A few days after receiving the eLearnSecurity Web Application Penetration Tester (eWPT) certification, I decided to continue with an introductory cloud certification. So, being satisfied with INE’s product range, I decided to try to get the ICCA (INE Certified Cloud Associate) certification.

icca

ICCA in brief

The INE website describes it with these words: The ICCA by INE is the industry’s first entry level Cloud and Multicloud certification to challenge you with vendor agnostic, real world scenarios through browser based labs. INE’s Cloud Foundations & Management course provides you with the content necessary to prepare you and your team to pass the ICCA […]. The INE Certified Cloud Associate certification is an entry-level certification designed for anyone interested in becoming part of the Cloud conversation within their organization. To best prepare you for the certification exam, we have organized more than 10 hours of training material into the INE Certified Cloud Associate learning path. This learning path covers general cloud concepts and how they are implemented in the three largest cloud provider platforms, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). In addition, training includes hands-on labs, quizzes, and videos to prepare you for the exam and other real-world applications”.

ICCA exam

The exam is composed as follows: In the first part there are 46 multiple choice questions covering many topics, both theoretical and practical. You can answer the questions, or flag them and come back to review the questions later. Once this phase is completed, we move on to the next, i.e. the practical part. Here access credentials to a Cloud provider environment are provided and the actions required by the test must be performed. There are a total of 4 actions and each of them is worth one point. The minimum to pass the practical part is two points. In the part of the multiple choice questions it is more difficult to define the minimum points required because the questions are grouped into topics and a minimum threshold must be exceeded for each topic. At the end of the practical part it is possible to review the entire exam and then submit it. The maximum time duration is one hour and a half and can be managed entirely by the examinee.

ICCA tips and tricks

  • Don’t understimate the exam, it looks easy but it isn’t
  • Focus on the specific Cloud providers differences
  • Take a lot of notes
  • Don’t try to rush, use all the time you have
  • Official Documentation is your friend

In the end I have to say that it’s a good exam, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the fundamental concepts and the basics for entering the world of the cloud. It is very useful to have an in-depth idea of what the cloud is, why it is useful and in which cases, what types of clouds exist and what differences there are, who are the main cloud providers and how to deploy basic services using various methods (web, cli and APIs).

If instead you want to try to get the eJPT certification, see the notes I took while preparing for eJPT certification.

If you have any doubt or just want to ask me something, ping me at the email address below.