
Feeding a growing appetite for platform engineering knowledge, the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) has unveiled the addition of three new project-centric certifications and a series of new Platform Engineering-specific certifications.
The Certified Cloud Native Platform Engineer series covers several areas within the cloud native landscape that includes CI/CD, observability, developer experience, automation and orchestration.
“Platform Engineering was one of the most successful tracks at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon in Paris earlier this year,” said Chris Aniszczyk, chief technology officer at the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. “Like our GitOps Certified Associate (CGOA), certifications that address a specific role versus a specific project are a great way to validate knowledge applicable within a large number of projects and products.”
Since the concept of platform engineering emerged a few years ago, when Amazon.com Inc. and Netflix Inc. pioneered self-service developer portals for tasks like provisioning virtual machines, interest has rapidly piqued in the cloud-native community. The idea of a software engineering disciple that offers developers a foundation for infrastructure, tools and established processes was a major discussion and point of interest at November’s KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2024 conference.
“There is obviously a need for certification here, and the community has stepped in to fill the void,” Christophe Sauthier, cloud native training and certification lead for the CNCF, said in an interview. “Currently, we have 13 different certifications at CNCF. All are dealing with at least one project involved in platform engineering.”
Ultimately, platform engineering certification is a path and the means to maximize the benefits of DevOps, according to industry experts.
“The shift towards platform engineering and Kubernetes is undeniable. Traditional virtualization, while still relevant, is no longer the sole answer. Organizations are demanding greater agility, scalability and efficiency, and Kubernetes provides the foundation for that,” Steven Dickens, CEO of HyperFRAME Research, said in an email.
“Platform engineering empowers developers with self-service capabilities and automated infrastructure, accelerating innovation and time-to-market. We’re seeing this trend play out across industries, with significant investments in cloud-native technologies and a growing demand for skilled platform engineers,” Dickens added.