The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) today announced a number of new ways for cloud native developers to build their skill sets.
It is announcing the first two in a series of certifications related to platform engineering, the Certified Cloud Native Platform Associate and the Certified Cloud Native Platform Engineer. The former is a multiple choice exam, while the latter is a hands-on exam.
“Platform Engineering was one of the most successful tracks at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon in Paris earlier this year,” said Chris Aniszczyk, CTO of the CNCF. “Like our GitOps Certified Associate (CGOA), certifications that address a specific role versus a specific project are a great way to validate knowledge applicable within a large number of projects and products.”
The organization also announced three new project-specific certifications: Certified Backstage Associate (CBA), OpenTelemetry Certified Associate (OTCA), and Kyverno Certified Associate (KCA).
CBA is available now and covers the Backstage development workflow, infrastructure, and catalog, as well as how to customize Backstage.
OTCA and KCA will be available by the end of the year. OTCA covers the fundamentals of observability, the OpenTelemetry API and SDK, the OpenTelemetry Collector, and how to maintain and debug observability pipelines. KCA covers the fundamentals of the policy engine Kyverno, installation/configuration/upgrades, the CLI, writing and applying policies, and policy management.
“OpenTelemetry is quickly becoming a ‘must-have’ component of cloud native, and this certification is a great way for developers to demonstrate their mastery. We’re excited to launch this program with CNCF, and anticipate it to be just the first step in learning programs that we build together,” said Austin Parker, member of the OpenTelemetry Governance Committee and director of open source at honeycomb.io, the company that helped create the certification.
The CNCF also announced it is partnering with the talent marketplace Andela to train 20,000 to 30,000 people in Africa on cloud native basics. This training is expected to begin next year and last two to three years.
Developers will train for the Kubernetes and Cloud Native associate (KCNA) certification and the Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) certification.
Participants will be selected from Andela’s talent marketplace, which spans 49 African countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana.
”We are excited to partner with CNCF to extend training and, ultimately, enhance job opportunities for African workers. The continent is emerging as one of the most important markets in the world. It has the fastest-growing population of developers, and its young workforce will be key to solving the tech talent shortage,” said Carrol Chang, CEO of Andela. “Organizations are looking for talent with advanced skill sets like AI and cloud native and this particular skill set is a perfect addition to the Andela marketplace.”
