How to get a Job in Cloud Computing
- Cloud Computing
Cloud Computing is the core that brings together niche technologies of today under an all-encompassing umbrella of the computational realm. Research reports predict that 85% of organizations worldwide will adopt a cloud-first strategy by 2025. With most companies moving their workload to the cloud, demand for cloud professionals is skyrocketing. Different cloud computing career roles have come into play in recent days and this blog post decodes the cloud market, major cloud players, job prospects, and job roles related to cloud computing succinctly.
According to NASSCOM findings global technology services are estimated to reach revenues of $650 billion by 2025 and approximately 60% of this is expected to come from the cloud and digital services. Another NASSCOM report clearly identifies the impact of cloud transformation with the following statistics.
Cloud transformation imperative:
- 53% of organizations have increased their cloud adoption
- Primary drivers: Growth & Transformation, Workplace Productivity, Security & Data Privacy
- Healthcare & Pharma industry with 53% and 49% cloud adoption rate lead the deck
Popular Cloud Models
- 34% of firms are on a hybrid cloud model
- 68% of small firms indicate the use of public cloud
- 28% using public cloud
- 52% - IaaS and 45% - PaaS
- 79% are using SaaS
Also, a recent NASSCOM research reveals that the job market for cloud professionals is burgeoning in India. NASSCOM estimates cloud computing to create up to 20 Lakh jobs by 2025.
The five major players in the cloud market are AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Alibaba, and IBM Cloud. According to Synergy Research Group finding AWS has a 32% market share, Azure-18%, GCP-8%, and Alibaba and IBM cloud have a 5% market share.
Interestingly India is currently the third-biggest home for cloud skills with approximately 6 Lakh cloud professionals working across different verticals. Close the huge skill gap in terms of the required workforce and the available resources and empowering them with the cloud certifications offered by major public cloud providers play a pivotal role.
Let us have a glimpse of prominent job roles you as a cloud professional can take up in your exciting journey in the cloud computing space.
Cloud Administrators
It is a day-to-day cloud infrastructure management role. In this role, you will be responsible for system configuration, maintenance, and provisioning of resources as per your company’s IT policies. To excel in this role, you are expected to have dexterity in prominent scripting languages, remote monitoring tools, configuration management, and troubleshooting tools. Primarily in this role, you work with the IT departments to develop and support different operating system infrastructures like Windows, cloud, or Unix.
Earn these certifications to build a career as Cloud Administrator:
- Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate Training
- AWS Certified SysOps Administrators
- VMware Certified Cloud Professional
Cloud Developer
As a Cloud application developer, you create software platforms that run on cloud environments either as SaaS-based web applications or as platforms in a private cloud. Organizations recruiting Cloud developers look for hands-on development experience on major cloud platforms, such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud.
As a Cloud developer, you are expected to know a greater number of programming languages and tools. Most importantly you should be well versed in DevOps practices and understand continuous integration and continuous delivery in and out.
- Microsoft Certified Azure Developer Associate
- AWS Certified Developer – Associate or Professional
- Google Certified Professional Cloud Developer
Certifications will fetch you better career opportunities in this sphere.
Cloud Engineer
Cloud engineers are responsible for planning, maintenance, and support tasks on the cloud. As a Cloud Engineer, you should have dexterity with application programming interfaces (APIs), integration design, and cloud database management. Hands-on experience working on OpenStack, AWS, Linux, Microsoft Azure, and Dockers is a definite plus. You are expected to be well-versed in Java and Python programming languages.
Various sub-roles associated with the term cloud engineer are:
- Software Engineer
- Security Engineer
- DevOps Engineer
- Data Engineer
- Full-Stack Engineer
- QA Engineer
Earning the following certifications proves beneficial to honing a career in this role:
- AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional
- Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions
- Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer
Cloud Architect
A cloud architect is a senior role in the cloud industry with expected experience of 10+ years. As a Cloud architect, you make strategies for your organization by preparing a comprehensive blueprint for cloud engineers, app developers, administrators, and security professionals.
You will be responsible for supervising the organization’s cloud adoption plans, cloud application design, and cloud monitoring and management. In this role, you are expected to keep abreast of the current technology trends in the industry.
The industry certifications that are essential to developing a career in this role are:
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate or Professional
- Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies
- Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect
Cloud Security Professional
As a Cloud security professional, you are entrusted with the responsibility to ensure the cloud infrastructure is secured with fool-proof measures and policies. You need formal training and certifications in this domain and prior experience is not mandatory.
The following certifications are helpful to get into a groove as a cloud security professional:
- Exam SC-900: Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals
- Exam SC-300: Microsoft Identity and Access Administrator
- Exam SC-200: Microsoft Security Operations Analyst
- Exam SC-400: Microsoft Information Protection Administrator
- AZ-500: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies
- SC-100: Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect
CloudThat has collaborated with NASSCOM FutureSkills Prime and is the first in the industry to offer virtual instructor-led training (VILT) training on AZ-500 Microsoft Azure Security Technologies and AI-102 Designing and Implementing AI solution. These training courses are aligned to competency standards developed by SSC NASSCOM in collaboration with Industry and approved by the Government.
Chief Cloud Officer
The chief cloud officer or CCO is a C-suite professional role. In this role, you are entrusted with the responsibility to define the high-level strategic direction for cloud infrastructure setup. Organizations that develop cloud-based products or offer delivery services through the cloud need a CCO who is a seasoned campaigner in the cloud domain with decades of experience to run the show. CCO is a new role that has emerged in recent times and in some organizations, the roles and responsibilities of a CCO overlap with that of a CTO.
Important certifications are:
- Microsoft Azure fundamentals (AZ-900)
- AWS Cloud essentials for business leaders
- The Cloud & DevOps Certification
To summarize, Cloud Computing is booming in recent days and career opportunities are galore in this arena. No matter which career role you choose, earning certifications from industry stalwarts in the public cloud is an essential component of your career journey.
Written by Bhavesh Goswami, Founder & CEO, CloudThat