Welcome to the complete guide to passing the Google Cloud exam, Cloud Digital Leader. This exam is designed to assess your knowledge and skills in cloud computing, and passing it is a critical step in advancing your career in this field. This guide will provide you with all the resources and tools you need to prepare for the exam, including comprehensive study materials, practice exams, and expert tips and strategies. Whether you are a seasoned cloud professional or just starting out, this guide will help you master the skills and knowledge needed to pass the Cloud Digital Leader exam with flying colors. So, let’s get started and become a certified Google Cloud Digital Leader!

A Cloud Digital Leader can articulate the capabilities of Google Cloud core products and services and how they benefit organizations. The Cloud Digital Leader can also describe common business use cases and how cloud solutions support an enterprise. –Google

This certification is for anyone who wishes to demonstrate their knowledge of cloud computing basics and how Google Cloud products and services can be used to achieve an organization’s goals.

This is ideal for those who do not wish to learn the technicalities of the platform, but rather gain a high-level overview of the offering to understand how it works and how it may be used to further business objectives.

The exam is 90 minutes long and costs $99.

Exam Syllabus & Links to Explanations

Section 1: Digital Transformation with Google Cloud (~17% of the exam)

In Section 1 of Digital Transformation with Google Cloud, you’ll discover how cloud technology is reshaping business operations through an introduction to key concepts and a comparison of cloud versus traditional solutions, highlighting cloud benefits like scalability and security. The section also covers cloud configurations, Google Cloud’s unique offerings, the importance of timely technology adoption, and guides on organizational growth, financial shifts to OpEx models, and choosing the right cloud computing models for varying business needs.

• Key Topics:
  • Overview of cloud computing and its key components such as data, digital transformation, cloud-native, open source, and open standards.
  • Comparison between cloud technology and traditional on-premises solutions, including benefits like scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency.
  • Detailed explanation of cloud configurations (public, private, hybrid, multicloud) and Google Cloud’s unique features for business transformation.
• Skills Gained:
  • Understanding of different cloud computing models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and the shared responsibility model.
  • Knowledge on how to modernize apps and infrastructure, democratize data, and secure transactions with cloud technology.
• Skill Level Required:
  • Beginner to intermediate level of understanding in IT and cloud concepts for grasping the topics covered.
• Who Will Benefit:
  • Professionals and businesses looking to understand and leverage cloud technology for digital transformation and operational efficiency.

1.1 Why Cloud Technology is Transforming Business

In this section, you’re going to learn how cloud technology is revolutionizing businesses, breaking down key concepts and benefits, and why embracing it could be a game-changer for your company’s future.

• Explain why and how the cloud is revolutionizing businesses.
  • Define the terms: cloud, cloud technology, data, digital transformation, cloud-native, open source, open standard.
  • Describe the differences between cloud technology and traditional or on-premises technology.
  • Explain the benefits of cloud technology to a business’ digital transformation: this technology is scalable, flexible, agile, secure, cost-effective and offers strategic value.
  • Describe the primary benefits of on-premises infrastructure, public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud, and multicloud and differentiate between them.
  • Describe the main business transformation benefits of Google Cloud: intelligence, freedom, collaboration, trust, and sustainability.
  • Describe the implications and risks for organizations that do not adopt new technology.
  • Describe the drivers and challenges that lead organizations to undergo a digital transformation.
  • Describe the transformation cloud and how it accelerates an organization’s digital transformation through app and infrastructure modernization, data democratization, people connections, and trusted transactions.

