With a 32% market share, AWS is the top cloud provider. It's not surprising that businesses are shifting in large numbers from on-premises to AWS because it offers highly available and reasonably priced services.

Developers are frequently asked to re-architect software to fit new models like containers or serverless as a result of this. Given the significant changes necessary, the reasons for this can occasionally appear unjustifiable, but a lack of understanding of AWS can prevent you from participating in the conversation.

Thanks to AWS's training and certification programs, which range from entry-level to expert, you may now comprehend the solutions suggested by cloud architects and perhaps even present your own in the future.

Consider these 5 arguments to help you decide if earning an AWS certification is right for you if you're a developer.

1. Being familiar with AWS helps you a better developer

A different method of software design is necessary for a high-availability application running in AWS. Containers - Your application should be structured as a stateless service, allowing for the operation of numerous instances of it; Serverless - Perform as a ServiceBecause there are no containers or VMS involved, platforms like AWS Lambda make your code function the deployable unit.

These methods may differ greatly from the standard single monolithic application. Usually, switching from one to the other necessitates extensive re-architecting. If you've worked on a project like this, understanding AWS may be essential to verifying any suggested solutions. Knowing the atmosphere you're aiming for will help you identify any potential pitfalls before it's too late.

For instance, did you know that the maximum execution duration for AWS Lambda is 15 minutes? For an hour-long database maintenance query, that is probably not the best course of action.

2. Certification preparation promotes quick and in-depth learning

There is nothing that can concentrate your thoughts like planning an exam. AWS offers associate, professional, and specialty difficulty levels among others. It may be a good idea to choose a level that slightly pushes you outside of your comfort zone to make you learn about new AWS services.

For instance, as I prepared for the AWS Solutions Architect Professional test, the following services caught my attention:

AWS Mechanical Turk is a tool that enables you to schedule tasks for actual people to accomplish. Using an API to communicate with others is quite futuristic.

AWS Macie is a service that locates and notifies you of sensitive data (names, addresses, and credit card numbers) in S3 buckets using machine learning. Perhaps they were at a loss for words and chose the principal developer of the project as the name.

The service to use when you have a lot of data to upload to AWS is AWS Snowmobile. You fill a truck with data (up to 100 PB) that they supply you, and they then go and transfer it to your AWS account. I am not kidding!

The point is that I wouldn't have known about these services if I hadn't studied for the certification. Now that I have them, they are available for use should a project call for them.

3. AWS credentials boost employment possibilities in the future

Senior developers are paid less than AWS solutions architects. 50% more precisely. This is based on data published by itjobswatch.co.uk, a website that tracks developments in the UK IT jobs market.

But why does this matter if you want to continue working as a developer? All of this demonstrates that folks who are knowledgeable about AWS can demand greater compensation. Knowing AWS technologies will give you a stronger negotiating position when requesting a raise.

Smaller businesses may lack the funding to engage a specialist in AWS infrastructure. In any case, they might not even require a full-time employee. For these kinds of employers, having an AWS certification on your resume is likely to set you apart from the competition.

4. Your company might fund your ongoing education.

According to the Training Industry Report, U.S. corporations will spend $1,111 on training each employee in 2020. Does your business have a budget for training? Perhaps it does, but why isn't it being used?

If you pass the AWS exam, of course, $1,111 would more than cover the expense of online coursework, the exam itself, and a celebration.

For instance, I paid the following amounts to prepare for the AWS Solutions Architect Professional test: $180 to schedule the exam (50% discount due to having passed a prior exam)

$80 for an online course that served as the foundation for my exam preparation (thanks to Adrian Cantrill at learn.cantrill.io); $20 for using AWS while I studied; and $0 for any other online resources, such as AWS documentation and white papers.

Do you believe that your employer would have trouble footing the $280 bill for a substantial investment in your AWS expertise?

5. Start your projects from scratch

It's recommended not to rely on your home computer to host your potential next big break if you work on your side ventures. Your living room is not a server room, I'm sorry to say. With a consumer-grade ISP connection, you have no prospect of providing high availability for your service.

Getting certified will provide you the assurance you need to launch your side projects in AWS. You'll be able to boast to your other developers about your edge-optimized content delivery network, even though setting up AWS CloudFront only required a few clicks.