Cloud computing has become an insuppressible trend in the Information Technology industry. It has facilitated individuals and organizations to access applications and software over the internet. Though you may not be familiar with Software as a Service (SaaS) or Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), you must be using them in some form or the other. Google Docs, Cisco WebEx, Microsoft Office 365, and OpenShift are some of the popular examples of cloud services that are widely used these days.
Traditionally, companies had to install the software on their systems to use them and had to deal with many issues like installation, maintenance, renewal costs, and licensing. Then came cloud service providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Salesforce, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud that offered all kinds of software and applications over the internet and didn’t require on-premise installation. Businesses started to reap huge benefits from cloud computing. From cutting costs on in-house servers and applications, guaranteed assistance round the clock, to paying only for the services used, cancellation of services anytime, best-in-class tools, and a highly secure environment for data, cloud computing offers a host of advantages to companies.
With such lucrative offerings, large-scale companies as well as startups are showing interest in migrating their workload to the cloud. Throughout this process, they need cloud specialists who can use their expertise in helping the organizations seamlessly shift their operations on the cloud. A cloud computing certification is often what companies seek when hiring cloud practitioners. Additionally, they look for certain skills that verify their ability to take up a job in cloud computing. This article makes you aware of some of those highly-valued skills required in a cloud computing career.
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In-Demand Cloud Computing Skills
The IT industry is a major source of employment and contributor to a nation’s economic growth and evidently, there is high competition in each of its areas including cloud computing. You’ll require specialized skills and expertise to stay ahead of the competition and grow your cloud computing career. Let’s check out the top skills you need to master.
Database management
Companies are dealing with big data in this digital age and cloud platforms are being preferred by companies to host databases as they are highly scalable. It increases the demand for professionals who are proficient in setting-up, accessing, and managing databases. So, knowledge of SQL, MongoDB, and related database platforms is essential in cloud computing.
Task Automation
In a cloud environment, practitioners are expected to automate different tasks and processes as their organization deals with a massive amount of data. DevOps is a popular framework in cloud computing and many DevOps tools have been developed to assist in the automation of various tasks. So, knowledge of top DevOps tools like Dashboard Kubernetes, Docker, Selenium, and Chef is beneficial for a cloud computing career.
Familiarity with top cloud platforms
This is one of the basic skills necessary to excel in cloud computing. When you start working as a cloud practitioner, you would be working on any one of the cloud platforms like AWS, IBM Cloud, Salesforce, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and so on. If you are already comfortable working with any of the services offered by these platforms, you would easily become fit for handling the new job responsibilities.
Cyber Security
While there are so many benefits of using cloud services, companies must also pay attention to securing their data. Organizations must protect the applications that use the information as well as the servers on which the applications run. Additionally, there are certain devices that transmit the data to the cloud. Though the service providers are responsible for the security of an organization’s data, cloud practitioners should be capable of dealing with possible threats.
Data Migration
One of the major tasks that cloud specialists have to handle on their job is to migrate either an old application from on-site storage to the cloud or from one cloud platform to the other. They must also ensure that there is no data loss during the migration process. So, individuals must be aware of the various migration strategies, best practices, mapping out the infrastructure, Cloud Transformation Maturity model, and assessing an organization’s migration readiness.
Cloud Related Credentials
One of the easy ways employers determine whether a candidate possesses the right cloud computing skills or not is by looking at their skill set. If the professionals include industry-recognized certifications in their skill set, they have a higher chance of getting hired. Cloud service providers as well as other institutes offer valuable certifications to help professionals increase their understanding of cloud computing. Some of the popular cloud certifications include:
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate
- Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
- CompTIA Cloud+
- Cisco CCNA Cloud
You Roadmap to Gaining These Skills
Apart from the above mentioned skills, professionals need to be proficient in other areas like programming, Linux fundamentals, software quality assurance, and so on. Are you one of those aspirants who don’t have any prior knowledge of cloud computing? Then, it becomes even more important to gain these skills through a training course in cloud computing. Learning from reputed training providers gives you a competitive edge over the peers and helps you advance your career.
You’ll find courses related to the specific vendor certifications as well as generic courses that give you an overall idea of cloud computing. Depending on your learning needs, you can make a choice between the two. The instructors who design such courses have rich experience of implementing cloud services in a variety of industries and know what exact skills do companies seek from cloud practitioners.
Once you become a certified cloud practitioner, you will pave your way to a high paying career. You’ll be eligible for job roles like cloud engineer, cloud system administrator, cloud architect, DevOps engineer, cloud consultant, and more. Many tech companies have already initiated their migration to the cloud and you shouldn’t miss the opportunities they offer for cloud practitioners.
