A Cloud Digital Leader can articulate the capabilities of Google Cloud core products and services and how they benefit organizations. The Cloud Digital Leader can also describe common business use cases and how cloud solutions support an enterprise.

This certification is for anyone who wishes to demonstrate their knowledge of cloud computing basics and how Google Cloud products and services can be used to achieve an organization’s goals. 

This is ideal for those who do not wish to learn the technicalities of the platform, but rather gain a high-level overview of the offering to understand how it works and how it may be used to further business objectives.

The exam is 90 minutes long and costs $99.

Exam Content & Outline – What Will You Be Tested On?

There are FOUR main knowledge areas that the exam will test you on:

  1. Digital transformation with Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
  2. Innovation with Data and GCP
  3. Infrastructure and Application Modernization
  4. GCP security and operations

Let’s look at each of these in more detail and find out what exactly to study in order to be certified as a Google Cloud Digital Leader.

Digital Transformation with GCP

This section tests your knowledge on the cloud and its implications across multiple industries. If you are a business leader and want to understand the cloud, then this section is for you.

  1. Explain why cloud technology is revolutionizing business
    • Define key terms such as cloud, cloud technology, data, and digital transformation
  2. Explain why it is critical for businesses to adopt new technology
    • Compare and contrast cloud technology and traditional or on-premises technology
    • Describe how customer expectations have changed because of cloud technology
    • Identify the business and technical considerations that organizations need to think about when adopting cloud technology, including:
      • Infrastructure
      • Application and business platform modernization
      • Importance of data
      • Security in the cloud

Innovation with Data and GCP

Data is prevalent in today’s society; it has essentially become the new oil. Companies gather tons of data every day. With all of these data on hand, scientists are figuring out how to make best use of these data to derive value. This section tests your ability to explain how today’s environment can extract value from data using cloud technologies.

  1. Describe the role of data in digital transformation and the importance of a data-driven culture.
    • Explain how cloud technology enables data to be applied in new ways
  2. Identify common Google Cloud solutions for data management
    • Recognize examples of structured and unstructured data
  3. Identify common Google Cloud solutions for smart analytics
    • Articulate the business benefits of storing data in the cloud
    • Apply appropriate business use cases for databases, data warehouses, and data lakes
    • Explain the benefits of Google Cloud data products:
      • Looker
      • BigQuery
      • Cloud Spanner
      • Cloud SQL
      • Cloud Storage
  4. Identify Google Cloud’s solutions for machine learning and AI
    • Define artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)
    • Outline the importance of data quality in ML prediction accuracy
    • Describe Google Cloud’s differentiators with regards to AI and ML
    • Recognize the ways customers can use Google Cloud’s AI and ML solutions to create business value

Infrastructure and Application Modernization

Back in the days, everything was stored in one, massive hardware. This made it easy to save on space, but extremely difficult to update and manage. The modern solution to this is to separate individual components into their own separate hardware and implement a smooth way to allow these components to communicate with each other.

This section will test your knowledge on these topics; you will not need to know how to implement them, but explain how modernization can help create value.

  1. Learn what modernizing IT infrastructure with Google Cloud means
    • Explain why legacy infrastructure struggles to deliver modern services to customers
    • Explain the benefits of modernizing infrastructure with cloud technology
    • Differentiate between hybrid and multicloud infrastructures
    • Differentiate between virtual machines (VM), containers, and serverless computing with business use cases.
    • Identify the Google Cloud solutions that help businesses modernize their infrastructure
  2. Understand modernizing applications with Google Cloud
    • Describe the business drivers for modernizing applications
    • Describe the benefits of using cloud-native applications
    • Apply the appropriate change pattern to different business use cases
    • Explain the benefits of Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Anthos, and App Engine for application development
  3. Understand the value of APIs
    • Explain how application programming interfaces (APIs) can modernize legacy systems
    • Describe how APIs can create new business value
    • Explain the benefits of Apigee

Understanding Google Cloud Security & Operations

Security of information and data is crucial. Criminals have resorted to using sophisticated hacking software to illegally break in and steal precious data. Fortunately, Google Cloud upholds the highest security standards to safeguard your assets, while also providing you with state-of-the-art tools to monitor and log critical security incidents.

This section tests you on your ability to explain how GCP security and operations work together to create a solution that will ultimately make your data safe and sound.

  1. Describe financial governance in the cloud and Google Cloud’s recommended best practices for effective cloud cost management 
    • Explain how adopting cloud technology affects the total cost of ownership (TCO) 
    • Identify the cost management strategy needed in a given business scenario 
  2. Describe a cloud security approach and Google Cloud security benefits
    • Define fundamental cloud security terms, including privacy, availability, security, and control
    • Explain what is meant by a shared responsibility model 
    • Describe the security benefits of using Google Cloud
    • Identify today’s top cybersecurity challenges and threats to data privacy
    • Demonstrate how organizations can control and manage access to cloud resources
  3. Explain how IT operations need to adapt to thrive in the cloud 
    • Differentiate service availability requirements in the cloud versus in on-premises environments
    • Describe the operational challenges that DevOps solves
    • Apply the goals of site reliability engineering (SRE) to different business use cases
  4. Identify Google Cloud solutions for cloud resource monitoring and application performance management 
    • Explain the potential impact of unexpected or prolonged downtime
    • Define monitoring, logging, and observability within the context of cloud operations 
    • Identify the Google Cloud resource monitoring and maintenance tools.

Recommended Study Materials

  1. Books