DISCLAIMER: Note this is not an official Google Guide how to get certified and I am explaining my own study path.

I am receiving multiple questions on how to start GCP certification. I am not able to answer all of the queries, so I decided to put together info on the resources and methodologies I use. Enjoy!

GCP certification seems to be on a massive demand these days! The Cloud Architect certificate was reported to be the best-paid certificate in the cloud industry: Link. Sounds convincing?

This week I have received news that I finally achieved 10/10 GCP certificates. Being the first individual in the world holding all of them. Having in mind the Certified Fellow certificate is available for invited only, the chase for getting them all might be perceived unfair but what can I say – I am super happy to work for AtoS and that I have been trusted to take it. 

Frist things first – decide on your path.

I decided to divide the GCP certification into logical paths that will allow you to best prepare for either getting the certifications that best suits your role or simply getting them all :).

I would say that there are 2 main paths; GCP and G Suite. 

G Suite path

The G Suite path has not much to do with GCP except the aspects related to Identity as a Service. I really enjoyed taking this path as it helped me to understand the G Suite package and it helps me with my day-to-day work! It, however, will not help you much to work with GCP itself. I suggest you either take this path in parallel or just leave it for the end of your journey.

GCP path

Note: I will create tips on passing each of the exam in separate posts. This is to show you how set your plan on passing them all

I strongly suggest starting your journey with Cloud Architect as it gives you all the fundamentals you need to pass other exams. You will learn about all of the most important services and when to use each of them. Then you should look at the Cloud Engineer exam. It will be a quick one – just make sure you are comfortable with gcloud and gsutil commands and you should be good to go.

Next, you can choose one of the 3 paths:

• Data Engineer exam is very much targeted on Data Engineers and Scientists so you might need more time to prepare for it if you come from the infrastructure world.
• Network and Security exams have much in common. E.g. firewalls, vpn etc. You can put them in one bucket and take them in a row.
• Developer and DevOps exams do focus on Apps development and management they focus very much on GKE, App Engine, SRE topics.

Hybrid Multi-Cloud Fellow exam is an invitation-only and would require you to have knowledge from most all of the GCP exams. It is tests both your architectural and engineers skills.

In the next part of the article, we will look at all available resources to prepare for the exams.

Check my tips for passing exams here: 

• Professional Google Cloud Collaboration Engineer
• Professional Google Cloud DevOps Engineer

Want to start straight away- check out our book!

I have finally passed my last pro exam on my GCP list! It occurred to be the toughest on as I mainly work work Anthos and I am only a G Suite user. This exam has nothing to do with GCP itself and is all on G Suite. I took me around 3-4 weeks of very intensive study prepare. I find my previous experience with AD, GPOs and Exchange super useful to understand some concepts in G Suite. If i had to prepare for this exam in a non-rush mode iI think i would need 2-3 months to prepare starting from ground 0.

Even thought I am not a G Suite admin I found it great to learn about it and I will definitely use this knowledge at work.

The exam is 50 Multiple-choice questions and last 2 hours. This is more then enough. I answered all of them in 1h and then reviewed till the time finished.

Tip #1

You need to buy G Suite (domain + subscription) at least for 14 days. Without access to the admin console you will fail.

Top Tips

• You will never feel fully prepared for this exam! The scope is massive!
• All question are related to Admin Console not to particular applications (e.g. how to create formula in Sheets)
• Yes you need to remember where to click in the console to get to particular configuration settings.
• Logging and Auditing is super important (for all components of G suite)
• Migration and removal of user data is super important! This includes all services user was assigned with (Drive, Mail etc.)
• Authentication for both users and applications is super important
• Gmail is around 20% – so understand routing, spam, security, tracing, smtp relay.
• Calendar and resources management is super important.
• Understand G Suite release cycles and how to get info about the new features.
• Understand rollout strategies
• Understand user and groups management
• Understand what OU and groups are used for and what are the differences (hierarchy, settings)
• Understand application management both G Suite as well as custom apps.
• Understand what device you can manage (e.g Android, ChromeOS, iOS) and how you do it.
• Understand how you sync catalog and manage attributes like passwords.
• Understand how you manage calendars (persona and shared)
• Understand SSO, Cloud Identity, SAML applications and LDAP Server topics. This might be super confusing at the beginning to understand who is the IdP in each of those. Make sure you are super clear on it.
• There are questions around AppMaker and Apps Script.
• Understand backups with Vault
• Understand how you manage contact

