03. Welcome to AWS Cloud Architect Nanodegree Program

Welcome to the AWS Cloud Architect Nanodegree Program! Hi, my name is Alison Rodal and I am a Product Lead here at Udacity. The Udacity content team partnered with a great team of industry experts to put this program together, and we are thrilled to have you join us.

Why a program for AWS Cloud Architcture? 80% of organizations will migrate to cloud solutions by 2025, according to Gartner, and today in North America nearly 60% of organizations utilize public cloud services, according to Forrester’s cloud computing predictions. As organizations continue to adopt cloud solutions, their demand for professionals with the expertise to design, build and migrate applications to the cloud continues to grow. Cloud architects that have experience in designing AWS infrastructure will meet a critical need, with AWS commanding over a third of today’s public-cloud market share.

In this Nanodegree program, you will acquire the necessary skills to advance your career and become an AWS cloud architect through hands-on practice building reliable, secure, and scalable AWS infrastructure.
You’ll learn the critical role cloud architects play in the design and execution of an organization’s cloud computing infrastructure, and the important gap cloud architects bridge between business objectives and cloud solutions, by converting objectives into executable technical requirements that support the business. Cloud Architects work with cross-functional team members to design, plan, and deploy highly available, scalable, and secure cloud services, and we are excited to support you in this step in your career!

Throughout the program interactive lesson content, exercises, and hands-on projects will let you apply and practice your new skills. You’ll learn how to to build highly available and recoverable solutions that apply to common use cases, and design for cost, performance, and scale in AWS using industry standard and open source tools. You’ll also learn how to protect an organization’s data and other assets by implementing cloud security best practices and how to design a DevSecOps pipeline that ensures security practices are implemented early on. You will learn from AWS cloud architecture experts in the field who have designed infrastructure for organizations of various size and across industries with more than 25 years collective experience.

Every project you submit gets reviewed and our project reviewers will provide personalized feedback on how you can improve your work.
These projects will serve as a portfolio you can use to demonstrate your skills. After you complete the program, you will be ready to become an AWS Cloud Architect or bring these crucial skills to your current role. We are excited and honored that you are taking this step in your journey with us.