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Hiring AWS Developers

The cloud is changing the way businesses store, manage, and interact with data. With the cloud, businesses can prioritize essential operations and outsource the rest to helpful enterprises on the Internet who are equipped to pick up the hard labor. In return, businesses like yours save precious time and energy and often money as well. AWS is one of the willing cloud services wishing to set the foundation for your business’s success. 

What Is AWS?

Amazon Web Services – simply called AWS by those who are familiar – is a proudly Amazon-sponsored cloud computing service for not only businesses but individuals and entire governments. The service works on a pay-as-you-go model, meaning you only pay for the services you need for as long as you need them. There’s no sly-worded, lengthy contracts or licensing involved. Compare this payment plan to monthly utilities, if you will. Quite literally, AWS is a monster in the e-commerce industry, pulling in $10 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2020. AWS takes up over 30% of the market share with Microsoft Azure coming in second place with just over half of those metrics at 18%. 

What Is an AWS Developer?

AWS developers have the knowledge and skillset to set up and manage relevant cloud services for the businesses they work with. To that end, AWS developers are familiar with S3, EC2, and Glacier, and know how to use such services at full capacity. Officially, AWS has twelve distinct certifications that help others recognize the expertise of an AWS developer. These are maintained under four experience levels – Foundational, Associate, Professional, and Speciality. 

Foundational 

AWS developers at the foundational level have at least 6 months of experience. They are not at the level of implementation for AWS services but understand it quite a bit. 

Cloud Practitioner

AWS Cloud Practitioners have an understanding of foundational cloud concepts but not much else. This is at the introductory level. 

Associate 

Those certified at the associate level have likely been working with AWS for a year or more. They should be able to recognize and solve problems easily.

Solutions Architect

This certificate has been the most popular for several years. It guarantees a broad overview of AWS and a strong enough foundation to build on thereafter. The Solutions Architect certification hones in on core AWS services like Identity and Access Management, Virtual Private Cloud, S3, and EC2. 

Developer

At this level, the certified party may not be a developer in the traditional sense. Rather, this certification simply means that the developer has a deeper comprehension of niche AWS services like DynamoDB, Elastic Beanstalk, SQS, and SNS. The certification also tests for the familiarity with APIs and SDKs.

SysOps Administrator

Certified SysOps Administrator has the ability to run AWS services. The certification requires an in-depth grasp of CloudWatch, a cloud monitoring service, as well as a strong grasp on other elements of the AWS architecture. Most consider this to be the hardest certificate to acquire. 

Professional

AWS certified professionals have two years of experience typically and know how to design, operate, and troubleshoot solutions in AWS. 

Solutions Architect

A Solutions Architect at the professional level of certification is at the peak of knowledge in regards to generalized AWS expertise. At this level, an AWS developer should be able to take any AWS service and make the best of it. 

DevOps Engineer

DevOps engineers should not only be able to deploy applications and cloud services but manage them over time. This certification goes into further detail with services like CloudFormation and OpsWorks and narrows the scope to the management of dynamic systems. 

Specialty

AWS developers with specialty certifications may have nearly five years of experience working with AWS. Their knowledge base is advanced.

Advanced Networking

Services like Direct Connect, Border Gateway Protocol, and routing are covered under this certification. AWS developers certified in Advanced Networking work on hybrid and AWS-only setups with attention to cost optimization and multi-regional operations. 

Database

AWS Certified Database developers manage databases. Databases are often the most significant and widely used part of software development. AWS has both SQL and no-SQL database services that certified developers at this tier should be overtly familiar with. 

Why Use AWS?

The main reasons why anyone uses cloud services are for ease of use and cost-effectiveness. As far as ease of use goes, your business can benefit from enhanced flexibility and efficiency. And the consequence of cost-effectiveness is strategic value. 

Flexible 

In the absence of hardware, cloud infrastructure permits businesses to be scalable without having to bother with equipment upgrades and storage space. Similarly, any storage is kept secure with apt data encryption and redundancy built-in. This is clearly advantageous over physical systems that can be tampered with and destroyed in the event of a natural disaster. Most cloud services, AWS included, have many different features for almost every facet of cloud computing. 

Efficient 

Businesses can access their data from anywhere with an internet connection, meaning you’ll have your most important developments available to you at all times. You’ll also save time building physical infrastructure and in turn, focus on software development. Your applications will hit the market faster and you can start gathering feedback in record time.

Strategic

For most small businesses that are struggling with startup costs, cloud services are the only way to go. Cloud services work like utilities and there are little to no upfront costs. You won’t have to rent out space to hold servers or hire a maintenance team to keep your hardware up-to-date. AWS handles it all. Not to mention, the cloud is also the easiest way to collaborate with co-workers, and even go fully remote if you so desire. 

