What is AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate?
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate is a certification for IT professionals who use Amazon Web Services to design and implement cloud-based solutions. The certification, which is offered by Amazon, verifies that the certificate holder has successfully demonstrated their technical knowledge and skills across a wide range of AWS tools.
This type of certification also validates the certificate holder's understanding of AWS Well-Architected Framework. This framework provides cloud architects with a structured approach to designing and managing secure, reliable and cost-optimized cloud workloads. AWS developed it to help architects build cloud solutions that are aligned with AWS best practices and make the best use of AWS tools.
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate certification is valid for three years. When cloud architects earn and maintain a Solutions Architect - Associate certification from Amazon, it can increase their earning potential and enhance job security. The certification can also be used as a steppingstone toward more advanced AWS credentials, like AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional.
Another important benefit of earning an Associate certification for cloud architecture is that it can provide IT professionals with more career options. AWS Associate cloud architect certifications are widely recognized as proof of a candidate's technical expertise and ability to design scalable, secure cloud solutions. Indirectly, this can help candidates get interviews for a number of related cloud-focused IT jobs, including cloud engineer, DevOps engineer and cloud infrastructure engineer.
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate: Exam details
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate certification candidates must take Amazon's SAA-C03 exam to earn certification and the badge that comes with it. The exam, which costs $150, requires the applicant to answer 65 questions in 130 minutes.
Fifty of the questions are either multiple choice or multiple response. Multiple choice questions have one correct response and three incorrect responses. Multiple response questions have two or more correct responses. All unanswered questions are counted as incorrect answers, so there's no penalty for guessing.
The SAA-C03 exam also mixes in 15 questions that do not count in the final score. AWS uses the 15 pilot questions to help plan the next version of the exam. Because pilot questions are not identified, exam takers do not know which questions in the exam count and which do not.
To pass the exam and receive certification, exam takers must achieve a scaled score of at least 720 out of 1,000. AWS uses a scaled score (100–1,000) rather than raw percentages to ensure candidates who take different versions of the same exam are assessed fairly.
How to take the exam
Pearson VUE and PSI are AWS' official testing partners. Pearson VUE offer two options for taking the certification exam: Candidates can take the exam online with a proctor or in person at a certified Pearson VUE test center. PSI offers online testing with a proctor but does not offer in-person testing.
To take the exam online, certification candidates need a reliable internet connection, a webcam-enabled computer that passes a system check and a valid government-issued photo ID. For in-person testing, candidates need to schedule an appointment at a Pearson VUE test center and bring a valid photo ID.
The SAA-C03 exam has a pass-fail designation, which means that anyone who scores at least 720 passes the exam and receive certification. AWS does not impose a maximum number of times people can take the exam, but after a failed attempt, certification candidates must wait at least 14 calendar days before scheduling a retake.
When a candidate passes the SAA-CO3 exam and becomes certified, they receive an official digital badge, a printable certificate and access to certification benefits, which typically include discounts for other certifications. Amazon encourages Associate-certified cloud architects to add the badge to their LinkedIn profile, resume and email signature. The badges are linked to a easily verified digital credential issued through Credly by Pearson.
Exam prerequisites
There are no formal prerequisites for taking the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate certification exam. Anyone can register, pay and take the exam -- regardless of education or professional background. Because the exam is performance-based, however, AWS recommends certification candidates have at least one year of hands-on experience designing cloud solutions on AWS before signing up and paying the exam fee.
Amazon also recommends that candidates who are completely new to IT or cloud computing consider earning the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certificate first. This certification validates the certificate holder's high-level understanding of AWS cloud services and terminology.
SAA-C03 exam topics
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect -- Associate (SAA-C03) exam is structured around four main domains, each of which focuses on a core area of cloud architecture. Each domain is weighted to reflect its importance in cloud deployments:
- Design Secure Architectures (30%). Verifies the candidate can use AWS services to design systems that protect data privacy and data access.
- Design Resilient Architectures (26%). Verifies the candidate can build fault-tolerant, highly available systems using AWS tools.
- Design High-Performing Architectures (24%). Verifies the candidate knows how to optimize performance efficiency across all system layers.
- Design Cost-Optimized Architectures (20%). Verifies the candidate's ability to create cost-efficient systems that align with business needs.
To pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate exam, candidates need to have hands-on experience with a broad range of AWS tools and be familiar with a wide range of IT topics. Here are some of the most important AWS cloud services mentioned in exam questions and what they are used for.
Core compute services
- Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud. Instance types, autoscaling, pricing models, placement groups.
