CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ vs. CompTIA Cloud+: How to Choose

More companies than ever have moved some or all services to the cloud. Cloud services have a major impact on these organizations, not just from a technical perspective. Organizations now need decision-makers, analysts, and process owners who understand vital cloud principles from a business perspective and the technical know-how of cloud administrators. CompTIA covers both groups with two important certifications: CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ and CompTIA Cloud+.

 

The CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ certification validates the knowledge and skills required to make informed decisions about cloud technologies and their business impact. CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ addresses the decision-makers and process owners, but what about the technical teams?

 

The new CompTIA Cloud+ provides the vendor-neutral technical perspective needed in today’s diverse cloud work environment. It covers critical cloud administration topics identified by cloud experts in the field.

 

Let’s break these two down into a little more detail.

Why certify for cloud business skills?

One of the largest skills gaps for IT professionals is business knowledge and experience. CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ teaches business concepts and terminology combined with the technical knowledge necessary to make informed decisions. Cloud administrators advise their companies on cloud business decisions, while business analysts, managers, and executives can use CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ to develop an understanding of basic cloud concepts.

Why CompTIA Cloud Essentials+?

Cloud decision-makers recognize a lack of knowledgeable candidates about cloud services implementations and service lifecycles and can consider these services from a governance and financial perspective. Organizations struggle to find the critical personnel to fulfill this combined role.

 

CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ validates your ability to accomplish various tasks, including the following:

• Manage cloud assessments.
• Make cloud service decisions based on business and financial considerations.
• Understand cloud service operational requirements.
• Understand cloud concerns surrounding risk, compliance, and governance.

Why certify for cloud administration skills?

On the other hand, CompTIA Cloud+ is for the day-to-day cloud administrator who wants a vendor-neutral validation of their skills. It provides knowledge on public and private cloud administration subjects that cloud admins face daily.

 

Gartner anticipates end-use cloud growth to increase by 21.5% in 2025 as organizations react to world events and move toward a less office-centric workforce. The demand for skilled and knowledgeable cloud administrators will also continue to increase.

 

CompTIA Cloud+ features a variety of technical topics, including the following:

• Cloud concepts and terminology.
• Capacity planning and scaling.
• On-premises private clouds and remote clouds hosted by public cloud service providers.
• Administrative tasks such as deployments, backups, and migrations.
• Cloud security practices.
• Virtual networking.
• Troubleshooting.

CompTIA Cloud+ gives far less attention to business concerns than CompTIA Cloud Essentials+. The CompTIA Cloud+ audience typically consists of individuals pursuing a more technical line of work. However, It is worth noting that CompTIA Cloud+ objectives include organizational documentation practices, such as business continuity plans and disaster recovery plans. CompTIA Cloud+ also covers legal concerns.

Why CompTIA Cloud+?

CompTIA offers a premier vendor-neutral certification path containing content about Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Many organizations continue to move toward a multi-cloud infrastructure (cloud services hosted by multiple cloud service providers), and their cloud administrators must be able to adapt to any environment quickly.

 

The CompTIA Cloud+ exam objectives cover universal cloud concepts and practices. Like CompTIA Security+ and CompTIA Network+, this vendor-neutral approach works well if you intend to enter the IT workforce, where you will almost certainly manage devices, networks, security configurations, and cloud services across various vendors.

How to study for CompTIA Cloud+

With the newly updated CompTIA Cloud+ content, CompTIA offers a full suite of learning products, including The Official CompTIA Cloud+ Study Guide, eLearning, labs, and exam practice.     

• Official CompTIA Cloud+ Study Guide: The eBook will help you learn and master the material.
• CompTIA CertMaster Learn: Manage your study time with this comprehensive solution, which includes videos, hundreds of practice questions, performance-based questions, and more, all organized into a personalized learning plan.
• CompTIA Labs: Get hands-on practice by engaging in labs that take the material you’ve read or heard and solidify it by asking you to achieve the required settings and show your understanding. If you purchase a bundle that includes CertMaster Learn and CompTIA Labs, the labs are integrated into your learning plan in one seamless experience.
• CertMaster Practice: Practice what you’ve learned with a full, timed practice test experience, including scenario-based multiple choice and performance-based questions – the same questions you’ll encounter when taking the CompTIA Cloud+ exam.

Be in demand

CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ and CompTIA Cloud+ put you in control of your path to cloud computing. They each represent a substantial market demand and position candidates for roles in the ever-growing cloud arena. And better yet, it is entirely reasonable to pursue both certifications.

 

Ready to get started? Check out the CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ and CompTIA Cloud+ product pages to see what’s covered and begin studying.