Advantages of Using AWS

AWS being the preferred cloud service for more than 30% of the market, you can assume that businesses choose AWS for good reason. Let’s see what some of those reasons could be. 

Availability

As of 2020, AWS operates in 60 availability zones and 20 geographic regions globally with plans for further expansion. Availability zones are data centers available for regional customers to use. 

Security

AWS supplies a diverse range of backup methods and disaster recovery tools including AMIs images and EBS snapshots which backup instances and volumes respectively. Your business can also opt to store your critical data in multiple geographic locations. 

Reliability

When any service experiences downtime, it can jeopardize the work of all the customers who use that service. In effect, the reputation of the service will be ruined as well. Thankfully, AWS is known for being consistent and suffers from less overall downtime than its competitors. 

Pricing

The pricing structure of Amazon Web Services might be its most attractive feature. While most cloud services including Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud also utilize a pay-as-you-go pricing model, AWS lets you start and stop instances as necessary with an automated schedule. You can use your cloud services in a more practical manner if you wish and shut off service on off-hours or weekend breaks. With AWS, you pay only for what you need. 

Customizability

AWS is a highly customizable platform. It can complement your individual business needs nicely with customization options for cost tracking, security, organization, automation, and more.  

Companies That Use AWS

• Netflix
• Twitch
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• ESPN
• Adobe
• Twitter

Reasons to Hire an AWS Developer

You’ve gotten a glimpse of what AWS can do for you. You can manage data, networks, applications, and even artificial intelligence with AWS. As you can see, AWS is a complex platform with many things to offer. And most professional developers need at least two years to even come close to mastery. The role of your developer will depend on your business objectives. AWS being the tool that it is, you have many options. For example, an AWS developer can build and deploy your apps or migrate your current data to the cloud. At any rate, you’ll need an AWS developer to get it done. AWS is hardly for amateurs. 

Hire an AWS Developer

The employability of an AWS developer is largely dependent on the criteria you set out for your applicant pool. You’ve learned of twelve certifications that AWS developers can receive. Using this as a base can ensure that the developers you hire are dedicated enough to have taken exams and obtained certification to prove their expertise. At the same time, many skilled developers have not followed this path. The only way to make sure you’re looking for the right developers is to strategize your business plan and figure out how your goals can be reached with a developer at hand. Narrow down the playing field accordingly. 

How do you hire an AWS developer?

For those who wish to take the high road and hire AWS developers on your own, we’re still here to help. Hiring a developer on your own is a very focused and hands-on process that requires considerable knowledge about software development in general. The last thing you want to do is trust your hiring process to someone with no technical ability. If you are a non-technical manager looking to learn a thing or two, we have a great resource here for you to learn more about the hiring process in detail. 

What should you look for in an AWS developer?

High-level AWS developers should have the following abilities and skillsets:

• Can demonstrate a fully comprehensive knowledge of AWS technologies especially EC2, S3, and Glacier
• Has at least two years experience using AWS, with certification preferred in applicable areas
• Capable of developing applications using different API interfaces
• Proficiency running code in Amazon Lambda
• Familiarity and development background for building APIs with the Amazon API Gateway
• Expertise in migrating data to the cloud

How much do developers cost in the U.S.?

According to Zip Recruiter data, on average an AWS developer in the United States makes $122,799 a year. In general salaries for AWS developers range between $92,000 and $158,000.

Hourly Rates for Developers

Another way to look at developer costs is through hourly rates. While salaries are good to understand for hiring developers for full-time and long-term, you might just need a developer for a period of 3-6 months or 6-12 months. In these types of situations, it’s best to calculate your costs based on the hourly rates of a developer. Experienced AWS developers with good track record and communication skills usually start at 25+ USD for junior positions and go up to 60 USD hourly. 

Why Hire an AWS Developer?

ExpandAcross AWS developers are pre-vetted, interviewed, and then trained further to become true software professionals, capable of adapting to situations that are both within and outside of the scope of their general expertise. At ExpandAcross, we hold our developers to a higher standard. Much like how elite special forces units recruit only the best from main branches of the military, we recruit developers who either show amazing potential or demonstrate exceptional skill. We then take their talents and sharpen them even further. 

Another benefit of hiring a ExpandAcross developer is that you won’t incur the costs of hiring, which can add up to be around 30% of a developer’s salary on average, as well as overhead costs associated with full-time employment. By working with ExpandAcross, you can enjoy a highly experienced full-time developer for a fraction of the cost, along with the added project management assistance. 

To learn more, tell us about your project and we’ll get you started.