The emergence of cloud computing technology is undoubtedly changing the way many firms manage, store, and access data. With the features of cloud tech, businesses can now prioritize the more important part of their business and bring in a third party, like an outsourced firm or talents to handle the rest.

 

When you hire the best AWS developer from Cloud Employee, you can save time, energy, and significant financial resources. That said, for your cloud service needs, Amazon Web Services is one of the biggest and reliable cloud services out there contributing to the success of businesses like yours.

 

AWS is a cloud service from the globally known Amazon. AWS isn't just for business owners, it's also useful for individuals and even the government. Jeff Bezos, the founder and executive chairman of Amazon, compares AWS to how power utility companies have come in to save the day in terms of domestic and company power needs.

 

Hundreds of years ago, when business owners built factories, they would also have to build power plants to manage their power needs as well. Similarly, the hassles that companies would have gone through in having their respective cloud services today are now handled by companies like AWS. It's like a layer of immense support to business owners without the need of worrying about how it's running, managed, and improved.

 

One of the good things about AWS is that it's designed to operate as pay-as-you-go. Meaning, unlike the conventional monthly plans of most services out there, you only pay for this Amazon's cloud computing service when you need it and for as long as you need it only. What's more, with AWS, there are no, coded, bait-and-switch, lengthy contracts involved in its onboarding or sign-up process. 

 

With its 2020's first-quarter revenue reaching $10 billion, AWS is no small fish in the cloud computing service niche. The service has well over 30% of the cloud service market share. Microsoft Azure that comes in the second takes up only 18%, which is just a little above half of AWS's market hold.

 

With hundreds of cloud services from data centers around the globe, AWS has been helping many businesses, including startups trying to find their foot in the cutthroat business world. AWS offers a wide range of services for individual users and companies, however, some of its talked-about features include:

 

• Remote computing 
• Data Storage 
• Networking 
• Electronic mails 
• Cloud storage servers 
• Security 
• Development of mobile Apps 

The main aspects of AWS

Operationally, AWS is composed of three main structures: the S3, EC2, and Glacier.

 

- The S3

 

Amazon's storage system, S3, is also referred to as Amazon's simple storage service because of the way data is managed: in "singular units." S3 offers highly scalable and has the advantage of object storage. Unlike the conventional or traditional file system that may entail folders upon folders, and even hierarchy path, which leads to an individual file, object-based storage manages data as singular units or what you could refer to as objects.  

 

Because of this feature, the operation of S3, in terms of speed, flexibility, and reliability is virtually limitless. With S3's simple web service interface. Software developers can store virtually limitless amounts of data and retrieve it at any time.

 

- EC2

 

EC2, also known as the Elastic compute cloud is Amazon's virtual machine service that provides scalable computing capabilities in the AWS cloud. With the EC2 web interface, developers can easily build scalable applications or create instances of virtual machines and eliminate the need to spend money on hardware upfront. What's more, they can also deploy built applications on virtual servers, making the process of application development and deploying more faster.

 

- Glacier

 

Glacier is designed as a long-term storage cloud solution. Though it's similar to S3 since it's also a storage platform, Glacier is majorly for storing away or archiving inactive data. Many companies, use it to store data that are not meant to be quickly accessed. The name Glacier is inspired by "cold storage," a technical term for keeping goods for a long period to prevent decay.

 

Call it an impressive play of words if you see it that way, Glacier is technically meant for a similar purpose or as a backup/recovery storage. Apart from these three main services, AWS offers almost 200 other services to help your business needs.

 

How to Hire a AWS Developers: Skills to Look Out For

AWS developers are tech talents that have the knowledge and skill to set up and manage cloud services for a client or an organization they work for. Through training, AWS developers are well equipped with the operation of S3, Glacier, and EC2 interfaces.

 

In case you want to hire an AWS developer, you can identify various levels of competence as AWS has twelve different certifications used to access developers' expertise. Usually, these certifications are maintained under this four-level: foundational, associate, professional, and specialty.