- AWS Lambda. Event-driven compute, function triggers, integration with other services.
- AWS Fargate. Containerized application deployment and orchestration (basic understanding).
Storage services
- Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3). Storage classes, lifecycle policies, versioning, encryption.
- Amazon Elastic File System. Use cases, performance modes, shared storage.
- Amazon S3 Glacier. Archival storage, retrieval tiers.
- AWS Backup. Centralized backup across services.
Networking and content delivery
- Amazon Virtual Private Cloud. Subnets, routing tables, Network Address Translation gateway, peering, endpoints.
- Amazon Route 53. Domain name system routing, health checks, routing policies.
- Amazon CloudFront. Content delivery network.
- Elastic Load Balancing. Cloud load balancing, routing requests, health checks.
Identity and security services
- AWS Identity and Access Management. Policies, roles, permissions.
- AWS Key Management Service. Encryption key management.
- AWS Web Application Firewall. Web application security.
- Amazon Cognito. Authentication and identity federation (basic awareness).
Database services
- Amazon Relational Database Service. Multi-Availability Zone deployments, read replicas, backup and restore.
- Amazon DynamoDB. NoSQL, partition keys, serverless database.
- Amazon Aurora. High-performance relational database.
- Amazon Redshift. Data warehousing (basic awareness).
Monitoring and management
- Amazon CloudWatch. Cloud monitoring, metrics, logs, alarms.
- AWS CloudTrail. Application programming interface logging and auditing.
- AWS Trusted Advisor. Cost and security checks.
- AWS Config. Compliance and configuration history (basic awareness).
Cost and billing
- AWS Pricing Calculator. Estimating costs.
- AWS Budgets and AWS Cost Explorer. Tracking and managing cloud costs.
- Billing Alerts. CloudWatch notifications for cost thresholds.
Application integration and messaging
- Amazon Simple Notification Service. Publish/subscribe messaging.
- Amazon Simple Queue Service. Decoupling services.
- Amazon EventBridge (formerly CloudWatch Events). Event-driven architecture.
- AWS Step Functions. Workflow orchestration for serverless applications.
Infrastructure as code
- AWS CloudFormation. Template-driven cloud resource provisioning.
- AWS Elastic Beanstalk. Simplified infrastructure as code for app deployment.
Strategies to prepare for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate exam
Amazon's action plan for exam preparation has four steps:
- Get to know the exam. Review the official exam guide, complete the certification-aligned Official Practice Question Set and take a practice test to identify knowledge gaps.
- Refresh AWS foundational knowledge and skills. Use digital learning courses and hands-on labs to build or reinforce basic AWS skills.
- Review and practice for the exam. Acquire a deep understanding of the exam domains by using practice questions, flashcards, instructor-led walkthroughs and simulation-style labs.
- Assess readiness. Take a full-length official practice exam that simulates real test conditions to gauge preparedness.
To help test-takers prepare for the exam, AWS provides two exam prep plans: one free and one paid. The free plan is available through AWS Skill Builder. It provides self-paced videos, reading materials and practice questions.
The paid prep plan for SAA-C03 has more hours of test preparation resources. In addition to providing official practice questions that are not available in the free tier, the paid plan also provides role-based training, game-based learning and scenario-based experiential learning opportunities.
In addition to using Amazon's own study resources, certification candidates can benefit from a wide range of third-party test preparation resources. For example, candidates may benefit from watching free YouTube videos about AWS or find value in taking user-created exam prep resources through a subscription on Udemy.
AWS also suggests that Certified Solutions Architect - Associate certification seekers sign up for a free AWS Skill Builder account and practice taking the exam with AWS' official practice exam. The practice exam has 20-25 sample questions with answers and detailed explanations. It is designed to help certification candidates become familiar with the certification exam's format, question style and topics.
AWS Certified Solutions Architect: Associate vs. Professional
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate certification is considered to be an intermediate certification that's one step below AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional. The Professional exam covers complex, large-scale architecture design and tests the exam-taker's ability to design enterprise-level solutions and lead digital transformation projects that rely on AWS cloud tools.
It's worth noting that AWS uses a recertification hierarchy. This means that, when someone receives a higher-level AWS certification, any lower-level certifications they have earned in the same track are automatically renewed. In other words, candidates who take and pass the Professional exam do not automatically receive Associate certification, but if they already hold an active Associate certification, it is automatically extended for another three years. Amazon says this policy enables professionals to maintain multiple AWS certifications without needing to retake and pay for each exam separately.
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