IT & Software

By Josh Hutcheson — Founder & Editor, OnlineCourseing. Last updated July 2026. Where Microsoft’s offers rotate, we say so rather than printing a date-stamped promo as permanent. THE 60-SECOND ANSWER Here’s the honest split. Microsoft’s training is genuinely free — every official learning path on Microsoft Learn costs nothing, and Applied Skills assessments currently issue […]

Last updated: July 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology. SHORT ANSWER Are Google certificates worth it? For career-changers and beginners, yes — with one caveat. The Google Career Certificates on Coursera are inexpensive, teach genuinely job-relevant skills, and carry a brand employers recognise. But they’re entry-level credentials, not a degree

Last updated: June 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology. QUICK VERDICT Bottom line: If you are breaking into the field, start with CompTIA Security+ (about $404). It is the baseline credential most U.S. security job listings ask for, and it maps cleanly into everything above it. From there, pick by

Last updated: June 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology. QUICK VERDICT Bottom line: The AWS Certified AI Practitioner (exam AIF-C01) is AWS’s foundational AI and generative-AI credential — a fast, affordable way to prove you understand AI/ML concepts and the AWS AI toolset. At $100 with no prerequisites and a

Last updated: August 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology. QUICK VERDICT Bottom line: If you’re researching “CASP+,” note that CompTIA renamed it — the certification is now CompTIA SecurityX, taken via the CAS-005 exam. It’s CompTIA’s master-level, hands-on cybersecurity credential for security architects and senior engineers. There’s no formal prerequisite,

Last updated: August 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology. QUICK VERDICT Bottom line: For almost everyone, “getting ITIL certified” means earning ITIL 4 Foundation — the long-standing entry credential and the only one most people ever need. (PeopleCert launched ITIL Version 5 in 2026 with its own Foundation exam —

Last updated: June 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology. QUICK VERDICT Bottom line: The CCSP (Certified Cloud Security Professional) from ISC2 is the most respected vendor-neutral cloud-security credential — but it’s an advanced cert, not a starting point. The exam costs $599, and full certification requires five years of relevant

Last updated: May 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology. We may earn a commission if you enroll through links on this page — it never changes what we recommend, and we don’t earn anything from CreativeLive itself. QUICK VERDICT Bottom line: CreativeLive is a legitimate platform for workshop-style creative classes,

Last updated: August 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson. See our review methodology. There are dozens of cloud certifications across AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud — and the hardest part isn’t passing one, it’s choosing the right one. This guide cuts through it: which cloud to certify in (it depends on your target employers, not

Last updated: May 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson. See our review methodology. Google Cloud certifications carry real weight — the Professional Cloud Architect is regularly cited among the highest-paying IT certifications — but GCP has a smaller market share than AWS and Azure, so the “which cert, and is it worth it for me” question

Last updated: May 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson. See our review methodology. The AZ-900 (Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals) is the most common entry point into a Microsoft Azure career — and the most over-bought. It’s genuinely useful for career-switchers, salespeople, managers, and anyone who needs to speak cloud credibly, but it is not a job-getting

Last updated: May 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson. See our review methodology. By Josh Hutcheson · E-Learning Specialist Reviewing online learning platforms since 2019. Review methodology The 60-second guide: AZ-400 (Microsoft Azure DevOps Engineer Expert) is the senior Azure DevOps cert. $165 USD, 100 minutes, 40-60 questions. Tests advanced CI/CD, IaC, monitoring, and security at