AWS previously announced a new update on the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate exam. This certification exam is designed for individuals who have at least a year of hands-on experience with networking, management, deployment, and security on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform. The sample exam questions can be found in this link.

The beta version of the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate (SOA-C02) exam was made available from February 16 to March 26, 2021. The current version SOA-C01 will continue to be available throughout the beta phase of the new exam and until the new SOA-C02 version has been officially released.

UPDATE: April 8, 2021. The new SysOps exam version SOA-C02 will be available by July 27, 2021 as per this announcement. The new exam version can be booked online starting June 29, 2021. The last day that you can take the current SOA-C01 exam version is on July 26, 2021. 

What’s New?

Response Types

The new AWS SOA-C02 certification exam will include questions that will test your knowledge of the best practices through different scenarios.

There are three types of questions on the examination:

• Multiple choice: Select the best response from four given options.
• Multiple response: Select two or three responses from five or more options.
• Exam lab: Perform the given tasks in the AWS Management Console or AWS CLI.

Content Outline

The new AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate exam has six (6) different domains, each with corresponding weight and topic coverage. 

Domain 1: Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation (20%)

• Implement metrics, alarms, and filters by using AWS monitoring and logging services
• Remediate issues based on monitoring and availability metrics

Domain 2: Reliability and Business Continuity (16%)

• Implement scalability and elasticity
• Implement high availability and resilient environments
• Implement backup and restore strategies

Domain 3: Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation (18%)

• Provision and maintain cloud resources
• Automate manual or repeatable processes

Domain 4: Security and Compliance (16%)

• Implement and manage security and compliance policies
• Implement data and infrastructure protection strategies

Domain 5: Networking and Content Delivery (18%)

• Implement networking features and connectivity
• Configure domains, DNS services, and content delivery
• Troubleshoot network connectivity issues

Domain 6: Cost and Performance Optimization (12%)

• Implement cost optimization strategies
• Implement performance optimization strategies

Exam Results

The minimum passing score for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate (SOA-C02) examination is still 720. 

After you’ve completed the exam, the system will automatically display the results on your screen. If you need to view your detailed exam results, you’ll need to wait three to five business days for it to be available in your AWS Certification Account.

SOA-C01 vs SOA-CO2 Comparison

Are you planning to take your AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate exam soon? In the comparison table above, the old version SOA-C01 has 7 domains, while the new one SOA-C02 has 6 domains. Take note that the new version of the exam has an exam lab item. For more information about the SOA-C02 exam, you can check out this exam guide.

In the SOA-C02 beta exam, I got a total of 54 multiple-choice/multiple-response questions and 3 Exam Labs. There were a lot of new features and services included, such as AWS Compute Optimizer, RDS Proxy, AWS Backup, and many others. The new topics covered exactly mirror the items mentioned in the official AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate (SOA-C02) Exam Guide, so make sure that you review this document before taking the test. The other AWS Exam Guides don’t have a list of AWS services that will be in the scope of the exam but not this one. It’s almost like the format in an Azure exam skills outline (the equivalent of the AWS Exam Guide), where the relevant services are enumerated.

Exam Labs – The Latest Addition in the Ever-Evolving World of AWS Certifications

For the first time ever, Amazon will introduce a new Exam Labs section in its certification exams. Seems like Amazon is following Microsoft Azure’s exam format which also has this same question type. After the multiple-choice/multiple-response questions, you will be presented with 3 different exam labs where you are assigned to complete several tasks for each lab. On the left-hand side of the screen, a Windows-based virtual machine will be shown that allows you to access the AWS Management Console via a web browser — which seems like a Windows Remote Desktop connection. On the other side, you will see a list of tasks that you have to complete.

It is not possible for you to return to a prior exam lab once you completed it so make sure that you satisfy all the tasks before moving on to the next item. It’s recommended that you allocate 20 minutes for each exam lab (or a full hour to complete all 3 labs). You have to prepare well since this section reflects a whopping 23% of your entire exam.

Still curious about what’s different in the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 new exam version? Check out this short video clip from our Co-instructor, Wayne, who also recently took the new SysOps SOA-C02 beta exam:

More updates on the new AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate exam will be published on this page as we get new information. Meanwhile, if you are preparing for your SysOps exam, we do recommend that you add our AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate Practice Exams and our Study Guide eBook to your list of preparation materials.

All the best!