 

- The foundational level

 

At this level, AWS developers would have at least 6 months of experience. The certification under this level is known as cloud practitioners. Cloud practitioners are not usually equipped for the full dynamics of AWS implementation, however, they have some understanding of it.

 

Since this level is more of the introductory stage of AWS operation, most of their knowledge is centered around the foundational concept of cloud service, such as billing, pricing models, security, and how the cloud impacts a business.

 

- Associate

 

An Associate level developer would have been working with the AWS cloud computing platform for at least a year or more. Diagnosing and solving problems isn't an issue for them. The certifications under this level of competence include Solution architects, System Ops Administrator, and Developers.

 

Solution architects are equipped with a broader knowledge of AWS to successfully implement cloud technologies. With solution architect certification, a professional understands core AWS services, such as identity/access management, virtual private cloud, EC2, and S3.

 

The developer certification doesn’t necessarily make the certified person a software developer or a programmer in the traditional sense. Instead, the certification implies that the holder has an understanding of the AWS services, in areas like SQS, Elastic Beanstalk, SNS, APIs, DynamoDB, and SDKs.

 

The last certification under the associate level is the Systems Ops administrator. They should have developed the competence to run advanced services on the AWS platform. This certification equips one with in-depth knowledge on CloudWatch, cloud monitoring service, and also other elements of AWS architecture. This level of certification is considered by many to be the hardest to acquire.

 

- The Professional level

 

At the professional level, certified professionals typically have experience of two years. They usually know how to design, troubleshoot, and operate solutions in AWS. Under the professional level, there is a Solution architect certification similar to the Associate level, however, the former is more advanced.

 

This certification equips the certified with the near-peak knowledge of AWS operation & management. A certified Solutions architect can take virtually any AWS service and make the best out of it for an employer or client.

 

The last certification under the professional level is DevOps Engineer. DevOps engineers are trained to deploy applications and cloud services. They can also manage them over time. Competence in this certification goes further into services like CloudFormation, OpsWorks, narrowing the scope of the job to the management of systems dynamics.

 

- The Specialty level

 

The difference between the Specialty level and the Professional is basically the number of years working with AWS and the advanced level of application. Specialty level developers may have five years or more experience handling operations under the AWS platform.

 

AWS Developer Certifications

The following are certifications and some of the advanced level AWS operations that professionals under the specialty level can handle.

 

Advanced Networking:

 

AWS developers certified in Advanced Networking are proficient in handling hybrid and AWS-only setups, including a focus on optimization of cost and handling operations in multiple locations. Certified Advanced Networking professionals also services like direct connect, routing, and border gateway protocol.  

 

Database:

 

There's no brainer to this one. AWS developers certified in database management handle databases. As one of the most widely used parts in software development, AWS also has both SQL and non-SQL database services, which most experienced AWS database developers can handle.

 

Analytics:

 

From RedShift to DynamoDB, Kinesis, and even Elastic MapReduce, AWS Analytics certified developers demonstrate in-depth knowledge of data services. That's not all; developers with this certification also handle work in the area of the internet of things (ioT), machine learning, hardware security, modules, and data security.

 

Security:

 

This certification is by far the most general under the specialty certifications as it’s a combination of a variety of security-related services. These include but are not limited to, Identity and Access Management, Virtual Private Cloud, Key Management Service, Cloud Trail, AWS Config, and Web Application Firewall. AWS developers with a Security certification generally have a broad sense of how security works across all domains.

 

Machine Learning:

 

A new addition to the list of AWS certifications is proficiency in an aspect of machine learning. The knowledge under this certification is centered on concepts like modeling algorithms, data collection/analysis, including SageMaker or Kinesis.

 

Alexa Skill Builders:

 

Certification in this area has not found much application in some business areas, still, AWS has certification for developers that may be interested in devoting some of their time to building Alexa.

