AWS SysOps Administrator
Offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS's associate-level operations certification is now named AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer – Associate (exam SOA-C03). It was formerly AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate. The new name applies to people who pass SOA-C03; existing SysOps certifications stay valid until they expire and are not renamed retroactively.
EXAM AT A GLANCE
Questions
65
Testing time
130
minutes
Sections
6
Delivery
Pearson VUE test center or online proctored
Passing score
720
Cost
$150 USD
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What the exam covers
Monitoring, logging, and analysis
Reliability and business continuity
Deployment, provisioning, and automation
Security and compliance
Networking and content delivery
Cost and performance optimization
About the AWS SysOps Administrator certification
The exam validates monitoring and maintaining AWS workloads, security and networking, business continuity, and cost and performance optimization.
Who it’s for
Systems, operations, and DevOps engineers who run workloads on AWS.
- Passing score
- 720 out of 1000 (scaled)
- Validity
- 3 years
- Prerequisites
- None; AWS recommends hands-on experience operating AWS environments. CloudOps (SOA-C03) is the current exam for this catalog path.
Official exam page· Details verified August 2026
Exam details can change. Always confirm current requirements, fees, and exam policies with the certification provider before registering.
How to prepare
01
Use SOA-C03 (CloudOps) materials, not retired SOA-C02-only SysOps banks.
02
Practice CloudWatch, CloudTrail, Config, Systems Manager, and backup/restore.
03
Implement IAM, VPC, and encryption as an operator — not only as an architect.
04
Study cost tools: Cost Explorer, Budgets, Savings Plans, and right-sizing.
05
Take the official practice exam and review operational runbooks.
FAQ
Is SysOps gone?
The associate operations exam was renamed CloudOps Engineer (SOA-C03). If you already hold SysOps Administrator – Associate, it remains valid until expiration. New candidates should prepare for CloudOps.
How is this different from Solutions Architect?
Solutions Architect emphasizes design. CloudOps/SysOps emphasizes running, monitoring, securing, and optimizing workloads that already exist.
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