Versent’s AWS Certification initiatives foster continuous learning

At Versent, we understand the importance of providing pathways for our people to keep upgrading their skills. It’s a vital part of our culture; we want every person in our team to have opportunities to grow. It’s also part of our commitment to being up-to-date with the latest developments in AWS tech. The ever-expanding ecosystem of AWS services constitutes today’s most comprehensive and versatile cloud platform, and that demands continual learning.  

The AWS certification pathway 

For Versent people starting out on their AWS certification journey, the first step is the Foundational and Associate level Certifications.  These are the AWS “101” that prepare cloud practitioners for further learning and bestow a basic understanding of the AWS ecosystem.  
 
For advanced teams who already possess some AWS skills and experience, Professional and Specialty Certifications are an advanced learning path providing an opportunity to demonstrate extensive knowledge of the AWS ecosystem. 

AWS Professional and Specialty Certifications represent a major achievement for every Versent team member who rises to the challenge. AWS certifications are recognised worldwide as the benchmark for cloud engineering excellence, so they’re both a point of pride for our people and a demonstration of Versent’s high professional standards. Every AWS Certification Versent acquires testifies to the hard work and outstanding skills of our team. 

AWS provides well-structured pathways that make learning across the AWS ecosystem approachable and engaging. The tiering from Foundational, Associate, Professional and Specialty levels encompassed in each certification offers our people a self-paced learning experience. Currently, there are 11 certifications available, and there are expected to be even more released to align with the ever-growing AWS services ecosystem. 

Certapalooza! 

Over the last few years, we’ve come up with a motivational concept to promote the achievement of new certifications by the Versent Cloud Adoption team: we call it “AWS Certapalooza.” AWS Certapalooza is a twice-yearly initiative we developed in partnership with AWS. It’s all about motivating our team to keep their skills up to date and validate their knowledge by gaining new AWS Certifications. To support our people as they work toward certification, we host weekly brown bag sessions – informal learning forums – that encourage collaborative work, allow our team members to share the knowledge they’re gaining and support each other’s efforts.  

Versent uses learning platforms such as A Cloud Guru and exam simulations to ease the pressure of certification assessment.   

The important aspect of this all is to ensure it’s fun and make sure to reward everyone along the way. Over the last 6 months, the Versent Certapalooza has seen 56 new AWS Certifications across all 4 certification categories; 

• 9x Foundational 
• 26x Associate 
• 13x Professional  
• 8x Specialty 

 
During the drive, we had one of our talented engineers achieve 6 new certifications in just 6 months. Top contenders in this year’s Versent AWS Certapalooza: Ough Chee Keong a.k.a. CK, Steve Foster, Guy Morton & Mark Carriedo. 

My heartiest congratulations to everyone on the Versent team who worked so hard on this AWS Certapalooza! You’re a testament to our ethos of continuous learning and a credit to the team. 

At Versent, we now have more than 230 active AWS certifications, and I’m really looking forward to the next 6 months where we hope to achieve over 300! 

Continuous learning to stay in front 

AWS Certifications are a badge of achievement, but the learning structure that supports the system is the most important aspect of AWS Certapalooza. At Versent, we’ve been committed to fostering a team of artisans from our earliest days. We recruit the most motivated, ambitious people and give them opportunities to work with world-leading technology. That’s the fundamental Versent point-of-difference.  
 
AWS evolves constantly, so we make sure our team have the educational resources to evolve right along with it. If that sounds like the sort of team you’d like to work in, maybe Versent is your next big career opportunity? 

Want to learn more about Versent’s career culture? 
Visit our career page and get in touch.