Cloud Native Development with Google Cloud

Chapter 15. Going Further

This book has aimed to lay a solid foundation for you to build upon. If you’ve come this far, you have covered a lot of ground, but there’s still much more to learn.

Fortunately, there’s a vast community of people who are eager for you to succeed and willing to lend a hand. Regardless of how good the platform is, the applications that run on it are only as good as the people who build them. The most daunting task any platform faces is not just attracting skilled individuals but also nurturing their success. This is true for Google Cloud as well; a scarcity of necessary skills can make organizations apprehensive about adopting the platform.

In 2021, for instance, Google pledged to equip 40 million people with Google Cloud skills. That is a huge number, equivalent to the entire population of California. From my perspective, Google is addressing this by promoting four key areas for Google Cloud learning:

• Professional certification

• Online learning resources

• Community groups

• Conferences and events

Professional Certification

Google, in line with other cloud providers, offers certifications on many facets of Google Cloud. These certifications are structured into general certifications and specialist certifications, which align with the common job roles in the industry.

Each certification requires passing an exam that is normally two hours long. The exam typically consists of 50–60 multiple-choice or multiple-select questions. However, don’t be fooled ...