The CompTIA Cloud+ certification validates the skills and expertise of IT practitioners in implementing and maintaining cloud technologies. Cloud+ accredits IT professionals with the constantly changing and advancing knowledge they need to succeed in today’s cloud environment.

As more and more businesses shift their IT operations to cloud platforms, cloud computing and virtualization skills have become frequently required for IT professionals. Cloud+ is globally recognized and accredited. In addition, CompTIA Cloud+ is compliant with ISO 17024 standards. Adding CompTIA Cloud+ to your resume demonstrates your ability to implement and maintain cloud technologies and enables you to jump into a rapidly growing market:

• 9 out of 10 companies use some form of cloud technology.
• Sixty percent of companies have 30 percent or more of their IT systems in the cloud1.
• Cloud computing is estimated to generate nearly 7 million jobs worldwide.
• The global cloud computing market is projected to reach $270 billion by 2020.

This program will certify an individual’s capability of understanding all the cloud-related terminologies and the level of implementation. It will also certify that the individual understands the application of different strategies depending on the situation, the aspects of IT security in the cloud, and the best practices to implement in the cloud. The course will cover:

• Cloud+ covers the increased diversity of knowledge, skills, and abilities system administrators require to validate what is necessary to perform effectively in data center jobs.
• CompTIA Cloud+ views cloud-based infrastructure services as an increasingly important piece of an organization’s IT systems.
• It is the only vendor-neutral, performance-based certification covering more than a specific vendor or a single function like security or networking to help you better realize the return on investment of cloud infrastructure services.

The CompTIA Cloud+ certification emphasizes incorporating and managing cloud technologies as part of broader systems operations. It now assumes that candidates weave together solutions to meet specific business needs in any number of industries.

The security and maintenance domains acknowledge security’s integral role in successful cloud deployments. Exam topics validate a candidate’s understanding of an organization’s desired security posture so they can take preventative and proactive measures related to:

• Policy and compliance.
• Risk mitigation tactics.
• Cloud service and deployment models’ effect on security.
• Security automation tools and techniques.
• Business continuity and disaster recovery.

Objectives are related to automation and orchestration span all five domains of the exam. These two core cloud concepts, the tools needed to implement them, and their appropriate application is given system requirements are the keys to unlocking the promise of cloud initiatives. Exam topics include automation and orchestration tools and techniques to:

• Deploy systems that meet given requirements.
• Update cloud elements, such as hypervisors, virtual machines, appliances, networking components, applications, storage, and clusters.
• Perform routine maintenance tasks, such as clearing and archiving logs, compressing drives, removing orphaned resources, and removing outdated firewall rules.
• Meet security and policy requirements.

The management domain of the exam addresses the pivotal role that monitoring and resource management plays in cloud implementations. Topics include:

• Cost considerations in deployment planning.
• Monitoring performance against service-level agreement requirements.
• Monitoring resource consumption.
• The importance of de-provisioning.
• Calculating chargeback.

Organizations recognize the opportunity presented by cloud platforms and continue to identify what to move and when. The exam covers:

• Storage, computer, and network requirements.
• Moving workloads between cloud providers.
• Application migration considerations.

What are the career benefits of this course?

• According to recent surveys by payscale.com, a Cloud Computing professional has a median annual salary of $110,000. The career benefits of this course are as follows:
• The global cloud computing market is projected to reach $270 billion by 2020
• It is the next career step for an experienced network, storage, or data center administrator
• Government and corporate environments moving to the cloud