Other exams
If you work in a hands-on technical role, the following Kubernetes-related exams are obvious next steps.
- Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
- Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS)
All three are hands-on exams and quite a bit harder than the KCNA. This is because they’re specialist certifications and go into a lot more detail. They’re also hands-on and not multiple-choice.
The CKAD is a hands-on exam focussed on deploying and managing applications on Kubernetes. The CKA is similar but focusses more on things like building and managing Kubernetes clusters. The CKS is obviously security focussed.
Outside of CNCF Kubernetes-related exams, there are several cloud exam tracks that specialise in cloud technologies such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.