Operate, manage and observe AWS workloads at production scale — monitoring, deployment, networking, security and cost — mapped to the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator exam.
⏱Duration: 4 days / 32 hrs
💻Format: Instructor-Led + AWS Sandbox
🌐Delivery: On-site · Virtual · Hybrid
✅Pass rate: 91%
📅Next intake: 26 May 2026
📊
Monitoring mastery
CloudWatch, Logs Insights, X-Ray, Systems Manager Operations Hub
🌐
Reliable networking
VPC peering, Transit Gateway, Route 53 health and failover
🛡️
Operations security
IAM, KMS, GuardDuty, Macie, Inspector — the operator's view
💰
Cost & governance
Budgets, Cost Explorer, Compute Optimizer, Service Quotas
What this course is
Where AWS stops being day one.
SOA-C02 is the AWS certification for operators — the people who keep AWS workloads healthy, observable, scalable and within budget. It's the most hands-on of the three associate certs because it has labs in the actual exam.
At Nexperts, SOA-C02 is taught with a heavy operator lens. By day 4 you've responded to four real production incidents in your sandbox: a saturated EC2 fleet, a degraded RDS instance, a noisy auto-scaling group, and a misconfigured Route 53 health check.
SysOps is the cert that filters dabblers from operators. The exam puts you in front of a real AWS console and asks you to fix something. Most candidates have never done that under pressure.
The SOA-C02 (released July 2021, refreshed for 2026) leans heavily into deployment, monitoring and Systems Manager. We cover all three with the highest hands-on minutes-per-hour ratio of any AWS cert.
Who should take this course
⚙️
Cloud / sysadmin operators
Already running AWS workloads. SOA is the formal credential and depth-builder.
📊
DevOps engineers
Building pipelines that target AWS. SOA sharpens the operate-and-monitor side.
☁️
SRE / platform engineers
Owning AWS reliability outcomes. SOA gives the AWS-native operator's lens.
🌟
Cloud Practitioners (CCP)
Natural progression. CCP gave breadth — SOA gives operational depth.
💼
IT generalists
Wearing the AWS hat alongside other duties. SOA raises competence and confidence.
🔄
On-prem sysadmins
Moving to cloud-native operations. SOA is the bridge.
Prerequisites
✓ 1–2 years of AWS or general systems-administration experience
✓ Comfortable with the AWS console and basic CLI
✓ Familiarity with Linux and Windows server administration
✓ Working knowledge of networking concepts (CIDR, routing)
→ Don't have AWS experience? Ask about our CCP → SOA bundle.
Course Curriculum
Six domains. One operator's toolkit.
SOA-C02 is structured into Monitoring/Logging/Remediation, Reliability & Continuity, Deployment, Security & Compliance, Networking & Content Delivery, and Cost & Performance. We deliver in operator order — you respond to a real incident in module 1.
Hands-On AWS Operator Labs
9 builds. On real AWS.
Every learner gets an AWS sandbox account. Most labs are response-style — you walk into a degraded environment, diagnose it and remediate under timer.
01
Saturated EC2 Response
Receive an alert. EC2 fleet is saturated. Diagnose, scale, document. 45 minutes.
Incident
02
RDS Performance Triage
Receive a degraded RDS instance. Use Performance Insights to find the slow query.
Database
03
Auto Scaling Refresh
Run an instance refresh on a fleet of 12 EC2s with a custom AMI rollback.
Reliability
04
Multi-Region Failover
Trigger a Route 53 failover. Validate end-to-end RTO and RPO.
Continuity
05
Patch Manager Rollout
Use Systems Manager Patch Manager to roll out OS patches to a fleet of mixed Linux + Windows.
Patching
06
Security Hub Remediation
Take a Security Hub finding. Trigger an EventBridge → Lambda automated remediation.
Security
07
Transit Gateway Build
Build a 4-account, 2-region hub-and-spoke topology with Transit Gateway. Validate connectivity.