1.2 Fundamental Cloud Concepts

• Explain general cloud concepts.
  • Describe how transitioning to a cloud infrastructure affects flexibility, scalability, reliability, elasticity, agility, and total cost of ownership (TCO). Apply these concepts to various business use cases.
  • Explain how an organization’s transition from an on-premises environment to the cloud shifts their capital expenditures (CapEx) to operational expenditures (OpEx), and how that affects their total cost of ownership (TCO).
  • Identify when private, hybrid, or multicloud infrastructures best apply to different business use cases.
  • Define basic network infrastructure terminology, including: IP address; internet service provider (ISP); domain name server (DNS), regions, and zones; fiber optics; subsea cables; network edge data centers, latency; and bandwidth.
  • Discuss how Google Cloud supports digital transformation with global infrastructure and data centers connected by a fast, reliable network.

1.3 Cloud Computing Models and Shared Responsibility

• Discuss the benefits and tradeoffs of using infrastructure as a service (IaaS); platform as a service (PaaS); and software as a service (SaaS).
  • Define IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS.
  • Compare and contrast the benefits and tradeoffs of IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS including total cost of ownership (TCO), flexibility, shared responsibilities, management level, and necessary staffing and technical expertise.
  • Determine which computing model (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) applies to various business scenarios and use cases.
  • Describe the cloud shared responsibility model. Compare which responsibilities are the cloud provider’s, and which responsibilities are the customer’s for on-premises and cloud computing models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS).

Section 2: Exploring Data Transformation with Google Cloud (~17% of the exam)

Section 2, “Exploring Data Transformation with Google Cloud,” explains the crucial role of data in business transformation and innovation, offering insights on managing and leveraging various data types through Google Cloud’s tools for maximum value. It covers data management fundamentals, the importance of cloud technology in data utilization, and practical guidance on using Google Cloud services for storage, management, and analytics to transform data into a strategic organizational asset.

• Key Topics:
  • The importance of data in business transformation and innovation.
  • Overview of data management techniques including the use of databases, data warehouses, and data lakes.
  • Utilizing Google Cloud’s data management solutions for storage, analysis, and making data accessible for insights.
• Skills Gained:
  • Ability to leverage Google Cloud tools like Cloud Storage, Cloud Spanner, BigQuery, Looker, and BigQuery for data management and analytics.
  • Proficiency in modernizing data pipelines with technologies such as Pub/Sub and Dataflow.
• Skill Level Required:
  • Beginner knowledge in data management and cloud technologies is beneficial for understanding the concepts.
• Who Will Benefit:
  • Professionals looking to harness data as a strategic asset in driving business decisions, innovation, and creating new opportunities will find this section particularly beneficial.

2.1 The Value of Data

• Describe the intrinsic role that data plays in an organizations’ digital transformation.
  • Explain how data generates business insights, drives decision making, and creates new value.
  • Differentiate between basic data management concepts, in particular: databases; data warehouses; data lakes.
  • Explain how organizations can create value by using their current data, collecting new data, and sourcing data externally.
  • Describe how the cloud unlocks business value from all types of data, including structured data and previously untapped unstructured data.
  • Discuss the main data value chain concepts and terms.
  • Explain how data governance is essential to a successful data journey.

2.2 Google Cloud Data Management Solutions

• Determine which Google Cloud data management products are applicable to different business use cases.
  • Differentiate between Google Cloud data management options including data type and common business use case, including: Cloud Storage; Cloud Spanner; Cloud SQL; Cloud Bigtable; BigQuery; Firestore.
  • Define key data management concepts and terms, including: relational; non-relational; object storage; structured query language (SQL); NoSQL.
  • Describe the benefits of using BigQuery as a serverless, managed data warehouse and analytics engine that can be used in a multicloud environment.
  • Differentiate between storage classes in Cloud Storage regarding cost and frequency of access, including: Standard; Nearline; Coldline; Archive.
  • Describe the ways that an organization can migrate or modernize their current database in the cloud.

2.3 Making Data Useful and Accessible

• Discuss how smart analytics, business intelligence tools, and streaming analytics can add value in different business use cases.
  • Describe how Looker democratizes access to data by empowering individuals to self-serve business intelligence and create insights.
  • Discuss the value of analyzing and visualizing data from BigQuery in Looker to create real-time reports, dashboards, and integrating data into workflows.
  • Describe how streaming analytics in real time makes data more useful and generates business value.
  • Describe the main Google Cloud products that modernize data pipelines, including Pub/Sub and Dataflow.

