My Re-certification Journey for AWS Solutions Architect Professional (SAP-C02)
Tags: aws, certification
Published: 2024-01-21 12:57:16

3 years have passed in the blink of an eye, and it is time to re-certify my AWS Solutions Architect Professional (SA Pro).

AWS SA Pro is a very tough nut to crack. There is no doubt that it is the most difficult one among all the 12 AWS certifications I have achieved. If fact I would rate it to be tougher than the Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Solutions Architect certification at the same Professional or Expert level.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/r1x63t3hkqq139bpta95.png)

## SAP-C01 vs SAP-C02
The AWS SA Pro exam I passed 3 years ago was SAP-C01, and the version I took for re-certification is the new one — SAP-C02. A few factors contributed to the difficulty of SAP-C01:

1. SAP-C01 tests the candidates on both the breadth and depth of the AWS services. There are a lot of AWS services covered and each of them is tested at a depth not seen for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate level.

1. Many questions are extremely long and you need to keep scrolling beyond the screen to read the entire questions and options given. It is difficult to digest these questions quickly and select your answer. At the end of the day, you will find yourself a lack of time to complete the 75* questions within 180 mins. _(* Note: only 65 questions are scored to determine if you have the minimum 750 passing score)_.

1. There are some difficult networking and security questions that one would normally see in the Advanced Networking and Security Specialty certifications. Hence I previously suggested that one should pass both the AWS Advanced Networking and Security Specialty certifications before attempting the AWS Solutions Architect Professional exam.

3 years ago, I have less than 3–5 mins for the last 3–4 questions. In the end, I had to randomly pick the answers for those questions and press the submit button. Unlike the many certifications that I had taken before, I did not know whether I could pass SAP-C01 or not. Fortunately, I passed after patiently for the results to be released to me over the next few days.

Forward 3 years later — SAP-C02 is much easier than SAP-C01 for the following reasons:

1. Questions are much shorter. Not a single question requires you to scroll the screen beyond what is initially displayed. Each of the 75 questions can be shown within 50–75% of the monitor screen.

1. Networking and Security questions are easier than before. In SAP-C01, for networking questions, you could have questions with the exact route tables and other networking configurations given. It is no longer the case for SAP-C02.

For SAP-C02, it is more like picking the right networking services out of all the available options, whereas for the previous SAP-C01, there are at least 2–3 similar networking services, and you need to pick the right one with the correct route tables or configurations.

As a result, I was able to complete the 75 questions with about an hour to spare. I used that hour to carefully review flagged questions and revisit some other questions to ensure that I do not misread the questions.

When I pressed the submit button this time, I was confident that I would pass, which was unlike 3 years ago.

## Resources used
Here are the 3 key resources I used to prepare for my re-certification

1. AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Professional Certification Service Summary Cards by Ashish Prajapati.
2. Ultimate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional 2023 by Stephane Maarek.
3. Some hands-on using the AWS console and also completed some labs at AWS SkillsBuilder.

## Conclusion
This newer version (SAP-C02) is way easier than the previous one (SAP-C01) I took 3 years ago. For SAP-C02, questions are much shorter and less complex and it does not include those types of difficult networking and security questions that one would normally see in Advanced Networking and Security Specialty certifications.

In a nutshell, it is 30% easier than the previous version.

That said, I do not mean that it is an easy exam that one can pass easily. A skinny lion is still a lion, nevertheless.

## About the Author
Chan Chee Siong is an AWS Community Builder with many years of IT professional experience. He can be connected at http://www.linkedin.com/in/chancheesiong.