I generally prefer developing over infrastructure. For me, the fun part is always finding solutions to programming challenges. Of course, developing a solution without having a way or place to deploy it doesn’t make much sense.
Because I’m always interested in learning new things—and with the promise that the cloud could help me spend less time on infrastructure (and therefore more time actually solving problems)—I decided to get a better understanding of the available cloud offerings.
Cloud! Which cloud?
The age-old joke about the cloud just being “someone else’s computer” has been around for a long time. And, of course, there are cloud offerings everywhere. In fact, I’ve used cloud services here and there for various things. At work, we’ve been increasingly relying on cloud solutions1.
Since we use a fair bit of Azure at work, I decided to start with their training and certification program. I began with the very basics, as I don’t have a cloud architecture background. But it turned out to be quite engaging, and I advanced quickly.
Azure
The training materials are free, which is always a bonus. They are generally well-made and consist mostly of reading materials complemented by videos. Unfortunately, the hands-on component is rather minimal, which I found a bit disappointing. Still, for a broad overview of the Azure ecosystem, it’s probably sufficient.
Setting up the exam, however, was challenging. It required a secure browser, and I opted to take it on-premises at the office. Meeting all the requirements set by the exam provider—while navigating our enterprise security product—was a bit of a battle. To top it off, I encountered a message stating that our office internet was too slow2. Really?
Despite these hurdles, I managed to take the exam. It was harder than expected, with most questions involving fine distinctions in multiple-choice answers. Sometimes, it wasn’t immediately clear which option was correct. Fortunately, there was plenty of time to work through everything.
In the end, I passed and received the following certificate (albeit only in digital form):
Did it work?
I do feel like I gained a better understanding of how “these cloud things” are set up, and I’m more comfortable managing them when necessary. That said, it’s still not my favorite thing to do.
However, I’m considering pursuing another Azure certification at some point—maybe in 2025.
Interestingly, this ranges from serverless databases to cloud products from specialized vendors that meet specific legal requirements—though some of these “cloud offerings” could really use quotation marks. ↩︎
This was likely a peering issue between our office and the exam provider or just a fluke. We have a fast internet connection at the office, as we occasionally host client applications on-site. ↩︎