Moving to the cloud in businesses requires specific knowledge and skills that should be performed by qualified cloud architects. Such specialists help to define standards and policies in cooperation with IT stakeholders, business, and development. Thus, these professionals should be proficient in evaluating business goals and developing cloud-computing solutions, bridging the gap between technology and business, improving the current cloud-computing architecture, running the usage of cloud architecture within the organization, developing visualizations, implementing best practices, and developments in the sphere of cloud technology. The best way to prove your skills in cloud architecture is by gaining a certification. To become a real specialist in this field, obtaining the Specialist - Cloud Architect, Cloud Infrastructure Version 3.0 or DCS-CA designation is what you need. The qualifying exam you have to pass for this accreditation is DES-2T13. And note, that the specialist-level certification can be gained only after getting the associate-level accreditation.
So, the DES-2T13 Specialist – Cloud Architect, Cloud Infrastructure evaluation has been designed to check your skills in creating a cloud infrastructure that is able to support a wide variety of services. It also proves that you are a qualified professional in designing robust infrastructure which is based on the cloud and includes such elements as cloud management, consumer resources, hybrid capabilities, and disaster recovery. Regarding the exam details, you should be ready to crack 60 questions within 90 minutes and score at least 63% to pass this evaluation. Since the vendor is interested in equipping candidates with the latest skills and knowledge of the topics tested, it offers them to use free practice tests. It’s a great chance to see what is waiting for you at the exam.
As for the exam content, the DES-2T13 exam contains 7 topics to which you should be ready. The first domain refers to the introduction to cloud design and design parameters. Here, you should be knowledgeable of cloud concepts, cloud infrastructure design goals & approaches, and digital business imperatives. You also should have skills to explain the lifecycle phases of the cloud solutions design project as well as the cloud reference architecture.
The second topic refers to data collection and analysis. In this section, you will be tested on your ability to deal with data collection procedures, tools, and metrics, analysis process and design best practices.
The third topic is the largest one contained in the exam and is devoted to architecting a do-it-yourself solution. This implies that you should be competent in designing various compute, network, and storage technologies, and be able to describe their benefits, considerations, and challenges.
The fourth part focuses on architecting a CI / HCI solution. Your skills in describing design considerations and decisions for converged, hyper-converged, or cloud infrastructure will be evaluated.
The next topic is all about cloud management platform. The skills assessed there include the main functions of a CMP, its reference architecture, and infrastructure. In addition, you should be able to explain the core requirements for creating CMP solutions.
The last two topics are centered on hybrid & multi cloud, app development & deployment platform. Examinees will be tested on explaining the design considerations for hybrid cloud and multi cloud, as well as disaster recovery considerations. Besides, they should have the skills necessary to explain the app development and deployment environment, and design peculiarities of Packaged PaaS and Do-It-Yourself solutions.
Having gained the mentioned skills and proved them, you can earn from $67,000 to $173,000 in this sphere of cloud computing as stated on the ZipRecruiter website. The thing is, the more experience you have, the more pay check you get.