ICCA Exam Review (English)

ICCA Certification 

I got my ICCA certificate, which is my first certificate in Cloud Computing, it is considered an entry-level certificate in CC, so it is somewhat easy. It gives an introduction to what is the cloud? why we need it, how to benefit from the provided services, and so on.

What is special about this cert is that it is vendor-neutral, it gives you an intro to the 3 biggest cloud providers which are GCP, AWS, and Azure. There are labs that explain how to work with all three in detail, however, you will notice that there are similarities between the three, even in the names, but AWS is a bit different in the naming.

I studied for the cert solely from iNE's course on this cert. The instructor explains very clearly and humorously, so you will understand, and you won't get bored (hopefully😊). The labs are explained in detail, and you won't need any other resources to practise.

Now to the most important points: How do I study for the exam? How was the exam?

How to study for the exam?

As I said above, I only studied the material provided by iNE on their website, the videos and the slides. If there is something unclear I will search for it until I understand it, and you won't do this often, because the instructor is good.

There is a very important point here !!!

You will notice that the contents on the slides are very minimal, but be aware that is not what will come on the exam only. The instructor's notes are very important as well, you must take notes as needed and really focus on the video contents, and what the instructor says, don't just rely on the slides. If you only studied the slides, you might not be able to pass the exam.

Before the exam, I read the Shared Responsibility Model for the 3 cloud providers, and this was the only resource that I read from in preparation for this cert.

How was the exam?

Overall the exam was fair, not that easy and not that difficult.

The most important thing is time management, you have 46 MCQs and 4 lab questions, so you must use your time wisely. You have 50 questions to answer in 1 and a half hours, and you must click submit, if you don't, you will fails the exam. 

The labs will be only on AWS, so make sure to practise the labs of AWS very well before the exam, until you are comfortable with the interface, and can work easily and fast. The lab exam will examine you in things already taught to you, so don't worry, and even if you have something new, it will be very easy to grasp and answer. 

The lab section on the exam is completely separate, so you can solve it at first, in the end, or in the middle, however you like. Note that you can go back to the lab questions anytime during the exam.

The most important thing is you must keep your eyes on the time. Solve the questions as fast as you can, if there is a question that needs thinking flag it and move forward, the questions are a lot and you don't have that much time.

I first solved the MCQs then the lab, then I came back to the flagged questions, and I had some time to review the questions. I finished my exam in 1 hour and 28 minutes exactly. 

For the lab questions you might need 10 mins to solve them, if you are very familiar with and well prepared, but in the worst case scenario, you might need 25 mins. There are 4 lab questions, all are on AWS, so make sure to practise it well. If you solve 2 questions out of 4 you will pass :), but don't worry, it is very easy and you will be able to solve them all.

These are the important things that I wanted to point out, In the picture below you will find the requirements you will be evaluated for on the exam.

That's it, best of luck for you all 👋🏻✨.