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?

[emb021]

@Spirnia The CCSK is a certificate, not a certification.  Yes, there is a difference.
As CSA teamed up with ISC2 for the CCSP, most have said the CCSP is basically the CCSK + CISSP.

So I would recommend getting the CCSP and not bother with the CCSK.  But it does have an experience requirement.

CompTIA now also has the CloudNetX, a higher level cert.  I would put it after their Cloud+ cert.  

Also, you left out another certificate worth considering:  CCAK, which is from ISACA.  CSA worked with them for this one.  Its Certificate for Cloud Audit Knowledge.

These are the only vendor-neutral cloud certificates/certifications.

[Spirnia]

Very interesting!

Thank you for your input!

[Kaity]

Great callout on the difference between a certification and a certificate!

ISC2 has an Essentials of Cloud Certificate, if you're interested in cloud, but not quite ready for the CCSP. https://www.isc2.org/professional-development/certificates/essentials-of-cloud 

It's online and on-demand and made up of 3 courses (Cloud Basics, Moving to the Cloud, Working in the Cloud) so that once you complete all 3 courses and assessments, you will earn the certificate. 

It's $480 for members ($600 if you're not a member) and worth 15 CPE credits for the 3 courses.  

[Spirnia]

I just looked into the CCSK certificate.

It is administered online and is open book.

I really appreciate you making that distinction of it being a certificate vs a certification.

[Spirnia]

The essentials of cloud is a very good option for me!

Thank you so much!

[emb021]

@Spirnia "I really appreciate you making that distinction of it being a certificate vs a certification."

I just kind of lose my patience with people on another social media platform who constantly confuse the 2, especially when they get into nonsense regarding certifications. So its a sore point for me.

Its almost as bad as confusing which org offers which cert, and thinking that certs like CISSP are appropriate for those getting into the field.

Calgon take me away!!!

[Spirnia]

I totally understand!

In many of the web pages I looked into, it was placed alongside certifications, with no distinction noted.

I’m glad I posted my question in this community!

Thank you, again!

[nkeaton]

@Spirnia   I am glad that you are looking at vendor neutral certifications.  It is important to understand standard cloud terminology and concepts which the vendor specific ones do not use.  I have 3 of the 4 that you listed.  The Cloud Essentials+ is very basic and would not recommend other than reading if want a primer.  I had been studying for the CCSK 1.0 certificate when got an offer from CompTIA to sit for their first Cloud+ beta.  The only recommendations that it had at the time for studying was the NIST documents which are older now but still very relevant and would always recommend NIST SP 800-125 for anyone trying to learn about virtualization.  I believe that I passed it because I had been studying CSA (Cloud Security Alliance) materials for their CCSK.  CSA is the respected leader in cloud knowledge.  They helped ISC2 develop their CCSP and ISACA their CCAK (cloud auditing) certificate.  They are much more about sharing knowledge than the other organizations in my opinion.  I agree with most everything that others have said here.  I took my CCSP exam first and only because one of our employees had an exam voucher that they were just going to let expire.  I thought that I would take the CCSK right after it but found that needed a month to kind of brain dump cybersecurity a bit.  The CCSP besides requiring experience is about 50/50 on cybersecurity and cloud concepts and security.  The CCSK assumes that know cybersecurity and only concentrates on cloud.  Yes, it is open book, and the price includes 2 tokens for 2 chances.  It requires 80% to pass which is higher than many of the other exams.  From others that have talked to I believe that the CCSK is more recognized in Europe than the US.  I only did mine because it was an old goal that got sidetracked by other things in my life.  It does not require continuing education or maintenance fees.  A person can take it again if want a higher version of it.  Mine is 4.0 and will probably not retest for 5.0.  I would eventually like to earn a CCAK to round out my cloud certifications and certificates.  If you want to know more about cloud, I definitely recommend no cost documents from NIST and CSA.  They are readily available online.  They are what I used to pass my CCSP and CCSK.  Also membership to CSA is no cost and doesn't look bad on a resume.  Feel free to ask any questions.      

[nkeaton]

@Spirnia   I just remembered that CSA has this series ahead of their summit and thought was a good range of topics.  If you do not already have a BrightTalk account, make sure to put in your ISC2 member id as part of your profile setup.  If you happen to watch an ISC2 webinar, those are automatically applied to your CPEs on your behalf (not subject to audit) which is a fairly painless way to earn them.  These you would have to enter manually since are not ISC2 ones.       https://www.brighttalk.com/series/7186?fbclid=IwY2xjawJ4mwhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETE1VEJJaGw1eHNJNUhw...