Guide:

I must say the guide is pretty accurate, but the scope is massive. Reading the docs seems to be a never ending story (see the list of links in the end of the post). You can find the link bellow:

https://cloud.google.com/certification/guides/collaboration-engineer

Video training

Coursera – most of them are actually hands exercises you need to do yourself

• ttps://www.coursera.org/learn/g-suite-security/
• https://www.coursera.org/learn/introduction-g-suite/
• https://www.coursera.org/learn/g-suite-mail-management/
• https://www.coursera.org/learn/managing-g-suite
• https://www.coursera.org/learn/cloud-identity

I very much liked to Udemy Training but it is over 20h!

https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-course-to-manage-g-suite/learn/lecture/9363706#overview

Tests:

I recommend to take the bellow test and if you don’t feel comfortable with the answers do more reading until you can do at least 90% every time. The questions do not appear in the exam but are very useful to understand what you still don’t know.

Official mock test

https://cloud.google.com/certification/practice-exam/collaboration-engineer

Coursera Tests (need to enroll) :

• https://www.coursera.org/learn/g-suite-security/home/assignments
• https://www.coursera.org/learn/introduction-g-suite/home/assignments
• https://www.coursera.org/learn/g-suite-mail-management/home/assignments
• https://www.coursera.org/learn/managing-g-suite/home/assignments

Hands On

Try out this Qwiklabs:

• G Suite: Integrations | Qwiklabs
• G Suite Essentials | Qwiklabs

And finally never ending list of links i used for study :). I frankly don’t believe this is enough.