Networking
08
Cost Cleanup Sprint
Use Cost Explorer + Compute Optimizer. Cut monthly spend by 20%+ in 90 minutes.
Cost
09
Drift Detection Audit
Run drift detection on 12 CloudFormation stacks. Remediate every drifted resource.
IaC
+ 14 micro-tasks across the AWS CLI, Systems Manager and CloudWatch Logs Insights.
Exam Information
One exam. With real labs.
SOA-C02 has 65 questions over 180 minutes. Critically, it includes 3 labs in the actual exam where you operate a real AWS console. Most candidates fail because they've never done that under exam pressure.
AWS SOA-C02 Exam
Questions65 (scenarios + 3 hands-on labs)
Duration180 minutes
Passing score720 / 1000
FormatPearson VUE / PSI / Online proctored
Validity3 years (recertification)
Industry avg pass rate~62% first attempt
Nexperts pass rate91% first attempt
Hands-On Lab Drill
Drill length6-hour structured drill
Lab focusCloudWatch, Systems Manager, IAM, S3, RDS
Common gotchasTime-management on labs
CoachingWalkthrough of 12 lab-style scenarios
StrategyRead the lab brief twice before clicking anything
OutcomeLab-question score uplift averages +28%
WalkthroughPast lab archive provided
Our 3-Mock Programme
01
Diagnostic Mock
End of day 1. Maps weak operations areas. Average score: 56%.
02
Lab-Heavy Mock
Mid-course. Includes 6 hands-on lab simulations. Average score: 70%.
03
Final Clearance
Full timed simulation including labs. 80%+ before we book. Average score: 82%.
0%
Pass Rate
91% of our SOA candidates pass on first attempt.
The AWS global first-attempt rate for SOA-C02 sits around 62% — the lowest of the three associate exams because of the labs. We hit 91% by drilling 12 lab-style scenarios and gating booking on a clearance mock.
Real AWS sandboxHands-on lab drill91% first attemptProduction runbook track
Why our pass rate is 91%
Industry average: ~62%
Most candidates revise services and ignore the lab section, then panic when the exam loads a real console. They lose 25 minutes on a single lab they didn't read carefully.
Nexperts: 91%
We drill 12 lab-style scenarios on a real account. We teach the read-twice strategy. We gate booking on a clearance mock that includes labs.
Your AWS Path
SOA unlocks DevOps Pro and operations leadership.
SOA stacks naturally with the DOP (DevOps Pro), SCS (Security) and ANS (Networking) tracks. Most graduates pair it with one of these within 9 months.
Before this
CCP (recommended)
CCP builds the conceptual base. Not strictly required — most candidates have it.
Expected salary range after SOA: competitive US market pay for cloud operations and SRE roles in MNC environments.
Student Reviews
What our SOA operators say.
4.7
★★★★★
142 reviews
5★
78%
4★
17%
3★
3%
★★★★★
"The lab drill is the only thing that saved me on exam day. I genuinely walked into the labs feeling prepared. That's worth the course fee right there."
HZ
Hafiz Zulkarnain
SRE · Touch 'n Go Digital
✓ Passed first attempt · 818/1000
★★★★★
"Multi-region failover lab and Transit Gateway labs were the highlights. Took both back to my company and used them within the month."
SU
Suganthi Uthayakumar
Cloud Operations Lead · ING Hubs
✓ Passed first attempt
★★★★
"Cost cleanup sprint was unexpected gold. Took the patterns back and cut my company's AWS bill by competitive US market pay over the next quarter."
BL
Bryan Loh
DevOps Engineer · Financial Services
✓ Passed first attempt · 762/1000
★★★★★
"Best operator-focused course I've seen. Most courses ignore the operations side completely. This one makes operations the focus."
KK
Karthik Kumaran
SysOps Engineer · Telecom Carrier
✓ Passed first attempt · 838/1000
FAQs
Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH v13) FAQs.
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