Today’s Certification Spotlight features Evan M., a Cloud Infrastructure Engineer based in Raleigh, North Carolina. After starting his career in traditional on-prem IT, Evan made a deliberate shift into cloud as his organization migrated to Azure and AWS. In this spotlight, he shares how certifications became a tool for career leverage, how he balances learning with family life, and why practical, hands-on study matters more than ever as we head into 2026.

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Geographical Location: Raleigh, North Carolina has been home for the past several years. The Research Triangle area offers a strong mix of enterprise technology, fast-growing SaaS companies, and cloud-focused roles. It has been an ideal place to grow a cloud career while staying close to family and community.

Educational Background: I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems with a minor in Business Analytics. While I did not follow a traditional computer science path, the combination of technical fundamentals and business context gave me a solid foundation. Most of my deeper cloud skills were developed later through hands-on experience and certification-driven learning.

Family Life: I am married with two kids, both in school. Balancing work, learning, and family life has shaped how I approach professional growth. Time is limited, so I focus on study methods that are efficient and flexible enough to fit into a busy schedule.

Current Role: I currently work as a Cloud Infrastructure Engineer at a mid-size SaaS company. My responsibilities include designing cloud infrastructure, managing identity and access, supporting CI/CD pipelines, and helping teams optimize performance and cost across cloud environments.

Career Path: My career began in traditional on-prem IT, working with Windows servers, virtualization, networking, and storage. As cloud adoption accelerated, I became involved in early migration projects, which eventually led to a full transition into Azure and AWS. That shift was gradual and driven by real business needs rather than theory.

Professional Level: I would consider myself a mid-to-senior level engineer. Compensation has grown over time, but the bigger benefit has been flexibility. Cloud skills have made it easier to adapt as roles and technologies evolve.

Hobbies and Passions: Outside of work, I enjoy early-morning strength training and trail running when I can get outside. I also coach youth sports, which has helped me develop leadership and communication skills that carry over into my professional life.

Community Involvement: I enjoy mentoring junior teammates and offering guidance to those transitioning from traditional IT into cloud roles. Sharing practical experience has been one of the most rewarding parts of my career.

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Learning Techniques: My learning approach is practical and focused. I rely on short study sessions, hands-on labs, and practice exams to stay consistent. Having everything organized in one place makes a big difference, which is why platforms like LearnCloudAcademy.com work well for me. A single subscription that covers both Azure and AWS removes friction and helps me stay on track.

Passion Projects: I enjoy building small tools and scripts to automate repetitive tasks, especially around monitoring and access management. These projects help reinforce certification topics while solving real problems.

Motivation for Certification: Certifications help validate skills and keep knowledge current in a fast-changing field. For me, they are about maintaining career flexibility and staying competitive, not collecting badges. Not collecting badges has been a recurring theme from other spotlight folks too.

Specific Certifications: I have completed foundational cloud certifications and am now focused on associate and professional-level exams. Deepening my understanding of cloud architecture and operations is a priority as responsibilities grow.

Study Resources: I combine official documentation with structured exam prep platforms, practice exams, and labs. Hands-on experience is essential, and the closer study materials align with real-world scenarios, the more confident I feel going into an exam.

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Certification Journey: Passing my first cloud certification (AZ-900) showed me that memorization alone is not enough. The real value comes from understanding how services work together and applying that knowledge in real environments.

Helpful Strategies: Consistency has been the biggest factor in my success. I focus on weak areas, review practice questions regularly, and apply what I learn as soon as possible.

Other Advice: Start before you feel ready. Build, experiment, and learn alongside your current role. Certifications are most effective when paired with hands-on experience.

Post-Certification Plans: I plan to continue expanding my cloud expertise while taking on more architectural and advisory responsibilities. Helping teams design scalable and cost-efficient solutions is where I see the most impact.

Long-Term Goals: Long-term, I want to bridge technical execution with business outcomes. Cloud works best when it is used intentionally, and my goal is to help organizations get there.

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Community Impact: The cloud community has played a major role in my growth. Learning from others and sharing experiences accelerates progress far more than working in isolation.

Feedback: The industry needs more practical, scenario-based learning that reflects how cloud work actually happens. Resources that respect professionals’ time and focus on outcomes are invaluable.

That was great, thanks Evan!

We’re looking for more inspiring certification journeys like Evan’s to feature in our spotlight series this February and beyond! If you’d like to share your story and inspire our community, simply reply to this email. We’ll provide you with a simple template to guide you through the process. Your experiences make a huge difference, and the feedback from our readers has been incredibly positive!

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Until next week, keep learning and building.

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