• Setup & configuration – G Suite Admin Help
• Add users who have existing Google Accounts – G Suite Admin Help
• What is email envelope and email header · MyBlueLinux.com
• About conflicting accounts – G Suite Admin Help
• Find and manage existing accounts – G Suite Admin Help
• Configure dual delivery – G Suite Admin Help
• Apply aliases to recipient addresses – G Suite Admin Help
• Apply aliases to recipient addresses – G Suite Admin Help
• SMTP relay: Route outgoing non-Gmail messages through Google – G Suite Admin Help
• Trace an email with its full headers – Gmail Help
• Set up an outbound mail gateway – G Suite Admin Help
• Email routing and delivery – G Suite Admin Help
• Whitelisting By Header In GSuite/Google Apps – Knowledge Base
• Set up mail delegation – G Suite Learning Center
• Informacje o DMARC – Administrator G Suite – Pomoc
• Informacje o rekordach TXT – Administrator G Suite – Pomoc
• Wix Support
• Konfigurowanie zabezpieczeń poczty na potrzeby G Suite – Google Domains – Pomoc
• 2. Add Wi-Fi networks – Google Chrome Enterprise Help
• Set Chrome policies for users or browsers – Google Chrome Enterprise Help
• Update your Chromebook’s operating system – Chromebook Help
• Manage updates on Chrome devices – Google Chrome Enterprise Help
• Control which third-party & internal apps access G Suite data – G Suite Admin Help
• Manage access to third-party apps with new G Suite security controls
• _Create a group & choose group settings – Google Groups Help
• Turn Directory on or off – G Suite Admin Help
• G Suite Updates Blog: Better information on spam messages in Email Log Search
• SMTP relay: Route outgoing non-Gmail messages through Google – G Suite Admin Help
• _Share room and resource calendars – G Suite Admin Help
• Get site analytics – G Suite Learning Center
• How retention works – Google Vault Help
• Set up rules for content compliance – G Suite Admin Help
• Control which third-party & internal apps access G Suite data – G Suite Admin Help
• About advanced mobile device management – G Suite Admin Help
• File exposure report – G Suite Admin Help
• Set up your sync with Configuration Manager – G Suite Admin Help
• Konfiguracja G Suite Password Sync – Administrator G Suite – Pomoc
• What is synced? – G Suite Admin Help
• Administrator setup for GSMMO – G Suite Admin Help
• G Suite migration tools product matrix – G Suite Admin Help
• Share room and resource calendars – G Suite Admin Help
• _Delete a user from your organization – G Suite Admin Help
• Restore a recently deleted user – G Suite Admin Help
• Get started: Vault administrators – Google Vault Help
• Get started with Vault search and export – Google Vault Help
• Understand and grant Vault privileges – Google Vault Help
• Allow an external user to access Vault – Google Vault Help
• Share matters with other Vault users – Google Vault Help
• Preventing Data Exfiltration  |  Documentation  |  Google Cloud
• Ways to track new releases – G Suite Admin Help
• Choose when users get new features – G Suite Admin Help
• File exposure report – G Suite Admin Help
• Security dashboard reports – G Suite Admin Help
• _About the security dashboard – G Suite Admin Help
• Manage your organization’s mobile devices – G Suite Admin Help
• Monitor your users’ computers – G Suite Admin Help
• Device requirements for Google endpoint management – G Suite Admin Help
• Compare mobile management features – G Suite Admin Help
• About Chrome device management – Google Chrome Enterprise Help
• Introduction to Chrome Enterprise – Google Chrome Enterprise Help
• _Customize access to G Suite services using access groups – G Suite Admin Help
• Difference between Google Groups and Organisational Units
• Porównanie usług G Suite, takich jak Gmail, Dokumenty czy Arkusze, i ich funkcji
• Gmail phishing attacks | G Suite Tips
• Guides for Switching from Microsoft – G Suite Learning Center
• GCDS FAQ – G Suite Admin Help
• Set up buildings, features, and other resources – G Suite Admin Help
• How licensing works – G Suite Admin Help
• Set up password recovery for users – G Suite Admin Help
• Reset a user’s password – G Suite Admin Help
• Delete a user from your organization – G Suite Admin Help
• 5 steps to securely transfer G Suite data when an employee leaves your company – TechRepublic
• About the Secure LDAP service – G Suite Admin Help
• About the security investigation tool – G Suite Admin Help
• Get started with the security health page – G Suite Admin Help
• About the security dashboard – G Suite Admin Help
• View and manage alerts in the alert center – G Suite Admin Help
• Compare mobile management features – G Suite Admin Help

Goog luck and let me know if you have any tips!

Couple of tips for all of you who want to take this exam.

• This exam has quite a lengthy questions not like all the other Google exam. Expect A4 long scenarios at least they were there on the beta.
• The bellow list of the topics is what you need to master:
  • VPCs management
  • Shared VPCs
  • VPC Peering
  • Load Balancers types and use cases
  • VPNs
  • Interconnects (know the configuration process)
  • Cloud Router
  • NAT
  • Firewall rules
  • Cloud DNS
  • Cloud Armor
  • Network for GCE and GKE
• This exam has a lot of topics around routing and multi-pathing.
• General knowledge on networking is very helpful.
• As usual understand IAM for networking

Unfortunatelly there are no good video materials for this exam.

I suggest use the official Coursera materials for the beginning

https://www.coursera.org/learn/networking-gcp-defining-implementing-networks/home/welcome

https://www.coursera.org/learn/networking-gcp-hybrid-connectivity-network-management/home/welcome

and then switch to google Docs. Finish it off with Qwiklabs.

Good luck with the exam!