Cloud Architect Certification — How hard is “Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect” compared to “AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Professional”?
SAP-C02 updated. My perspective on the difficulty level of the 4 Cloud Architect Certification exams I’ve cleared.
In June 2023, I cleared the Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect exam. In September 2024, I renewed my AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Professional (AWS-SAP) as per the new format SAP-C02.
When I started preparing for GCP-Cloud Architect certification, I wanted to set timelines and be mentally prepared for the difficulty level of the exam. Therefore, I was looking for some kind of comparison with my already-acquired AWS certificates. This unfortunately wasn't easy to find (especially with AWS CSA — Professional). That's the reason for this blog.
Before GCP-Cloud Architect, I had already cleared AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Professional (AWS-SAP) in 2021. And AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate (AWS-SAA) in 2020.
Just a note, AWS-SAP got a new version of exam in 2022 — SAP-C02 & its predecessor SAP-C01 is now retired. I found SAP-C02 to be easier than SAP-C01, more details below.
AWS-SAA is a beginner-level cloud architect certification in my view. It covers the breadth of the services from AWS & cloud concepts but it does not go in deep.
In the remaining write-up, I’ll talk about AWS-SAP & Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect as they both sound similar & cover scenario-based questions.
Exam Duration & Questions
1 a. AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Professional SAP-C01 (Retired)
There are 75 questions to be answered in 3 hours. This makes it very hard to crack, as it tests the ability to make the most optimal decisions in a short time. Deep knowledge and hands-on practice are crucial to making these decisions fast without contemplating much.
Selection by elimination absorbs time and needs to be avoided for this exam.
Moreover, the constant context switch from one question to another is a little nerve-wracking in my view & needs practice.
Certainly, there are some simpler questions, but there are 2 profiles of questions which make it difficult —
- Very lengthy but straightforward — These questions describe a situation & could even take the entire screen. It takes time to wrap your head around the mentioned situation, but once the situation is clear its are usually straightforward.
- Short but tricky — These could trick based on the limits of the service or certain constraints about the operational environment or some minor detail. Often there is more than one correct answer but the challenge is to pick the most optimal one(s).
1 b. AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Professional SAP-C02 (current version)
Like its predecessor, this is a 3-hour challenge with 75 questions. However, it feels less intense than its retired predecessor SAP-C01. Let’s break it down further:
- While the range of services covered has broadened, the depth of questions has been reduced. Certainly, there are nuanced questions, but I can't recall any tricky questions focusing on service limits.
- The exam begins with simpler, single-choice questions (first 10–12) that help build momentum and confidence.
- In multi-response questions, where you select 3 out of 6 options, the choices are arranged logically, making decisions faster and more intuitive.
- You’ll no longer encounter extremely long questions designed to drain time. While situational questions are present, none are excessively lengthy or overwhelming.
With these updates to the exam format, it’s less time-consuming, allowing for thoughtful decision-making and some room for selection by elimination.
2. Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect
There are 50 questions to be answered in 2 hours. While it still follows the same 25 questions/ hour as AWS-SAP, I found this exam way more balanced and relaxed as compared to AWS-SAP.
There is a mix of simple questions and advanced-level questions (Perhaps it's designed this way because Google Cloud offers a single Architect certification unlike AWS).
While the advanced-level questions do need deep knowledge, I found that there was enough time to contemplate and arrive at the correct answer.
Moreover, the case studies are already part of the curriculum of the exam. This makes it possible to wrap your head around the situation before the exam. And during the exam, it's possible to attempt all questions from a case study together to avoid context switching.
Training Resources :
The professional titled certificates go into the scenarios, therefore the official case studies & blogs are helpful.
Additionally, for AWS-SAP (and AWS in general), I find content from Neal Davis to be very comprehensive, up to date & spot-on. For AWS-SAP SAP-C01, I had taken an additional course from Stéphane Maarek.
For GCP-Cloud Architect, I’m not aware of a single course which is comprehensive enough to tackle the breadth & depth of the exam. Course Ranga Rao Karanam is pretty helpful but the exam goes into more detail on Hybrid connectivity, Migration use cases & ML possibilities. The course from Dr Nizar Msadek is also good.
Summary :
Although the “Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect” & the “AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Professional” sound similar in their titles & are considered advanced-level certifications: In my experience, the retired AWS SAP-C01 was significantly more challenging than the GCP Cloud Architect exam.
While the new AWS SAP-C02 is easier than its predecessor, I still find it slightly more difficult than the GCP Cloud Architect exam for a few reasons:
- Maintaining focus for 3 hours is more demanding.
- AWS ecosystem has many more services to consider.
- GCP includes case studies in its curriculum, making it easier to approach related questions during the exam.
As per Chee Siong Chan (who has cleared all Google Cloud and AWS certifications), Google Cloud certifications are generally easier.
In fact, he rated AWS-SAP SAP-C01 as the toughest in his blog here https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/passing-all-12-google-cloud-certifications-chee-siong/
