Are you looking to establish yourself as an expert in data analytics on the cloud‘s most widely used platform? Then the AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty certification is made for you.
This coveted certification validates your skills in architecting analytics solutions leveraging AWS’s industry-leading services. It helps fast-track your career as a cloud data expert supporting mission-critical business workloads.
In this detailed guide, we will explore all key aspects of the certification to help you get AWS certified.
Here’s an overview of what we’ll cover:
- Importance of data analytics certification
- Exam details, format and scoring
- Domains tested and AWS services covered
- Career opportunities and salary potential
- Preparation tips and resources
- Insights into passing the test
So let’s get started!
Why Get AWS Certified in Data Analytics?
With exponentially growing data across industries, companies are adopting cloud analytics solutions at scale to extract value.
As per IDC forecasts, the worldwide big data and business analytics market will reach $420 billion by 2026, growing at a 12% CAGR.
And leading this growth is AWS, with over 32% market share in cloud infrastructure services. So skills in AWS data analytics are highly sought after.
Here are key reasons why you should get AWS certified:
Increase Your Earning Potential
Certification allows you to command higher AWS data analytics salaries. According to Global Knowledge‘s IT skills and salary report, certified professionals earn 9% higher salaries compared to non-certified peers on average.
Median Salaries for AWS Certified Professionals:
- Global: $129,868
- North America: $140,189
As per PayScale, AWS certified data analytics professionals earn over $125,000 on average in the US.
Get Recognized as an AWS Expert
The AWS certificate is recognized globally as the industry benchmark for cloud skills. Certification proves to employers you possess in-demand data analytics skills on AWS.
It allows you to differentiate yourself and stand out from non-certified peers when applying for lucrative cloud data roles.
Accelerate Your Cloud Career
With more companies migrating analytics to the cloud, AWS certified talent is in great demand. Roles like cloud data engineers, AWS data analytics consultants, big data developers etc. remain top recruitment priorities.
Certification fast-tracks your career advancement and helps transition to high-value data roles supporting business-critical workloads.
Upskill on AWS Innovation
From data lakes to machine learning, AWS leads innovation in cloud data management and analytics. Their breadth and pace of service launches are unmatched.
Certification helps you stay updated on the latest AWS capabilities through a structured learning program as services continuously evolve.
Clearly, getting AWS certified in data analytics offers rich rewards for cloud professionals. Now let‘s dive deeper into the certification details.
Exam Details Overview
Before registering for the exam, here is a quick overview of key details:
Name: AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty
Code: DAS-C01
Format: Multiple choice & multiple response questions
Length: 170 minutes
Questions: 65
Pass score: 750/1000
Price: $300
Validity: 3 years
This specialty exam is designed for experienced analytics practitioners. Prior AWS associate certification and hands-on experience with AWS data services is highly recommended.
The exam uses scaled scoring focused on evaluating your test-wide performance. Now let‘s analyze the exam domains and services tested in more detail.
Exam Domains and Services Covered
The AWS data analytics certification exam tests your expertise across 5 domains:
| Domain | % Questions |
|---|---|
| Collection | 24% |
| Storage & Data Management | 22% |
| Processing | 20% |
| Analytics & Visualization | 26% |
| Security | 8% |
As visible, you need extensive coverage across data collection, storage, processing, analytics and security on AWS.
Now let‘s look at some key services tested under each domain:
Collection
Kinesis (Data Streams, Firehose, Analytics), Glue Crawler, DMS
Storage & Management
S3, Glue Catalog, Lake Formation
Processing
Glue ETL Jobs, Athena, EMR, Redshift Spectrum
Analytics & Visualization
QuickSight, Elasticsearch, EMR Notebooks
Security
Encryption, Access Controls, VPC Endpoints
For full details on services covered, refer to the official exam guide published by AWS.
Now that you know the domains and services tested let‘s look at career growth and salary potential with certification.
Career Opportunities and Salaries
There is huge demand for AWS certified data professionals across roles like:
- Cloud Data Engineer
- Big Data Developer
- Data Analytics Consultant
- BI Engineer
- Data Scientist
Median salaries by experience level in USA according to PayScale:
- 1-4 years experience: $105,000
- 5-9 years experience: $128,500
- 10-20 years experience: $153,500
For senior roles like principal data engineer, analytics lead etc. salaries can reach even $200,000+.
Clearly, AWS data analytics certification opens doors to diverse, high-paying cloud data careers. Now let‘s look at preparing to pass the exam.
Preparing for the Exam
Since the AWS data analytics exam is advanced, thorough preparation with hands-on practice is vital for success.
Here is a step-by-step guide to prepare:
Step 1: Review Key Concepts
If new to data analytics, first refresh concepts like databases, data warehousing, ETL, business intelligence etc. Understand basics of big data and cloud data platforms.
Go through AWS analytics services whitepapers to grasp capabilities.
Time: 2-3 weeks
Step 2: Take AWS Data Analytics Course
Enroll in a comprehensive online course for certification to learn from an expert trainer. Courses offer lectures, demos, lab exercises and practice questions.
Time: 30 hours
Step 3: Review Sample Questions
AWS publishes sample questions for the exam with correct answers and explanations. Review these to understand the pattern and depth of questions asked.
Time: 5-6 hours
Step 4: Take Practice Tests
Attempt multiple full-length practice tests for the certification exam. Time yourself like the real exam. This will prepare you for the test environment and format.
Analyze your performance to identify weak areas needing more attention.
Time: 8-10 hours
Step 5: Attempt Hands-on Exercises
Sign up for an AWS free tier account and try services hands-on yourself. Attempt labs exercises across use cases like loading data into S3, querying data with Athena, processing data using Glue ETL, building dashboards with Quicksight etc.
Hands-on skills are vital to crack the exam.
Time: Minimum 20-30 hours recommended
Step 6: Review Cheat Sheets
Review certification cheat sheets shared online that summarize key concepts across services tested like Glue, Athena, Kinesis etc.
Time: 10-12 hours
Follow these steps over 8-12 weeks for best results. Ensure you cover services under all exam domains in-depth.
Now let’s look at some tips to beat the exam.
Tips to Pass the Exam
Here are valuable tips to help crack the test:
- Carefully go through domain weighting – solve more collection, analytics questions
- Read questions thoroughly and avoid getting misguided by unfamiliar terms
- Flag questions you find difficult and come back later
- Pick the most effective and appropriate service for solving given analytics use case
- For hands-on experience, leverage a free-tier AWS account
- Take ample practice tests that simulate real exam conditions
- Identify weak knowledge areas and cover them proactively
- Manage exam time so no domain/question format is left unattended
Stay confident in your preparation. Review the tips above to develop a winning test-taking strategy.
Why Earn This Certification
The AWS certified data analytics badge validates job-ready cloud analytics skills to advance your career.
With more organizations adopting cloud data platforms, AWS certified professionals will be at the forefront to drive this migration.
Earning AWS certification also boosts partner network engagement and participation in the vibrant AWS community.
You get access to exclusive certification job boards showcasing openings at innovative companies seeking AWS cloud talent.
If you are ready to turbo-charge your data analytics career with future-proof skills, register for the AWS data specialty exam today!
