Cert exams are evolving, ACG’s hands-on cert prep can help you keep up
The longstanding debate over the ability of cloud certs to effectively prepare individuals for cloud roles just got a bit more interesting with the introduction of hands-on components to cloud certification exams.
At the end of last month, AWS released a brand new AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate (SOA-C02) exam. For the first time, the exam features a combination of three possible question formats: multiple-choice, multiple responses, and all-new exam labs.
Just like ACG’s challenge mode labs, exam labs require candidates to demonstrate practical skills by building solutions in real cloud environments, using the AWS Management Console or AWS Command Line Interface (CLI).
This development reflects an evolution of certification exams that we anticipate will continue as individuals and organizations seek to validate practical cloud skills to help advance careers and make more effective staffing and hiring decisions.
At ACG, we’re committed to providing our learners the freshest cloud content on the planet, regularly updating our content library and platform capabilities to match the rapid pace of change in the cloud industry.
That’s why we’re very excited to be the first learning platform to introduce Practice Exam Labs to our practice exam experience with the release of our new AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate (SOA-C02) – Practice Exam.
How it works
After completing and submitting a multiple-choice section of the practice exam, learners will receive credentials to log in to a real AWS environment to complete a set of lab objectives for a given scenario.
Upon submitting their lab, learners will receive an overall exam score, as well as a breakdown of their performance by cloud domain, question, and lab objective. 
The first Practice Exam Lab is available in our SysOps Admin practice exam today, and additional labs will be incorporated into the exam in the future in order to mimic the new AWS exam experience as closely as possible.Prepare for theAWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate exam
The AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate is widely known to be one of the toughest AWS associate-level exams. After completing our course, including the associated hands-on labs and new practice exam, learners will be equipped with everything they need to know to pass the exam.
To learn more about the new SysOps Admin exam experience, read about ACG instructor Faye Ellis’s experience with the beta version of the test earlier this year. Or, you can start learning by doing with new Practice Exam Labs in our AWS SysOps Admin Associate course today. (Already an ACG member? Get started with the course here.)