 

Why Use AWS

One of the biggest benefits of cloud services as a whole is the cost-effectiveness in data storage, access, and management. However, with AWS, your business will undoubtedly benefit a lot more, and these include:

 

- Flexibility

 

Cloud services allow ease of scaling your business without the worry of investing in more hardware or other equipment upgrades that will require extra storage space. What's more, your data is secured with apt data encryption, an advantage that physical or non-cloud systems do not have. With cloud infrastructure, you don't have to worry about data compromise, due to theft or in the event of natural disasters.  

 

 

- Efficiency

 

The fact that you can access data from anywhere as long as there is an internet connection is by far one of the most important developments you'll get from switching to a cloud service. Meaning, without carrying around any cumbersome or lightweight data storage, you can access your most important data with a few clicks. You'll also save more time in building physical infrastructure, allowing more focus on software development. This way, your software product will likely hit the software market faster, allowing you to claim market share and revenue.

 

- Strategic

 

If you are a startup, leveraging cloud services helps you reduce costs significantly. Because AWS cloud services work like utility services, there is only a little or sometimes next to zero investment when it comes to upfront costs. No need to rent space that will house bulky servers, and no need to hire a hardware maintenance team.

 

- Availability

 

More than 30% of the market uses AWS. Trust us, there's a good reason for that, and one of them is availability. AWS operates in 20 geographic regions around the world, and many data centers are available for the use of regional customers.

 

- Security

 

With a diverse range of backup methods, tools like AMIs images, EBS snapshots, and other data recovery solutions, AWS got you covered. You can even choose to store your most important data in a specific geographic location.

 

- Pricing

 

While many cloud computing services adopt the pay-as-you-go price model, AWS still has one of the most attractive pricing features as you can start and stop instances with a schedule that can be automated. Meaning, you can use it as you wish and turn it off during weekends or holidays.

 

 

Examples of companies on the AWS Train

 

• Adobe 
• LinkedIn 
• Netflix 
• ESPN 
• Twitch
• Facebook 
• Twitter 

Reasons to hire AWS Developer

You now know what AWS has to offer you. But you can also guess that a cloud computing service like AWS will require experienced hands to implement and manage its complex platform. Trust us, AWS is hardly for amateurs. The role of your AWS developer will naturally depend on the objectives of your business.

 

How do you hire an AWS developer?

While we want you to hire Cloud Employee AWS developers, we are still here to help perhaps you wish to hire any AWS developers by yourself,

Hiring a developer requires considerable knowledge of software development. Here are some things to look out for in a High-level AWS developer.

 

• Can demonstrate full knowledge of AWS technologies, especially EC2, S3, and Glacier 
• Can brag about at least two years experience using AWS and with the necessary certification in relevant levels
• Can develop applications using various API interfaces 
• Proficient in running code in Amazon Lambda 
• Has development background for building APIs with the Amazon API Gateway
• Competent in migrating data to the cloud 

Why Hire an AWS Developer from Cloud Employee?

Here at Cloud Employee, we assist both developers looking for work and companies looking to hire dedicated offshore developers across many technologies.

 

Cloud Employee AWS developers are pre-vetted, interviewed, and then trained further to become true software professionals. Our developers are capable of adapting to situations that are both within and outside of the scope of their general expertise.

 

At Cloud Employee, we hold our developers to a higher standard. We hire developers who show promising potential or display well above average skill. We nurture and sharpen their skills even further. Another benefit of hiring a Cloud Employee developer is that you won’t incur the costs of hiring. We know these costs can add up to around 30% of a developer’s salary, as well as overhead costs associated with full-time employment.

 

By working with Cloud Employee, you can enjoy a highly experienced full-time developer for a fraction of the cost, along with the added project management assistance.

 

Talk to us, learn more about how Cloud Employee works, or see our Developer Pricing Guide.