Screaming in the Cloud

Replay - Learning to Give in the Cloud with Andrew Brown

Dec 19, 2024

Andrew Brown, co-founder and cloud instructor at ExamPro Training Inc., passionately discusses his mission to provide free cloud education. He shares insights on managing his online presence while emphasizing community support over profit. Andrew critiques the reliance on certifications, advocating for real-world experience instead. The conversation also explores the value of multi-cloud learning and the challenges of navigating different platforms, pushing the notion that authentic teaching and collaboration are key to advancing in cloud technologies.

35:33

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Episode guests

Andrew Brown

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Andrew Brown emphasizes the importance of community engagement in the cloud industry for career transformation and knowledge sharing.

Certifications may still aid beginners in learning cloud skills, but practical experience often outweighs their value for advanced professionals.

Deep dives

The Role of Community in Cloud Education

Building a strong community presence is crucial for professionals in the cloud industry. Engaging on platforms like Discord and TikTok allows individuals to connect with a broader audience and share valuable insights. Andrew Brown emphasizes that his involvement in various channels isn’t just for self-promotion but is grounded in a genuine desire to help others transform their careers. This community-centric approach fosters a supportive environment where knowledge sharing takes precedence over overt commercialism.

Intro

2min

Navigating Social Media and Community Building in the Cloud

3min

Navigating the Dynamics of Value and Community Support

3min

Navigating Expertise and Certifications in Cloud Computing

14min

Navigating Client Expectations and Cloud Certifications

2min

Navigating the Multi-Cloud Landscape

11min

The tech industry is getting long enough in the teeth that now there are some bonafide old fogeys. Nevertheless there, fortunately, are plenty of younger tech folks out there pushing the thought and mentality of the industry forward. Andrew Brown, Co-Founder and Cloud Instructor at ExamPro Training Inc certainly is, but his presence in the community is so much more! On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, Andrew talks about the various internet platforms that he stays active on, and his mission to provide education on the cloud. Importantly so, Andrew does so with an immense amount of generosity. As he puts it, he couldn’t imagine taking money for the courses that he has created. Andrew and Corey discuss at length their thoughts on cloud certifications, the worth of multicloud, and much more!

Show Highlights

(0:00) Intro

(0:41) The Duckbill Group sponsor read

(1:15) Why Corey struggles to keep up with Andrew’s impressive online presence

(2:47) Explaining ExamPro

(6:39) The troubles of online “experts”

(13:01) Andrew’s thoughts on using certifications as proxies

(18:14) The value of certification vs. your level of experience

(22:47) The Duckbill Group sponsor read

(23:30) Should engineers learn more than one cloud provider?

(27:10) Is multi-cloud actually the way to go?

(34:31) Where you can find more from Andrew

About Andrew Brown

Andrew Brown has been working in tech 15 years. Today, he creates free cloud certification courses where he teaches people Cloud, DevOps, Data, ML, Security, K8s and Serverless.

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