AWS Professional Solutions Architect

About this certification

Once you have attained the AWS Associate certificate, IT specialists should consider the AWS Professional Solutions Architect as the next step.

According to the 72 respondents in 2018 report, the AWS Professional Solutions Architect certification brings in an average salary of $136,259, but bear in mind this number may fluctuate due to the small sample size of respondents.

Candidates should have experience: 

• Designing and deploying dynamically scalable and reliable applications on AWS.

• An ability to migrate complex multi-tier applications on AWS.

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional exam is intended for individuals who perform a Solutions Architect–Professional role with one or more years of hands-on experience managing and operating systems on AWS.

1. Design and deploy dynamically scalable, highly available, fault-tolerant, and reliable applications on AWS
2. Select appropriate AWS services to design and deploy an application based on given requirements
3. Migrate complex, multi-tier applications on AWS
4. Design and deploy enterprise-wide scalable operations on AWS
5. Implement cost-control strategies

Recommended Knowledge

1. Two or more years of hands-on experience designing and deploying cloud architecture on AWS.
2. Ability to evaluate cloud application requirements and make architectural recommendations for implementation, deployment, and provisioning applications on AWS.
3. Familiarity with AWS CLI, AWS APIs, AWS CloudFormation templates, the AWS Billing Console, and the AWS Management Console.
4. Explain and apply the five pillars of the AWS Well-Architected Framework.
5. Design a hybrid architecture using key AWS technologies (e.g., VPN, AWS Direct Connect).
6. Ability to provide best practice guidance on the architectural design across multiple applications and projects of the enterprise
7. Familiarity with a scripting language.
8. Familiarity with Windows and Linux environments.
9. Map business objectives to application/architecture requirements.
10. Architect a continuous integration and deployment process.

Exam details

To register for the AWS Professional Solutions Architect exam:

• Sign in to aws.training and click Certification in the top navigation.
• Next, click the AWS Certification Account button, followed by Schedule New Exam.
• Find the exam you wish to take and click either the Schedule at PSI or Schedule at Pearson VUE button.
• You will then be redirected to the test delivery provider’s scheduling page, where you will complete your exam registration.

Exam Overview

Exam Format - Multiple-choice, multiple-answer

Exam Time - 170 minutes

Exam Cost - 300 USD

Exam Language - Available in English, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese

Passing Criteria - AWS Certification passing scores are set by using statistical analysis and are subject to change. AWS does not publish exam passing scores because exam questions and passing scores are updated to reflect changes in test forms as the content is updated.

For recertification, you can take the current Professional-level exam for the certification you already have. For example, if you are an AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional, you can retake the current AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional exam to recertify.