Section 3: Innovating with Google Cloud Artificial Intelligence (~17% of the exam)

Section 3 of the Cloud Digital Leader certification, titled “Innovating with Google Cloud Artificial Intelligence,” aims to enhance your knowledge of AI and ML, covering their fundamentals, Google Cloud’s solutions, and practical applications to transform business operations. Through exploring AI and ML concepts, Google Cloud technologies, and their implementation, you’ll gain the skills to leverage these innovations for professional growth and business competitiveness.

• Key Topics:
  • Introduction to AI and ML fundamentals, including the differences from traditional analytics and their unique capabilities.
  • Overview of Google Cloud’s AI and ML solutions, including pre-trained APIs, AutoML, and custom model building.
  • Practical application of Google Cloud AI and ML technologies in business scenarios, including leveraging BigQuery ML and TensorFlow.
• Skills Gained:
  • Understanding of AI and ML core concepts and their application in solving business problems.
  • Proficiency in selecting and utilizing Google Cloud’s AI and ML solutions for business innovation.
• Skill Level Required:
  • Beginner to intermediate understanding of cloud computing and basic knowledge of AI and ML concepts.
• Who Will Benefit:
  • Individuals looking to enhance their career in technology or digital transformation, and organizations aiming to harness AI and ML for competitive advantage.

3.1 AI and ML Fundamentals

• Discuss the main AI and ML concepts, and explain how ML can create business value.
  • Define artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
  • Differentiate the capabilities of AI and ML from data analytics and business intelligence.
  • Discuss the types of problems that ML can solve.
  • Explain the business value ML creates, including: ability to work with large datasets; scaling business decisions; and unlocking unstructured data.
  • Explain why high-quality, accurate data is essential for successful ML models.
  • Discuss the importance of explainable and responsible AI

3.2 Google Cloud’s AI and ML solutions

• Discuss the range of Google Cloud AI and ML solutions and products available, and how to select the most appropriate solution for different business use cases.
  • Explain which decisions and tradeoffs organizations need to consider when selecting Google Cloud AI/ML solutions and products, including: speed; effort; differentiation; required expertise.
  • Discuss which Google Cloud AI and ML solutions and products might apply given different business use cases, including: pre-trained APIs; AutoML; build custom models.

3.3 Building and using Google Cloud AI and ML solutions

• Explain how Google Cloud’s pre-trained API, AutoML, and custom AI/ML products can create business value.
  • Discuss how BigQuery ML lets users create and execute machine learning models in BigQuery by using standard SQL queries.
  • Select which Google Cloud pre-trained API best applies to different business use cases, including: Natural Language API, Vision API, Cloud Translation API, Speech-to-Text API, and Text-to-Speech API.
  • Explain how an organization can create business value by using their own data to train custom ML models with AutoML.
  • Discuss how building custom models by using Google Cloud’s Vertex AI can create opportunities for business differentiation.
  • Recognize TensorFlow as an end-to-end open source set of tools for building and training machine learning models and that Cloud Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) is Google’s proprietary hardware optimized for TensorFlow and ML performance.

Section 4: Modernize Infrastructure and Applications with Google Cloud (~17% of the exam)

Section 4 of your learning pathway, “Modernize Infrastructure and Applications with Google Cloud,” dedicates about 17% of the curriculum to teaching the essentials of cloud modernization and migration, highlighting strategies for updating infrastructure and applications to thrive in the digital era. Through detailed exploration of cloud computing, serverless environments, containerization, the value of APIs, and hybrid/multi-cloud strategies, you’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of how to leverage Google Cloud technologies for organizational transformation and success in the cloud era.

