Everything I Learned From One Year of Aws Consulting

Working as an AWS (Amazon Web Services) consultant for a year can provide you with valuable insights and experiences in the field of cloud computing and AWS services. Here are some of the key takeaways you might have gained from your year of AWS consulting:

1. Deep Understanding of AWS Services: You likely gained a deep understanding of the various AWS services, including EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda, and many more. You learned when and how to use these services effectively to meet different business needs.

2. Architectural Design: You probably honed your skills in designing scalable, reliable, and cost-effective architectures on AWS. This could include creating VPCs, setting up load balancers, and implementing redundancy for high availability.

3. Cost Management: Over the year, you likely became adept at optimizing AWS costs. This might involve using tools like AWS Cost Explorer, setting up billing alarms, and recommending cost-saving strategies to clients.

4. Security Best Practices: Security is a top concern on AWS, and you likely learned about best practices for securing AWS resources, configuring IAM (Identity and Access Management), and using services like AWS WAF and AWS Shield for DDoS protection.

5. Compliance Knowledge: You might have encountered various compliance requirements (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR) and learned how to configure AWS services to meet these requirements, including data encryption, access controls, and audit logging.

6. Automation with AWS CloudFormation: Understanding infrastructure as code (IAC) and using AWS CloudFormation for automating resource provisioning likely became a key skill. This helps in creating consistent and repeatable infrastructure.

7. DevOps and CI/CD: You may have been involved in setting up DevOps processes, including CI/CD pipelines using AWS CodePipeline, CodeBuild, and CodeDeploy.

8. Monitoring and Alerting: Implementing effective monitoring and alerting using AWS CloudWatch for resources and applications is crucial. You likely gained experience in setting up custom metrics, alarms, and dashboards.

9. Scaling and Performance Optimization: You probably learned how to scale applications and optimize performance using services like Auto Scaling, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, and AWS Lambda.

10. Database Expertise: Managing and optimizing databases (RDS, DynamoDB) for performance, high availability, and disaster recovery likely become a key part of your work.

11. Troubleshooting and Debugging: As an AWS consultant, you likely developed strong troubleshooting and debugging skills to identify and resolve issues in complex cloud environments.

12. Client Communication: You probably improved your client communication and consulting skills, including explaining technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and managing client expectations.

13. Documentation: Keeping detailed documentation of configurations, architectures, and changes is crucial in consulting. This skill helps maintain transparency and ensures smooth collaboration with clients and team members.

14. Continuous Learning: AWS is constantly evolving, so staying up-to-date with the latest services and best practices is essential. You likely learned the importance of continuous learning and certification.

Conclusion

My conclusion is that AWS consulting is a rewarding career path that can be challenging and rewarding. It's important to have a strong foundation in AWS technologies, be able to communicate effectively, and be able to solve problems. If you're interested in a career in AWS consulting, I encourage you to learn as much as you can about the platform and start networking with other AWS professionals.