Cloud Certification Roadmap - Part 1

Hi Inner Circle,

If you’re aiming to break into (or level up in) Cloud, certifications can be a great structured learning path. But certs alone don’t land jobs — projects do.

So here’s a role-based breakdown (from beginner → advanced), along with two real-world projects for each role that you can showcase on GitHub and even follow along with YouTube tutorials.

1. Cloud Engineer

Cert Roadmap:

• Beginner → AWS CCP, Azure Fundamentals, GCP ACE, KCNA

• Intermediate → AWS SysOps, Azure Admin, GCP Associate Engineer

• Advanced → AWS SA Pro, Azure SA Expert, GCP Professional Cloud Architect

Projects:

1. Deploy a 3-tier Web App on AWS/GCP

   • GitHub: 3-Tier AWS App

   • YouTube: Deploy 3-Tier App on AWS

2. IaC with Terraform: Multi-Cloud VPC Setup

   • GitHub: Terraform AWS + GCP

   • YouTube: Terraform Multi-Cloud

2. Cloud Data Engineer

Cert Roadmap:

• Beginner → AWS CCP, Azure Data Fundamentals, GCP Data Engineer (Associate)

• Intermediate → Databricks, SnowPro Core, AWS Data Analytics Specialty

• Advanced → GCP PDE, Databricks Advanced, NVIDIA RAPIDS

Projects:

1. Data Pipeline with Airflow + BigQuery

   • GitHub: Airflow BigQuery ETL

   • YouTube: Data Pipeline with Airflow

2. Streaming Data with Kafka + Spark

   • GitHub: Kafka Spark Streaming

   • YouTube: Kafka + Spark Streaming

3. Cloud DevOps Engineer

Cert Roadmap:

• Beginner → AWS CCP, KCNA, Docker Associate

• Intermediate → CKA, Azure Admin, AWS SysOps

• Advanced → AWS DevOps Pro, GCP DevOps Engineer

Projects:

1. CI/CD Pipeline with Jenkins + Kubernetes

   • GitHub: Jenkins K8s Pipeline

   • YouTube: Jenkins CI/CD with K8s

2. GitOps with ArgoCD

   • GitHub: ArgoCD GitOps Demo

   • YouTube: ArgoCD GitOps Explained

4. Cloud Security Engineer

Cert Roadmap:

• Beginner → AWS CCP, Azure Security Fundamentals, CompTIA Security+

• Intermediate → Kubernetes Security, AWS Security Specialty

• Advanced → Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect, GCP Security Engineer

Projects:

1. IAM & Least Privilege Setup

   • GitHub: AWS IAM Policies

   • YouTube: IAM Best Practices

2. Secure K8s Cluster with RBAC + Network Policies

   • GitHub: K8s Security Policies

   • YouTube: Kubernetes Security Deep Dive

5. Cloud AI/ML Engineer

Cert Roadmap:

• Beginner → AWS CCP, Azure Data Fundamentals

• Intermediate → GCP Data Engineer, TensorFlow Developer

• Advanced → AWS ML Specialty, GCP ML Engineer, NVIDIA Professional

Projects:

1. ML Model Deployment on GCP Vertex AI

   • GitHub: Vertex AI Samples

   • YouTube: Deploy ML on Vertex AI

2. End-to-End MLOps with Kubeflow

   • GitHub: Kubeflow Pipelines

   • YouTube: MLOps with Kubeflow

Do Remember:

Certifications give you credibility, projects give you proof.

If you can align one cert + one strong project per role level, you’ll stand out instantly in interviews.

Onwards & Upwards!

-Vishakha

Seeking impartial news? Meet 1440.

Every day, 3.5 million readers turn to 1440 for their factual news. We sift through 100+ sources to bring you a complete summary of politics, global events, business, and culture, all in a brief 5-minute email. Enjoy an impartial news experience.

Join for free today!