The road to certification isn’t always so simple, being in IT for 10 years now I’ve learned you can’t do everything, the journey to the cloud is something so intricate that even the best gets confused, so many certifications, so many learning providers, so much content. Understanding the learning providers is key to getting ahead of technology and keeping pace with it , I’ve written blogged and taught many of these certifications , I also understand from a student prospective that getting qualified is not an easy task and involves sacrifices , learning is a two way street , you as an IT Professional need to evaluate , understand and map out your career , a road map helps with this.
With so many learning providers, how does one choose? Going after advanced level certifications often are the leading decision for individuals in the IT Certification landscape sometimes starting big isn’t always a good idea, foundational knowledge is the key to a good understanding and can often build up your confidence, networking with other like-minded individuals and organisations provide you with a road map to making better informed decisions. Here I’m going to discuss about my 10-year journey in IT Certifications and how alongside developing my knowledge I used my experience to aid me in my journey to the cloud.
My journey started back in 2008 with a keen interest in how things work in computing, it was much later in 2013 that I really started to grasp an understanding of what I wanted to do with my Career , gaining fundamental knowledge and understanding of computer science is key to what aids you in your career further down the line , My chosen road maps consisted of three CompTIA , Microsoft & 3rd Party Road maps. I started my journey back in 2014 with CompTIA Certification and to date 2024 ten years later I hold all CompTIA Certifications, I started my Microsoft Journey Back in 2016 to date 2024 I hold 27 Certifications, I Started my 3rd Party Road map back in 2014 to date 2024 I hold 60 Certifications across vendors such as HP, VMware, ISC2, Microsoft, CompTIA, Linux Foundation and more.
Key areas to start with are always fundamentals if you’re looking at CompTIA, they offer 5 foundational certifications. Here you will be looking at fundamentals of computing, fundamentals of help desk, fundamentals of networking and fundamentals of cloud computing.
• CompTIA ITF+ – This gives you the basics in Computing.
• CompTIA Data+ – This gives you the basics in Data Management
• CompTIA A+ This gives you a general Hands-on approach across multiple basics in IT.
• CompTIA Network+ This gives you the basics in Computer Networking
• CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ This gives you the basics in Cloud Technologies
Microsoft offers a similar pathway, if you’re lucky enough to have the opportunity and you have the time looking at Microsoft 6 Fundamental role-based certification will give you a solid foundation to learning the Microsoft eco system, really and truly each certification provides an opportunity for you to gauge your level of understanding in each of the Microsoft core technology stacks.
• Microsoft 365 Fundamentals – Basics of office 365 administration.
• Microsoft Azure Fundamentals – Basics of Azure Administration.
• Microsoft Security Compliance and Identity Fundamentals – Basics of Microsoft Security.
• Microsoft Power platform Fundamentals – Basics of creating power applications.
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM & ERP Fundamentals – Basics of using Dynamics Day to day.
• Microsoft Data Fundamentals – Basics of Data management.
Rome wasn’t built in a day and nether should your foundational knowledge for technology if we look at the above roadmap for both Microsoft and CompTIA we can see a similar pattern, there trying to teach candidates the basics in each of the disciplines, these certifications are ideal as they provide an affordable and education benefit to the candidates. When looking at a certification provider both providers are well respected and represented within the IT Community.
My Microsoft Journey officially started back in 2016 with learning and studying various technologies but it wasn’t until 2021 did I start looking at certification exams. Between 2016 to 2021 that gave me 5 years of experience working with the fundamentals, this can really be the difference between understanding something and just taking an exam without the knowledge and applying guess work to questions, experience and learning is an integral part of your journey to the cloud take this seriously and you’ll expand beyond where you currently are.
Moving forward Both Microsoft and CompTIA offer what I would classify as Career Mover certification’s, these 8 certifications allow a candidate to go down a more role specific path lets start with Microsoft if we look at the below, we can see that I followed both an associate and specialty paths with Microsoft, these are just some of the more Security focused areas I wanted to specialize in , the pathway while long is rewarding , learning , virtual labs and teaching these topics all provide for a rewarding experience within the Security Practice , especially if your going down the route of a security officer , security engineer or security architect
• Azure Administrator – Associate level azure administration day to day.
