Explore KSACs by Pathway

In late 2025, the Partnership pulled together members of industry from across tech to share how the in-demand skillsets for entry-level roles in their fields have changed in the last two years. The Knowledge, Skills & Abilities and Credentials (KSACs) below reflect their feedback on entry-level expectations, especially in a tech workplace increasingly shaped by AI.

1. Cloud

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Label KSAC Description Bloom's Taxonomy Level
a Demonstrate an understanding of cloud architecture and the capabilities of services such as AWS, Azure, IBM, Oracle and Google. knowledge 2
b Describe the fundamental cloud components (e.g., shared or dedicated processing, storage, memory, networking, hypervisor). knowledge 2
c Identify common cloud misconfiguration errors and their security implications knowledge 2
d Differentiate between public, private, and hybrid clouds. knowledge 2
e Identify common breaches and threats in the cloud environment. knowledge 1
f Instantiate a small computing environment in a cloud service. ability 3
g Explain the pros and cons of on-premises vs cloud-based analytics solutions. knowledge 2
h Understand how to provision cloud services (e.g., Software as a Service [SaaS], Platform as a Service [PaaS], Infrastructure as a Service [IaaS], Security as a Service). knowledge 2
i Understand how to set security configurations and establish security baselines in a cloud environment. knowledge 2
j Understand the concept of opening/extending the network perimeter and the role of cloud access security (CAS). knowledge 2
k Explain and compare Cloud Services (IaaS, SaaS, PaaS, XaaS). knowledge 2
l Describe software defined networking concepts and their role in cloud environments knowledge 2
m Describe interoperability between on-premises and cloud environments knowledge 2
n Identify common secure cloud operations concepts, including monitoring and SOC-related considerations knowledge 2
o Identify what containers are, how they are used in cloud environments, and their relationship to orchestration platforms knowledge 2
p Explain basic cloud pricing models and cost-control mechanisms (e.g., budgets, limits, alerts) knowledge 1

Credentials

  1. CompTIA IT Fundamentals
  2. CompTIA A+
  3. Linux Essentials
  4. Network +
  5. LPIC-1
  6. CompTIA Cloud+
  7. Microsoft Operating System Fundamentals