New SAA-C03 Exam Version for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate

To keep up with the pace of development of new features and services, AWS update their certification exams periodically. In August 2022, AWS updated the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam from the SAA-C02 to SAA-C03.

Typically, new versions of an exam are quite minor with a few new services and topic areas being introduced. This latest update includes lots of coverage of new services that were not previously in scope.

In fact, there are over 30 additional services on the exam guide for the SAA-C03, a much bigger change compared to the previous update back in 2020!

Key Facts about the New SAA-C03 Exam

In this article we answer the following questions:

• When is this update taking place? (spoiler alert — it already happened!)
• When does the SAA-C02 exam expire?
• I recently passed the SAA-C02 exam, what does this mean for me?
• Is the new SAA-C03 exam harder?
• Does the SAA-C03 include exam labs / hands-on labs?
• Have the courses on digitalcloud.training been updated?
• How can I get hands-on experience with AWS?
• What are the exam domains for the SAA-C03?
• Which new AWS services are covered in the SAA-C03?

Keep on reading to get answers to all the above and more!

Click the image above to watch Neal’s video on the new SAA-C03 exam

When is this update taking place?

The new AWS SAA-C03 exam for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate certification is now live. Our team have already taken the exam so we know what’s included and have updated our courses appropriately.

Watch Neal’s video above to get the lowdown on his exam experience and what you need to successfully prepare for your exam!

When does the current exam expire?

The SAA-C02 expired on August 29th 2022 so you have no option to take that exam anymore. If you’re planning to get certified you must take the SAA-C03 exam.

I recently passed the SAA-C02 exam, what does this mean for me?

Congratulations on passing this challenging exam, it’s an important achievement that sets you up for success in your career. There’s no need to be concerned about the exam update as all AWS certifications are valid for three years and do not designate the specific version of the exam you took. Therefore, your SAA-C02 certification is valid for a three year period and there’s no reason to recertify before the expiration date.

Is the new SAA-C03 exam harder?

The difficulty level is very similar to the current exam but many new services are included. Well over 30 new services and many feature updates are included in the exam guide for the new exam so must make sure you’re using the right training materials to be fully prepared.

Does the SAA-C03 include exam labs / hands-on labs?

In the most recent update to the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate certification, AWS introduced hands on questions where you must use the AWS Management Console to complete a series of tasks. Some expected the new versions of other certifications to also include exam labs. They have not included exam labs in the new exam guide for the SAA-C03, so it is still a multiple choice and multiple response style exam.

Have the courses on digitalcloud.training been updated?

Yes, we have fully updated our courses to include the new topics covered in the exam. We added many new video lessons, hands-on practice activities, and practice questions to our courses to make sure you’re fully prepared.

If you have an active enrollment in the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate training courses on our platform, you will automatically have access to this new content.

How can I get hands-on experience with AWS?

Our courses include guided hands-on exercises that you can follow along in your AWS Free Tier account. By the end of the course, you’ll have gained solid hands-on experience with AWS that will help with both passing the exam and getting employed in the AWS Cloud industry.

We also offer Challenge Labs which are hands-on challenges that you complete in a sandbox account. That means you don’t have to worry about bills and can both learn and test your skill with various levels of challenges — from beginner to expert.

What are the Exam Domains for the SAA-C03?

The exam domains are the core knowledge areas in scope for the exam. Within each exam domain there are task statements and knowledge areas. You can find the detailed list of exam domains, task statements, and knowledge areas within the exam guide for the SAA-C03 exam — but you can also find the exam domains and tasks statements here.

Domain 1: Design Secure Architectures

This exam domain is focused on securing your architectures on AWS and comprises 30% of the exam. Task statements include:

• Task Statement 1: Design secure access to AWS resources.
• Task Statement 2: Design secure workloads and applications.
• Task Statement 3: Determine appropriate data security controls.

Domain 2: Design Resilient Architectures

This exam domain is focused on designing resilient architectures on AWS and comprises 26% of the exam. Task statements include:

• Task Statement 1: Design scalable and loosely coupled architectures.
• Task Statement 2: Design highly available and/or fault-tolerant architectures.

Domain 3: Design High-Performing Architectures

This exam domain is focused on designing high-performing architectures on AWS and comprises 24% of the exam. Task statements include:

• Task Statement 1: Determine high-performing and/or scalable storage solutions.
• Task Statement 2: Design high-performing and elastic compute solutions.
• Task Statement 3: Determine high-performing database solutions.
• Task Statement 4: Determine high-performing and/or scalable network architectures.
• Task Statement 5: Determine high-performing data ingestion and transformation solutions.

Domain 4: Design Cost-Optimized Architectures

This exam domain is focused on optimizing solutions for cost-effectiveness on AWS and comprises 20% of the exam. Task statements include:

• Task Statement 1: Design cost-optimized storage solutions.
• Task Statement 2: Design cost-optimized compute solutions.
• Task Statement 3: Design cost-optimized database solutions.
• Task Statement 4: Design cost-optimized network architectures.

Which new AWS services are covered in the SAA-C03?

There are lots of new services and features included in the new AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate SAA-C03 exam! Here’s a list of some of the new services that are included:

• AWS Data Exchange
• AWS Data Pipeline
• AWS Lake Formation
• Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka
• Amazon AppFlow
• AWS Outposts
• VMware Cloud on AWS
• AWS Wavelength
• Amazon Neptune
• Amazon Quantum Ledger Database
• Amazon Timestream
• AWS Amplify
• Amazon Comprehend
• Amazon Forecast
• Amazon Fraud Detector
• Amazon Kendra
• AWS License Manager
• Amazon Managed Grafana
• Amazon Managed Service for Prometheus
• AWS Proton
• Amazon Elastic Transcoder
• Amazon Kinesis Video Streams
• AWS Application Discovery Service
• AWS WAF Serverless
• AWS AppSync

How to best Prepare?

Enroll in our comprehensive training courses for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate certification. We are the only certification training provider to offer excellent video courses, practice test courses, and certification cheat sheets. Our courses are kept up-to-date to ensure you pass your exam the first time.