• Key Topics:
  • Overview of cloud modernization and migration, including the benefits and strategies of updating infrastructure and applications with Google Cloud.
  • Deep dive into computing in the cloud, covering virtual machines, containerization, serverless computing, and Kubernetes.
  • Exploration of serverless computing, containers, the value of APIs, and the strategic benefits of hybrid and multi-cloud approaches.
• Skills Gained:
  • Ability to articulate and implement complex migration strategies for cloud modernization.
  • Proficiency in leveraging cloud computing options, including VMs, containers, serverless technologies, and managing APIs.
• Skill Level Required:
  • Intermediate knowledge of cloud concepts and readiness to engage deeply with cloud infrastructure and application modernization techniques.
• Who Will Benefit:
  • IT professionals, developers, and digital transformation leaders seeking to modernize their organization’s infrastructure and applications through Google Cloud technologies.

4.1 Cloud modernization and migration

• Explain why modernization and migration to the cloud are important steps in an organization’s transformation journey, and how each application might have a different path.
  • Discuss benefits of infrastructure modernization and application modernization by using Google Cloud.
  • Define the main cloud migration terms, including: workload; retire; retain; rehost; lift and shift; replatform; move and improve; refactor; reimagine.

4.2 Computing in the cloud

• Discuss the options for and advantages of running compute workloads in the cloud.
  • Define the main cloud compute terms, including: virtual machines (VMs); containerization; containers; microservices; serverless computing; preemptible VMs; Kubernetes, autoscaling, load balancing.
  • Describe the benefits and business value of running compute workloads in the cloud.
  • Explain the choices and constraints between different compute options.
  • Discuss the business value of using Compute Engine to create and run virtual machines on Google’s infrastructure.
  • Discuss the business value of choosing a rehost migration path for specialized legacy applications.

4.3 Serverless computing

• Discuss the advantages of serverless computing in application modernization.
  • Explain the benefits of serverless computing.
  • Discuss the business value of using serverless computing Google Cloud products, including: Cloud Run; App Engine; Cloud Functions.

4.4 Containers in the cloud

• Discuss the advantages of using containers in application modernization.
  • Discuss the advantages of modern cloud application development.
  • Differentiate between virtual machines and containers.
  • Discuss the main benefits of containers and microservices for application modernization.
  • Discuss the business value of using Google Cloud products to deploy containers, including: Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE); Cloud Run.

4.5 The value of APIs

• Explain the business value of application programming interfaces (APIs).
  • Define application programming interface (API).
  • Explain how organizations can create new business opportunities by exposing and monetizing public-facing APIs.
  • Discuss the business value of using Apigee API Management.

4.6 Hybrid and multi-cloud

• Discuss the business reasons for choosing hybrid or multi-cloud strategies and how Anthos enables these strategies.
  • Discuss the reasons and use cases for why organizations choose a hybrid cloud or multi-cloud strategy.
  • Describe the business value of using Anthos as a single control panel for the management of hybrid or multicloud infrastructure.

Section 5: Trust and Security with Google Cloud (~17% of the exam)

This section of the Cloud Digital Leader certification, focusing on Trust and Security with Google Cloud, covers about 17% of the exam and is essential for grasping the significance of cloud security in the contemporary digital landscape. It encompasses the exploration of Google Cloud’s security fundamentals, including the architecture of trust, the strategies for defending against cybersecurity threats, the principles of Google’s trusted infrastructure, and the practices ensuring compliance and data protection, all aimed at bolstering your or your organization’s proficiency in managing cloud security for digital transformation.

5.1 Trust and security in the cloud

• Discuss fundamental cloud security concepts.
  • Describe today’s top cybersecurity threats and business implications.
  • Differentiate between cloud security and traditional on-premises security.
  • Describe the importance of control, compliance, confidentiality, integrity, and availability in a cloud security model.
  • Define key security terms and concepts.

