam with a pass/fail message.
A Certificate of Achievement is issued when you score 72% and above in your final exam simulator.
Training Notes (PDF) for Offline Study
Take your studies offline with this ultimate compilation of cheat sheets for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate.
- Downloadable training notes (PDF) with detailed facts, tables and diagrams.
- This is a great resource for diving deep into each AWS service covered on the AWS exam which saves you from needing to browse hundreds of AWS FAQ pages and sorting through stacks of irrelevant information.
- For easy navigation, the information on each AWS service in this document is organized into the same categories as they are in the AWS Management Console.
- Ideal resource for last-minute revision.
- Get straight to the facts and shortcut your study time.
What you'll learn [scope & content]
We teach you all of the skills required to successfully pass your AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam requires a solid understanding of the AWS platform and core services. This course teaches you the hands-on skills required to design and implement solutions using AWS services in the areas of compute, networking, storage, management, database, and analytics.
You’ll learn how to choose which AWS services you should use to meet given technical requirements, how to build solutions on AWS according to well-architected best practices, and how to ensure performance and security requirements are met.
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam guide groups these skills into four domains. With our training, you’ll learn the following skills (grouped by domain):
- Design a multi-tier architecture solution
- Detect security threats and anomalies by using AWS services
- Respond to compromised resources and workloads
- Choose appropriate resilient storage
- Identify elastic and scalable compute solutions for a workload
- Select high-performing and scalable storage solutions for a workload
- Select high-performing networking solutions for a workload
- Choose high-performing database solutions for a workload
- Design secure access to AWS resources
- Design secure application tiers
- Select appropriate data security options
- Identify cost-effective storage solutions
- Identify cost-effective compute and database services
- Design cost-optimized network architectures
Subscription options tailored to your needs
Choose our monthly plan for ultimate flexibility, or opt for our yearly plan to maximize savings
If you’re looking for high-quality certification training that will fully prepare you for your AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam – these training courses are for you. You’ll maximize your chances of successfully passing your exam at the first attempt while learning how to architect and build applications on Amazon Web Services.
With our monthly or yearly plans, you’ll gain access to our entire library of Video Courses, Practice Exams, Training Notes and Master Classes.
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Customer reviews
This course provides a solid and easy to follow explanation of what you need to know for the test. As of this writing I have passed two AWS certification tests (CCP + SAA) after using Neal's courses and
practice tests.
Excellent course with in-depth knowledge and enough details to pass the exam! Neal is indeed the great teacher with advanced expertise in the subject. Well done, please keep producing such excellent
products.
The course has been amazing! Covering in detail what we need to know for the exam and some areas of interest. I thoroughly enjoyed hands on lessons, solidifying my knowledge even though I didn't have experience with AWS before
I passed the exam! Excellent course, deck, and practice exam that really helped me prepare. Thank you, Neal. Looking forward to the next courses, including AWS SysOps and Solutions Architect
Pro!
I used Neal's AWS video course and practice tests to study for my certification exam and successfully passed. I found these tests spot on to the real exam. Highly recommended!
I love the instructor’s style and their approach to teaching the material. The visual explanations are perfect for me as a visual learner, making everything easy to grasp and perfectly suited to my learning style.
Everything is explained clearly, making complex topics easy to understand. The hands-on exercises, exam cram, and cheat sheets are great for reinforcing concepts and effective
preparation.
I took a much more expensive course at $150/month and learned very little. This course is clear, well-structured, and actually makes sense to me – a much more valuable learning
experience.
I’m thoroughly enjoying this course! It’s very informative, easy to follow, and both the language and technical explanations are clear and well-structured, making it really simple to understand and
apply.
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Frequently Asked Questions
I don't have ANY cloud experience. Is this training right for me?
If you don’t have any experience with cloud computing, we highly recommend getting started with our AWS Cloud Practitioner training. With this basic training, you will learn the foundations of cloud computing.
If you basic IT knowledge, you can get jump straight into this training as no prior AWS experience is required for this certification path. You don’t need any programming knowledge. Everything you need to know is included in our course materials so you will be fully prepared to pass the challenging SAA-C03 exam on your first attempt.
Are your training courses up to date?
Our training is based on the latest SAA-C03 exam blueprint for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate. All of our video lessons, practice exams and training notes are regularly updated to reflect the latest AWS changes.
What's included in the video course? Do I get to access all course materials?
All diagrams, code, links, files and slides are available for download (in PDF format).
The video course also includes the following:
- Exam-cram lectures
- 120 Quiz questions
- Visuals and diagrams
- 30 Day Study Plan
Practice Exams are available in exam and training mode. Plus, there's the knowledge reviews and the final exam simulator. What's the difference?
Exam Mode: In exam mode, you complete one full-length practice exam and answer all 65 questions within the allotted time.
Training Mode: When taking the practice exam in training mode (no time limit), you will be shown the answers and explanations for every question after clicking “check”.
Knowledge Reviews: Now that you have identified your strengths and weaknesses, you get to dive deep into specific areas with our knowledge reviews. You are presented with a series of questions focussed on a specific topic. There is no time limit and you can view the answer to each question as you go through them.
Final Exam Simulator: The exam simulator randomly selects 65 questions from our pool of over 500 unique questions – mimicking the real AWS exam environment. The practice exam has the same format, style, time limit and passing score as the real AWS exam.
Do you offer any free resources to get familiar with your training?
If you’re not quite ready to commit to our in-depth AWS training, check out our FREE training resources for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate below. These free AWS training materials are a great way to familiarize yourself with Neal’s training style and format.
- Free Practice Questions
- Free AWS Cheat Sheets
- Free Study Plan
- Free Video Tutorials
- Free Guide to AWS Certification
While these free resources are a great starting point – to best prepare for your exam, we highly recommend enrolling in our in-depth AWS training.
How do I earn my certificate of achievement?
With practice exams, a Certificate of Achievement is issued when you score 72% and above in your online exam simulator.
A certificate of completion is issued upon successful completion of the video course.
I need to gain practical experience. Do you offer Hands-on Cloud Labs?
All of our AWS training courses include guided hands-on training where you can follow along in an AWS Free Tier account. Additionally, we offer Challenge Labs for those who are looking for extensive hands-on practice opportunities to develop real-world cloud skills. Challenge Labs are scenario-based hands-on exercises that run in a secure sandbox environment.
How do I access your on-demand training courses?
When you sign up for our monthly or yearly plans, you get access to our entire library of AWS training courses (current and future).
Our subscriptions come with no lock-in or minimum terms and can be cancelled at any time.
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