• Azure Security Engineer – Associate level security administration day to day.
• Azure Security Administrator – Administrative level security administration day to day.
• Endpoint Administrator – Defender administration day to day tasks.
• Identity and Access Engineer – Identity administration day to day tasks.
• Information Compliance Administrator – Compliance knowledge used in day-to-day tasks.
• Security Operations Analyst – Day to day tasks within a SOC centre.
• Virtual Desktop Specialty – Virtual Desktop administration day to day.
CompTIA similarly Offers what I would classify as Career Early Adopter and Intermediate Associate level certifications. These certifications allow a candidate to work in specific disciplines within IT these 5 certifications provide candidates with a job role specific learning outcome but also aid the candidate with broader understanding across IT Specific roles alongside an ability to manage small to medium projects within those roles. Its integral that a candidate should try to choose a mixture of vendor specific and vendor agnostic certification to get an unbiased knowledge base all though CompTIA Provides that as standard across all their exams.
• CompTIA Security+ Provides the Candidate with Foundational Security knowledge.
• CompTIA Server+ Provides the Candidate with intermediate level server admin knowledge.
• CompTIA Cloud+ Provides the Candidate with intermediate level cloud security knowledge.
• CompTIA Linux+ Provides the Candidate with foundational level knowledge in Linux systems.
• CompTIA Project+ Provides the Candidate with Provides the Candidate with a solid understanding of project management across multiple frameworks worldwide.
When we start to think past the Fundamentals , Associate and Specialty Certifications we thinking about Expert Level , at this stage you or your company has invested heavily in getting the basics , the intermediate and the specialty areas covered in what you do in your career , to continue the development journey often you need to do continued professional development and a way to do this is via earning expert level certificates. Both Microsoft and CompTIA Offer This, if we Take CompTIA, they have 3 in this space, if we take Microsoft, they have 4 in this space.
Microsoft offers.
• Cybersecurity Architect Expert – Gives a Candidate strong knowledgebase for cybersecurity.
• Enterprise Administrator Expert – Gives a Candidate strong office 365 knowledgebase.
• Azure Solutions Architect Expert – Gives a Candidate strong Azure knowledgebase.
• Devops Engineer Expert – Gives a Candidate a Strong Devops knowledgebase.
CompTIA offers.
• CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner – Gives a Candidate advanced security acumen.
• CompTIA Pentest+ – Gives a Candidate – Gives a Candidate intermediate hacking acumen.
• CompTIA CySA+ – Gives a Candidate – Gives a Candidate intermediate analyst skills.
All 7 Certifications provide a value add to candidates , not only do the offer custom learning paths , they also offer deep content learning across multiple domains , one of the key things we look for as IT Professionals is , learning Guidance , Learning Roadmaps and Affordability , all 7 provide that , Microsoft and CompTIA are well respected providers in there spaces and worldwide millions of candidates learn through their platforms , these free open source platforms advanced the technology sector , sure you can opt for paid training with both but initially they offer a multitude of free open source knowledge base and articles and learning platforms.
Ultimately my experience in IT has taught me that your learning journey wont be the same as everyone’s , not every opportunities follow the same paths , if your in IT and your wondering where to go with your career take a look at my learning paths below , they provide an accurate reflection of time , effort and dedication required , while your at it why not look at some of the accompanying certification from other third parties I’ve taken which may provide some value in your career. Certification and learning needs to benefit both your and the company you work for remembering that investing in your own abilities is key , should your company see the dedication you put in you may get rewarded with additional learning opportunities , some of the providers which I have not mentioned provide some additional value add below , but these come at significant costs , remember that there’s a balance to learning and a balance to spending on your learning over your career ultimately you need to be careful as not all certification is equal what works for others may not work for you.
Security Certification Roadmap
Other Highly Respected Providers
ISC2, GIAC, EC-COUNCIL, SANS, CISCO, Offensive Security, Axelos, PMP etc
If you’re in the searching phase of your certification road map why not check out Paul Jeremy’s Security Certification Road map, a fantastic way to decipher certification road maps, learning costs and levels of certifications. This provides a comprehensive overview of certifications available to IT Professionals.
Remember your always learning in IT.
Best wishes on your next Journey to the Cloud.