GCP Professional Cloud Architect: Exam Preparation

When the company I work for, began our modernization toward utilizing a public cloud provider… I was hoping we would move toward Azure, but looking back I am glad they chose Google, as it’s also very much in tune with the idea developers will be the ones deploying services and not a dedicated devops team.

I enjoy using the Google Cloud Platform (GCP). The concepts covered in all the exams are beneficial for actually understanding what service should be utilized, when should a service be utilized, and how to utilize a service.

There are over 200 services offered by GCP, and luckily you don’t need to know them… at least not 170 of them. Of the 30 services you need to understand, you only need to know enough to be dangerous.

In my experience taking the exams, the associate engineering and the professional architect, the engineering exam taught me the most about the what, when, and how; the architect exam pulled everything from my experience when implementing and deploying enterprise applications.

Here is how I studied for both:

1. Start by reviewing the official exam guide and identifying the topics that you need to focus on. This will help you create a study plan that is tailored to your needs.
2. Set a goal for when you want to take the exam, and work backwards from that date to create a study schedule. Be realistic about how much time you can dedicate to studying each day or week.
3. Use a combination of resources to study, including the official study guide, online courses, and hands-on practice labs. Make sure you understand the concepts and can apply them in real-world scenarios.
4. Take practice exams to assess your progress and identify areas where you need to focus more attention. Use the results of these exams to adjust your study plan as needed.
5. Consider forming a study group with others who are preparing for the exam. This can help you stay motivated and provide additional support and accountability.
6. As you approach the exam date, make sure you are familiar with the exam format and have a plan for managing your time during the exam. Take advantage of any last-minute resources or study materials that may be available to you.

Remember, the key to success on the GCP PCA exam is to understand the concepts and be able to apply them in real-world scenarios. By following a my study plan and staying disciplined, you can increase your chances of passing the exam and earning your certification.

Let’s get into the details:

Week 1:
- Monday: Review the official exam guide and create a study plan.
- Tuesday: Complete the first chapter/module of the any book/course on “Why companies are moving to Cloud”.
- Wednesday: Work through any practice exam to assess your current level of knowledge.
- Thursday: Complete the second chapter/module of the book/course course on Compute Engine.
- Friday: Review the topics covered and practice with GCP Free Tier.

Week 2:
- Monday: Review the topics covered from the week before, and skim upcoming topics for this week. Practice every topic covered in the GCP Free Tier from here on out until the free tier time period is over and credits spent.
- Tuesday: Complete the third chapter/module of the any book/course on Google Kubernetes Engine.
- Wednesday: Work through any practice exam to assess your current level of knowledge.
- Thursday: Complete the fourth chapter/module of the book/course course on Storage.
- Friday: Review the topics covered and practice, practice, practice.

Week 3:
- Monday: Review the topics covered from the week before, and skim upcoming topics for this week. Practice!
- Tuesday: Complete the fifth chapter/module of the any book/course on IAM.
- Wednesday: Work through any practice exam to assess your current level of knowledge.
- Thursday: Complete the sixth chapter/module of the book/course course on Networks.
- Friday: Review the topics covered and practice, practice, practice.

Week 4:
- Monday: Review the topics covered from the week before, and skim upcoming topics for this week. Practice!
- Tuesday: Complete the seventh chapter/module of the any book/course on ML/Miscellaneous.
- Wednesday: Work through any practice exam to assess your current level of knowledge.
- Thursday: Review the case studies, and makeup your own architecture solutions.
- Friday: Review the topics covered and practice, practice, practice.

This is my one month go to plan, I blow through it every year, nobody cares that I know how to create and build resources for solutions in the cloud from memory. What matters is when I am a part of a team developing cloud based solutions and stuff is going awry, often because of a minor configuration issue, the knowledge I gain from studying GCP is not an accreditation to add to my resume, it’s about being able to sift through all the “could-be”, “maybes”, and “possible-s”, and finding the solution.