Cloud certifications for building cloud knowledge

[Spirnia]

I would like to know how the following cloud certifications compare:

- ISC2 CCSP (work requirement/Associate)

- CSA CCSK

- CompTIA Cloud Essentials+

- CompTIA Cloud+

If I would like to build my cloud knowledge, is it better to follow the following path?

Cloud Essentials+ > Cloud+ > CCSK > CCSP

Are there other mainstream vendor-neutral cloud certifications also?

Do they all teach the same core material?

[Spirnia]

Thank you for your response!

So, I will no longer take either the CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ or the CSA CCSK into my consideration.

I will be looking into the ISC2 certificate and the Bright Talk webinars soon.

I am still going through the CCSP certification official online curriculum for now.

I would like to finish that and see how I do and if I need to go back and study more of the basics, I will.

[nkeaton]

@Spirnia   Very welcome.  I definitely recommend reading the CSA CCSK materials for cloud.  Like I said that is what I used to study for my CCSP since I was pretty well grounded in cybersecurity.  You do indirectly maybe bring up a point that I do not know a lot about which is ISC2's certificate program.  I looked, and there is their Essentials of Cloud Certificate.  It looks like there are 3 courses in that which can be bought as a bundle or separately.  It might be best to stay with ISC2 to avoid worrying about CompTIA's maintenance fees and continuing education.  I do not know anyone that has done any of their certificates and are somewhat new compared to most of the certifications.  It should be a good start to learning for the CCSP as well as believe have read that it is a good way to prepare for it.  This is the link:  https://www.isc2.org/professional-development/certificates/essentials-of-cloud

[Spirnia]

Yes, I have the document from the CSA.

The only problem I see with the ISC2 introductory certificate is that there are 3 courses and only for about two months’ access. It expires too quickly.

It will have to wait.

I don’t have the additional time right now.

[nkeaton]

@Spirnia Thank you. I did not know that. Is that for the bundle, or do you get that much time for each if purchase separately? I noticed that buying separately does not change the total pricing. I concentrate so much on the certifications and have not really looked at the certificates much as my employer does not recognize them. Since you were brainstorming a little, I just didn’t want to omit that option especially since could be helpful in your future CCSP. I do know that people like Luke’s training, but others also like Ben Malisow’s. I would consider either for practice questions.

[Spirnia]

I checked on that. So, if you purchase the 3 courses individually, you will have 60 days for each individual course. And if you purchase them as a bundle, you will have 60 days to complete the entire certificate.

So, purchasing them individually is better in my situation. Thanks for that!

As far as other study materials…

I am going to be reading the Wiley/Sybex official books (study guide and practice tests)

And I will be viewing videos from LinkedIn, CBT Nuggets, and Prabh Nair (YouTube)

Also considering the Dummies CCSP book.

And of course, the CSA document is on my list too.

[nkeaton]

@Spirnia Thank you for that information. That sounds better for sure and would be interested if pursue as have seen zero feedback on that. I did read the official Sybex book, but the CSA especially and the NIST documents were definitely why I passed. This was the one exam that I did not do a lot of practice questions on which I normally do. Since I saved one of our employee’s exam voucher from expiring, I did not have much time to officially prepare. I recently had a class for our employees and had Ben Malisow teach it. He used to teach for ISC2 and was credited as author on the first official Sybex book. He does have his WannaBe site, and our folks have been using his practice questions to prepare. Luke Ahmed also teaches the CCSP and has practice questions. They are both class acts. I am more about self-study as the best way that I learn. Anyway guess giving you a buffet of choices. Please do what is best for you and the way that you learn. This is my favorite certification for a lot of reasons. It is definitely trending as a technology right now. Thank you for sharing your journey.

[Spirnia]

Will be looking into NIST documentation, Ben Malisow, and Luke Ahmed later on for any deficiencies I may still have in a domain or two.

Thank you for your suggestions!

[nkeaton]

@Spirnia Thank you. Just trying to give you some options to pick from since recognize and appreciate your motivation. I know that I don’t learn like a lot of others. When I set up the CCSP class for our people, I wanted to give them the best that could. I also did an acquisition for Gwen Bettwy’s book that saw recommended by ISC2 and gave them all a copy. Oddly she had Ben review it and gave him a signed copy of the book. It was not available when I took mine, but our folks really like it. She is a class act as well. Because of the recommendation, I did use her CISM book for mine and was definitely a good resource. ISACA documents are not fun to read. Hopefully this helps. I try to give back to the profession.

[Spirnia]

Just purchased Gwen’s Kindle version of CCSP Cloud Guardians: A bulleted look at the critical topics for the ISC2 CCSP Exam.

It is broken down by domain which makes reviewing easy!

Thank you for the recommendation!

[nkeaton]

@Spirnia Thank you for the input; it helps me to help others. I know that really helped our folks and like it. For ISC2 to recommend it is a big deal to me. It was the reason that was aware of it. I have given out about 70 at work. Even those that don’t take the exam like the reference. I have looked at a couple of Gwen’s online modules after I took the exam. She has a nice presentation style.