Source: itbrief.co.nz (original reporting, February 2020)
Google Cloud Expands Its Certification Portfolio
Google Cloud announced two new certifications aimed at addressing real-world skills gaps in enterprise cloud adoption: the Google Cloud Certified Fellow programme for senior technical leaders, and the Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer certification for practitioners focused on reliability and delivery velocity. Together, the two credentials cover opposite ends of the cloud career ladder — strategic leadership and hands-on engineering.
Google Cloud Certified Fellow: Recognition for Anthos Experts
The Google Cloud Certified Fellow programme is an invitation-only credential designed for technical leaders who have demonstrated deep expertise in designing enterprise solutions on Anthos, Google’s open hybrid and multi-cloud application platform. It is not a self-service exam that anyone can register for; candidates must be nominated and then pass a series of rigorous assessments.
What the Assessment Involves
- Hands-on labs that test practical Anthos skills in realistic scenarios
- A panel interview with Google Cloud product and engineering leadership
- Evaluation of the candidate’s ability to lead organisations through hybrid and multi-cloud adoption
At the time of the announcement, twenty IT leaders had already earned the Certified Fellow designation and were actively applying those skills within their organisations.
What Certified Fellows Gain
- Industry recognition as a proven Anthos and hybrid-cloud expert
- Access to a peer network of other Certified Fellows
- Direct engagement with Google Cloud product and engineering teams
- A platform to contribute knowledge back to the broader cloud community
“The Certified Fellow exam pushed my understanding of Anthos’ capabilities, and the certification provides me with the platform to help educate the community about the latest technology and inspire people to become better engineers.”
— Chris Love, Principal Architect at LionKube and Google Cloud Certified Fellow
“I am proud of the recognition for my skill level from Google Cloud and my clients value the mastery it demonstrates. Having representation in the Certified Fellow Program reinforces Accenture’s commitment to Cloud innovation and to our continued Google Cloud partnership.”
— Zach Snee, Cloud Solutions Architect at Accenture and Google Cloud Certified Fellow
Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer: A Certification for Practitioners
Unlike the Certified Fellow programme, the Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer certification is an open, exam-based credential available to any DevOps professional who wants to validate their skills on Google Cloud. It targets engineers responsible for balancing service reliability with development speed — two tensions at the core of modern site reliability engineering (SRE) and DevOps practice.
Why This Certification Matters
The cloud skills shortage makes it difficult for hiring managers to quickly identify qualified candidates. A vendor-neutral job title like “DevOps Engineer” can encompass vastly different experience levels and tooling backgrounds. A Google Cloud-specific certification gives employers a concrete, verifiable signal that a candidate understands Google Cloud’s operations tooling, CI/CD patterns, and reliability practices.
For engineers, the certification provides a structured learning path and a portable credential that demonstrates expertise in:
- Efficient development operations on Google Cloud
- Service reliability engineering principles
- Delivery speed and deployment pipeline best practices
- Monitoring, logging, and incident response on Google Cloud infrastructure
How the Two Certifications Compare
| Feature | Google Cloud Certified Fellow | Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Invitation-only | Open registration |
| Primary audience | Senior technical leaders | DevOps / SRE practitioners |
| Core focus | Anthos, hybrid & multi-cloud strategy | CI/CD, reliability, delivery speed |
| Assessment format | Hands-on labs + panel interview | Exam-based |
| Community benefit | Peer network, Google engineering access | Industry-recognised credential |
What This Means for DevOps Teams
For organisations running workloads on Google Cloud — or evaluating a move to Anthos for hybrid or multi-cloud deployments — these certifications provide a practical hiring and talent-development framework. Engineering managers can use the Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer credential as a benchmark when evaluating candidates or building internal training programmes. For individual contributors, it represents a clear and achievable professional development goal with direct market value.
For staff aspiring to architecture or principal engineering roles, understanding the Certified Fellow programme sets a longer-term goal that also provides a deep incentive to master Anthos and enterprise hybrid-cloud design — skills that remain in high demand regardless of which cloud certifications a team pursues.