What are the prerequisites for DevOps certification and training in Cloud Computing?

Two things, the classical analogy of the conflict between operations and developer for stability vs speed still holds good. There is a good deal of overlap, at one end of spectrum in operations where folks are doing completely manual, and in developer community where people just write code and know nothing about the infra. Between these two extremes lies the DevOps world, where people can automate there operations task and developers who are familiar about platform. Put a security tarmac and you get into DevSecOps.

To pursue a DevOps certification in the cloud, common prerequisites include a foundational understanding of cloud computing platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP), proficiency in scripting languages (e.g., Python, Shell), knowledge of version control systems (e.g., Git), and experience with containerization tools (e.g., Docker). Familiarity with continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) concepts and automation tools is also beneficial. Check the specific requirements of the certification program you're interested in for detailed prerequisites.

I think technologists also need to have basic architecture and systems design skills and understanding so they can deliver to the needs of their stakeholders. So folks should consider Open Group certifications as a minimum.

While traditional programming skills per se are not a pre-requisite to being an able DevOps engineer/practitioner, it's good to have at least a basic understanding of how the code works. The key is to not get bogged down in trying to master coding, as the principle of diminishing returns comes into play after a certain point. Scripting languages however, are far more useful and frequently leveraged for automation and I would encourage anyone starting off in the field to upskill on Bash, JS at a bare minimum and perhaps even Python.

A foundational knowledge of IT concepts and software development is often assumed. This includes understanding programming languages, version control systems, and basic networking.

Basic working networking knowledge will do the job. For instance, how to perform basic tasks using CMDs on Linux. Imagine someone gave you a terminal. Figure out how to hack around. Learn the basic things such as how DIG cmd works, Can you make a HTTP request using CURL, calculate subnet mask of a given CIDR RANGE etc. What is DNS, what are the configurations that makes a DNS server, how does Client to Server communication takes place. How can you secure the HTTP connection etc.

Linux is Mother of all learning, Linux is basically everywhere around us, from Android smartphones, Wi-Fi routers, smart assistants, and smart fridges, to big-screen TVs, satellites, and airplanes. Linux even powers the entire Internet, the world’s top 500 supercomputers, Wall Street, and even the ISS (International Space Station). Networkinb knowledge is inevitable and every technology needs IP So learning NETWORKING and LINUX is must

Linux and Networking are two fundamental building blocks in my opinion, not just for a DevOps role but for all of IT and Cloud infrastructure. I cannot stress enough, the advantages a strong foundational understanding of Linux Concepts can give to your DevOps career. An advice is to practice Linux commands and tasks if you are just getting started in the field. It makes several things like virtualization, containerization and management of these environments a breeze if you have a strong familiarity with Linux. When it comes to networking, it is key to start with the basics i.e. Ports, Protocols, Routes and Firewalls. It is also key to understand how the networking services in your environments(OS, Kubernetes Cluster etc.) work together.

Most things run on Linux, and I believe it's essential to have a thorough understanding of Linux skills to have a clear understanding of Linux commands, architecture, networking, and more. Having knowledge of relevant commands makes it easier to write system code for cloud environments and rapid deployments. It lays a strong foundation for problem-solving and coding, and it also facilitates the mastery of other tools.

Understanding networking fundamentals is important, as DevOps often involves dealing with network configurations, security, and communication between different components.

Learn the technology and understand the core concepts. Then it will be easy to pickup different software/tools available for that track. Eg: learn core concepts about Git and not GitLab or GitHub. Learn about CI/CD concepts and then learn a few tools like Jenkins/Tekton/ArgoCD and so on.

Version Control, being an essential aspect of the CI/CD process, needs to be mastered prior to any DevOps certification. Focus on trying to understand how and why Version Control is even used, how changes in these versions are tracked and how a move between versions, whether an upgrade or a fallback is planned and implemented.

In my experience CI/CD came after for me, I suffered for not being Developer to learn during downtime. Take your time to start from the basics, it's easy to even configure your home directory on your laptop using Git and any CI/CD tool. Do IT! Pick ANY of your most lovely Open Source projects and create your own pipeline, build your Docker image, or generate your binary the way you want. Try a ton during non busy time, it's good to be prepare when you need to rollback a deploy and you don't understand how CircleCI works!

Common pitfalls include , Automating wrong processes - So consider frequency, duration and resource dependencies of each process prior automating it. Efficient dashboard (cockpit view) to measure coordination metrics between CI-CD will reduce friction in this complex process. CI jobs tend to throttle overloading system if left unbalanced, leading to delays in CI/CD. Lastly, fast feedback coupled with reporting will drive productive, cost efficient development iterations.

Although CICD is a more abstract concept, it is closely related to version control, because the different repositories branches and tags are used as triggers to launch the pipelines in charge of building, testing and deploying the cloud applications. More important than knowing specific tools like GH actions or Jenkins is the capacity to define the steps that are part of a pipeline.

There are several varying opinions on this. I'll try to present mine with as neutral a view as possible. Theoretically, you could be a DevOps practitioner without ever having to work with cloud services. For all practical purposes though I am going to assume at some point in your career, you would be working with at least one major Public Cloud Provider, if not more. It therefore becomes advantageous to have demonstrable knowledge at least 1 Cloud provider amongst the top 3 viz. AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. A lot of cloud administration skills are transferable across platforms and being able to work with one is sufficient to get started with any Certification Journey.

