Yesterday AWS announced that they will retire (or update) the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate to AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer – Associate. This is because, to quote AWS directly, they want the certification “to reflect the evolving nature of cloud operations and a shift in industry terminology” which I can understand.
If you already have the SysOps Administrator – Associate certification, you will not automatically get the CloudOps Engineer – Associate. Nor will your already earned certification be renamed. The only way to earn CloudOps Engineer – Associate is by passing the exam SOA-C03 which will be available on september 9th 2025.
SOA-C02 vs SOA-C03
What do we know about the current SOA-C02 and the future SOA-C03? AWS explains that there are differences and that the new CloudOps Engineer exam will have questions about containers, more about multi-account and multi-region architectures, as well as more questions about automation and IaC.
How to prepare for CloudOps Engineer
AWS will release a exam prep plan for CloudOps Engineer on the same day as the exam registration opens. That will include practice exams, AWS SimuLearn hands-on labs etc. If you begin your studys today, SysOps Administrator is what you should study for, perhaps with more focus on containers and multi-account and multi-region designs.
Good luck guys!
JL is the creator of awshome.dev. This is simply a side project to learn and to share what I do, mostly for my own sake but if you like it, feel free to read.