Cloud+ vs Cloud Essentials: CompTIA Cloud Certifications

This post examines the difference between the CompTIA Cloud+ and CompTIA Cloud Essentials certifications. Both CompTIA cloud certifications hold value, but each is designed for professionals with varying skill sets and experience.

CompTIA Cloud Essentials: For the Non-Technical Staff

The CompTIA Cloud Essentials certification is intended for business professionals and non-IT staff who aim to comprehend the fundamentals and practical components of cloud computing technology and how the cloud impacts a business.

The Cloud Essentials course focuses on:

• Business value of the cloud, including scalability, security, and the overall impact of the cloud on business efficiency.
• Technical perspectives of the cloud, including deployment models, network requirements, automation, federation, and standardization.
• Technical challenges such as cloud storage, application performance, security risks and mitigation, and application architectures.
• Steps for adopting cloud-based services.
• Cloud computing and ITIL for planning service strategies, running cloud service operation, and the continual improvement of service with the cloud.
• Legal, organizational, technical, and financial risks and consequences associated with the cloud.

The Cloud Essentials certification exam objectives are as follows:

• Characteristics of Cloud Services: The Business Perspective (15%)
• Business Value and Cloud Computing (20%)
• Cloud Types/Technical Perspectives (20%)
• Steps to Successful Adopting of Cloud Computing (15%)
• Impact and Changes Cloud Computing has on IT Service Management (15%)
• Consequences and Risks of Cloud Computing (15%)

Access the full CompTIA Cloud Essentials outline and exam info here.

CompTIA Cloud+: For Experienced IT Pros

CompTIA recommends that candidates for this certification hold at least 2-3 years of hands-on experience with IT networking, storage or data center technology. Unlike Cloud Essentials, this accreditation is designed for the experience IT professional seeking an understanding of cloud computing fundamental technical knowledge. This person(s) should contribute to or play a major role in the maintenance and management of the IT infrastructure at their organization. This audience definition does not exclude the IT practitioners who are vital to the internal IT operations and success and would greatly benefit from the training and certification.

The Cloud+ course covers various technical topics for cloud computing, such as:

• Cloud concepts, models, and terminology
• Systems management
• Storage networking
• Disk storage systems
• Virtualization and the cloud
• Performance tuning
• Systems management
• Testing and troubleshooting
• Cloud security
• Business continuity and disaster recovery

The Cloud+ certification exam objectives are as follows:

• Cloud Concepts and Models (12%)
• Virtualization (19%)
• Infrastructure (21%)
• Resource Management (13%)
• Security (16%)
• Systems Management (11%)
• Business Continuity in the Cloud (8%)

View the full CompTIA Cloud+ outline and exam objectives here.

Cloud+ vs Cloud Essentials: To Renew or Not to Renew

Do you want to spend the time and money to renew a CompTIA cloud certification. The Cloud Essentials certification is a lifetime accreditation and requires no renewal. The Cloud+ certification follows the standard three year renewal process where you must earn a specific amount of Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and pay the certification renewal fee.

Since Cloud+ requires time, continuing education, and money for renewal, the certification holds greater value than Cloud Essentials. This conclusion should not deter the right type of professional from seeking the Cloud Essentials certification. Not every person, specifically the non-IT staff, requires the level of technical knowledge tested by Cloud+. However, as the Cloud+ certification holder should stay up-to-date as cloud computing and related technology advances, so must the professional with a Cloud Essentials level of knowledge.

At a later date, we discuss methods for staying on top of the cloud computing industry and technology developments. Even though Cloud Essentials is lifetime certification, professionals should continue their education on a consistent basis.