As much as cloud is growing , cloud repatriation is on the horizons as well. And again this might be like drinking from a firehose. So I suggest learn 2-3 cloud and as you gain your first cloud administrator certificate and with simple lab exercises your confidence on other CSP’s will only be exuberant. Clearing cloud certification is one thing and must while using your creativity, adjusting your solutions to business needs comes with experience. So jump into cloud and start the journey asap to experience this moment. Cube sized weekly learnings, contribution to forums, book reading hours with like minded personas will keep this journey alive and eventful.

Start with learning of any one Cloud Services and then it will be easy for you to grab understanding of others. World of Cloud computing has its owns sets of concepts, so grab it with your existing knowledge of traditional network

DevOps can be learned outside of the cloud. However this DevOps knowledge is transferrable to the cloud. Any cloud provider will use that same knowledge as well so learning it from one cloud provider will help you in another one. The cloud providers themselves are applying DevOps principles when they are releasing new services. So learning it is key to a career in cloud computing.

Knowing AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and their offerings is key. Understanding cloud models, deployment, and governance ensures you can design and manage top-notch cloud solutions.

DevOps is a mindset that fosters collaboration. Being a DevOps Engineer, first and most important task is to optimise release cycle of project

Embrace change and drive commitment to continuous learning and improvement. Easily said than done - You are right ! To undo years of practice and venture to new horizons takes time, but to be sure - Time is GOLD , so make the most !! While corporations invest significantly in tools, infrastructure, equally we should shift the mindset and align to Devops culture. After all, benefits to self, company and society includes - Improved efficiency and reliability that helps achieve faster time to market with superior quality products and better customer satisfaction.

DevOps thrives on a collaborative mindset, nurturing teamwork, communication, and constant learning between development and ops teams. It's about embracing methods like agile, lean, and scrum to align with this culture. Understanding the benefits and challenges of this approach is crucial. It's not just about knowing these practices but embodying DevOps values like automation, reliability, security, and always striving for improvement.

DevOps is not an isolated practice that is governed by its own set of principles. On the contrary, it is the glue that holds multiple teams, applications and operations together by ensuring they all work great together, like a well-oiled machine, towards the larger goals of the organization. A key emphasis is on automating the tasks, ensuring security across the process and working towards maintaining the uptime goals reliably and predictably. It is equally important to have processes in place for times that things do go wrong, so that the focus is aligned towards fixing the problem, documenting what went wrong without penalizing individuals and developing processes to ensure the issues are not repeated.

Since my experience comes from programming, system administration, and management, I want to share my top first priorities on the projects: Using the stack as an example: Jira, Github, GitHub Action, Slack. - All tasks must be set through Jira. - A task in Jira can be created directly from Slack. - All changes in Jira should send a notification to Slack. - All commits should contain the task number, and the git commit comment should be visible in Jira. - A convenient Gitflow for the team and project should be developed. - Add pre-commit to your projects (lint, format, autotest, etc.) - Maximum communication should be in Jira Tasks, not calls. Definitely integrate GitHub Action and Slack - so developers receive notifications on CI results.

One of the best training and skills you can develop that is applicable to all cloud Hyperscalers is AWS Well Architected Framework.

A pro tip is that you should pick the Cloud Provider on which you are already familiar or on which you have been already working in your current job/project. Or you have worked on it (any cloud) at least for a good amount of time. So based on the above suggestion, one should do the Associate level Certification (in AWS, Azure or GCP) first and then go for the DevOps Certifications (as there will be expert level questions in those exams). Best of luck :)

It all depends on what you're looking for. If it's about getting the cert and having an extra pin on your profile for a specific skill, just get whatever training you can find on Udemy/Youtube & co. This might be lower quality sometimes, but it will get the job done. If it's about taking the cert exam but primarily and mostly for going through the curriculum, look for the more specialized, not so wide, expert-made training sessions (either online or on-site) which are prepared and delivered from professionals actually working hands-on instead of just training others.

Learn cloud-agnostic solutions like Kubernetes (most of cloud vendors implement container orchestration services), Cache databases, System design and so on. The fundamentals are almost the same everywhere, usually, the only difference is the brand color and name??

There's not such thing as a Devops certification, because Devops includes a wide variety of concepts, tooling and practices. Every cloud provider has Devops certifications, but these are focused on their specific services, which is not really useful as a way to become a multi-disciplinary engineer. Instead, it is better to get specific certifications, like Jenkins, Terraform, Kubernetes, etc.

It is important to understand why Dev-ops before how. Dev means writing lot of codes and building features fast. It needs to change fast and push code regularly. Ops needs to provide a stable environment. So, Dev-ops needs to provide stable environment while doing lot of code changes and pushing codes faster. Anything and everything which helps me achieving this is part of DevOps.

Many great pieces of advice on certification but DevOps in Cloud Computing operates on the fuel of caffeine. You'll need it to stay awake during late-night deployments and to cope with the existential dread that comes with realizing you forgot to back up your code. So be ready to embrace the chaos, because in this world, Murphy's Law is not just a principle; it's the guiding force. Just when you think everything is running smoothly, a wild bug appears. But it is a very rewarding and fulfilling journey so learn and happy DEVOPSing!!

I think certifications is a great way to achieve new knowledge at the grass roots level, but a DevOps transformation is much bigger than that. On a technical level it sounds easy, just combine dev and ops. In most cases the ops capability is already in some other part of the organization or outsourced. Joining this with the dev organization can be challenging both process wise and culturally. Dont forget these aspects in your journey.

Everyone forget to mention that Docker and Kubernetes is the essential part of DevOps and used in most project. And it comes along with Terraform, Ansible, Helm Charts etc. Kubernetes is a huge topic, so that you can be even certified as Kubernetes Certified Engineer. But at least basic hands on knowledge of kubernetes is very essential for most DevOps engineers out there.