Secure Your AWS Infrastructure: The Best AWS IAM Courses to Get You Started

By Alok Kumar

In the modern cloud-first environment, the need to secure your AWS environment is not only a good idea but a must. As the adoption of Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a tool to achieve scalability and efficiency within organizations increases, Identity and Access Management (IAM) becomes one of the key factors in safeguarding sensitive information and infrastructure.

Whether you are an IT professional who wishes to further develop his/her understanding of cloud security or simply begin to study the basics, AWS IAM can be a good direction to develop your knowledge.

This listicle identifies some of the best AWS IAM courses that will allow you to reinforce your knowledge on access control, user authentication and policy management, to enable you to protect AWS environments at both the ground level and the upper levels.

Factors to Consider Before Choosing an AWS IAM Course

There are several major factors that can influence the way you learn before enrolling to an AWS IAM course or not, so think them over:

Skill Level: Do not forget to ensure that the course is at the right level in your learning curve, be it you are at the bottom of the learning curve, as an intermediate learner or even as a professional looking to specialize in IAM.

Curriculum Depth: Determine whether the course includes the basics of IAM, the security tools provided by AWS, the security best practices, and applications. A balanced curriculum is one that makes you acquire some theory as well as context.

Hands-On Learning: Look for opportunities to practice through labs or projects. Complex IAM concepts are far easier to grasp and remember by getting practical experience in an AWS setup.

Instructor Expertise: When learning about cloud security, an instructor who has experience in cloud computing offers the best information that is relevant and correct concerning the changing security requirements at AWS.

Certification Value: A recognized certificate can boost your professional credibility and open doors to new career opportunities in cloud security and infrastructure management.

Top AWS IAM Courses to Learn Cloud Security in 2025

1. AWS IAM Course – Great Learning

This course provides a clear understanding of how to protect and manage access in cloud environments using AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM). It introduces learners to essential cloud security concepts and demonstrates how to apply IAM best practices for safeguarding data and infrastructure.

Key Highlights:

• Learn AWS IAM fundamentals, access management strategies, and identity governance.

• Gain a certificate from Great Learning upon completion.

• Get access to 20+ latest premium courses with Academy Pro, covering the most in-demand cloud and security topics.

• GL Coach provides instant doubt clarification, curated learning materials, AI-assisted mock interviews, and a smart resume builder that helps you highlight your cloud security skills to recruiters.

• Self-paced video lessons led by expert instructors with real-world AWS experience.

  Learning Outcomes:

By completing this course, learners will:

• Understand IAM roles, policies, and permissions in AWS.

• Learn how to secure cloud resources using AWS best practices.

• Be able to configure access management, enforce security controls, and monitor user actions effectively.

• Gain practical insights into managing users, groups, and access keys for enhanced security governance.

2. Introduction to AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) (Pluralsight)

A rapid, beginner-friendly course from Pluralsight that introduces IAM in AWS: how to create IAM users/groups/roles and attach policies.

Key Highlights:

A quick way to get started with IAM fundamentals (duration is short).

Helps you build confidence for IAM configurations in real AWS accounts.

Works well as a bridge course before moving into more advanced IAM & security topics.

Learning Outcomes:

• Create IAM users, groups, assign policies.

• Understand authentication vs authorization in AWS.

• Use practical IAM features to control access to AWS services.

3. AWS Cloud Computing Course – Great Learning

This foundational course is perfect for learners who want to understand the building blocks of cloud computing before focusing on AWS IAM. It covers essential topics such as cloud deployment models, service categories, and the shared responsibility model, making it an ideal starting point for anyone new to the cloud ecosystem.

Key Highlights:

Learn how cloud computing works and why it’s essential for modern businesses.

Earn a certificate from Great Learning that validates your cloud literacy and foundational understanding.

Enjoy access to 20+ latest premium courses with Academy Pro, helping you continuously expand your technical skills.

Get support from GL Coach with real-time query resolution, curated content, AI-driven interview preparation, and a smart resume builder to showcase your cloud proficiency.

Simple, structured learning designed for beginners and professionals transitioning to cloud roles.

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Learning Outcomes:

After completing this program, learners will:

• Grasp the fundamentals of cloud architecture and deployment models.

• Understand AWS core services and their role in secure cloud operations.

• Build the conceptual base needed to progress to advanced IAM and cloud security topics.

• Develop clarity on how IAM fits within the broader AWS ecosystem.

4. AWS Security Fundamentals: A Practical Guide to AWS IAM (Educative)

This beginner-level course on Educative dives into how IAM works in AWS, how to write policies, and how access decisions are evaluated by the IAM service.

Key Highlights:

A relatively short-duration course but packed with focused content on IAM and policy structure.

While it doesn’t specifically mention a “Great Learning certificate”, it still offers a certificate of completion (depending on the platform).

Ideal for those who want a deep technical view of IAM policy logic and best practices.

Learning Outcomes:

• Become familiar with AWS API request/response flow and how it relates to IAM.

• Learn to craft, analyse, and apply IAM policies.

• Learn the best practices for IAM implementation and common pitfalls.

5. Learn AWS Identity Management with AWS IAM, SSO & Federation (Udemy)

A more advanced practical course on Udemy that explores IAM in AWS plus single-sign-on (SSO), federation, AWS Organisations and Directory Services.

Key Highlights:

This course covers IAM plus more advanced identity topics (SSO, federation, cross-account, etc.). The certificate comes from Udemy, not Great Learning, so you’d need to check how you integrate it into your credential set.

A good complement if you want to go beyond basic IAM and into identity management at scale.

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand AWS Organisations and service-control policies (SCPs).

• Configure identity federation, Single Sign-On and directory services in AWS.

• Manage multi-account identity and access scenarios in enterprise AWS environments.

6. AWS: Identity and Access Management (Coursera)

This intermediate-level course from Coursera, offered by Whizlabs, covers how to troubleshoot authentication and authorization in AWS, as well as key techniques for securing access to services such as S3.

Key Highlights:

You earn a shareable certificate through Coursera upon completion.

Although not the same as the Great Learning certificate, it still adds credibility to your profile.

Includes practical assignments and scenarios around IAM policies and roles.

Helps bridge foundational knowledge to more specialized cloud-security topics.

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand the core IAM concepts: users, roles, groups, policies.

• Troubleshoot authentication and authorization issues in AWS.

• Secure S3 buckets and other AWS resources through appropriate access controls.

Conclusion

The core of secure cloud operations is AWS Identity and Access Management, strengthened by a well-structured cloud security course. With the knowledge of user permissions, access policy, and activity monitoring in AWS, you can protect organizational data and improve your security posture.

In addition to the contents of the courses mentioned above being up to date, providing cloud security, they also include perks such as, AI-based interview training and certifications, so you know you are not only receiving current content but also acquiring professional qualifications.

Be a self-managed learner and begin your learning journey today and make confident strides towards implementing your AWS infrastructure using industry-relevant IAM skills.

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