5.2 Google’s trusted infrastructure

• Explain the business value of Google’s defense-in-depth multilayered approach to infrastructure security.
  • Describe the benefits of Google designing and building its own data centers, using purpose-built servers, networking, and custom security hardware / software.
  • Describe the role of encryption in securing an organization’s data and the ways that it can protect data exposed to risks in different states.
  • Differentiate between authentication, authorization, and auditing.
  • Describe the benefits of using two-step verification (2SV) and IAM.
  • Describe how an organization can protect against network attacks using Google products, including distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) using Google Cloud Armor.
  • Define Security Operations (SecOps) in the cloud and describe its business benefits.

5.3 Google Cloud’s trust principles and compliance

• Describe how Google Cloud earns and maintains customer trust in the cloud.
  • Discuss how Google Cloud’s trust principles are a commitment to our shared responsibility for protecting and managing an organization’s data in the cloud.
  • Describe how sharing transparency reports and undergoing independent third-party audits support customer trust in ​​Google.
  • Describe ​​why data sovereignty and data residency may be requirements and how Google Cloud offers organizations the ability to control where their data is stored.
  • Describe how Google Cloud compliance resource center and Compliance Reports Manager support industry and regional compliance needs.

Section 6: Scaling with Google Cloud Operations (~17% of the exam)

Section 6 of the Cloud Digital Leader certification, “Scaling with Google Cloud Operations,” constitutes roughly 17% of the exam content, focusing on enhancing operational excellence, achieving financial governance, and promoting sustainability within organizations through Google Cloud’s capabilities. It encompasses managing cloud costs with effective tools and practices, ensuring operational reliability for scaling applications, and utilizing Google Cloud’s sustainability initiatives to reduce environmental impact while supporting organizational sustainability goals.

• Key Topics:
  • Financial governance and cost management in Google Cloud, focusing on maintaining control over expenses while aligning with organizational policies.
  • Principles of operational excellence and reliability in the cloud, including designing resilient, fault-tolerant infrastructure for scalability and high availability.
  • Sustainability efforts within Google Cloud, emphasizing how cloud computing can help organizations achieve their environmental goals with a lower footprint.
• Skills Gained:
  • Mastery in cloud financial governance best practices, including cost management and budgeting in Google Cloud.
  • Understanding of how to design and implement reliable, scalable cloud infrastructure based on modern operational principles.
• Skill Level Required:
  • Intermediate; suitable for individuals with some foundational knowledge of cloud computing concepts and Google Cloud Platform.
• Who Will Benefit:
  • IT professionals, cloud architects, financial analysts, and sustainability officers aiming to leverage Google Cloud for operational efficiency, cost management, and environmental sustainability.

6.1 Financial governance and managing cloud costs

• Discuss how Google Cloud supports an organization’s financial governance and ability to control their cloud costs.
  • Discuss how using cloud financial governance best practices provides predictability and control for cloud resources.
  • Define important cloud cost-management terms and concepts.
  • Discuss the benefits of using the resource hierarchy to control access.
  • Describe the benefit of controlling cloud consumption using resource quota policies and budget threshold rules.
  • Discuss how organizations can visualize their cost data by using Cloud Billing Reports.

6.2 Operational excellence and reliability at scale

• Discuss the fundamental concepts of modern operations, reliability, and resilience in the cloud.
  • Describe the benefits of modernizing operations by using Google Cloud.
  • Define important cloud operations terms.
  • Describe the importance of designing resilient, fault-tolerant, and scalable infrastructure and processes for high availability and disaster recovery.
  • Define key cloud reliability, DevOps, and SRE terms.
  • Describe how organizations benefit from using Google Cloud Customer Care to support their cloud adoption.
  • Describe the life of a support case during the Google Cloud Customer Care process.

6.3 Sustainability with Google Cloud

• Discuss how Google Cloud helps organizations meet sustainability goals and reduce environmental impact.
  • Describe Google Cloud’s commitment to sustainability and reducing environmental impact.
  • Discuss how Google Cloud provides products to support organizations’ sustainability goals.