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2020 was the year of the Covid-19 pandemic, but it was also the year in which digital, and innovation in general, played a primary role in overcoming the resulting crisis. In fact, unprecedented restrictions on travel, physical interactions, and the behavior of individuals since the COVID-19 pandemic outburst have forced companies and consumers to totally overhaul how they operate and act. This meant that the digital transformation came in a matter of weeks rather than months or years. In this context, Cloud Computing has emerged decisively.
According to the latest report by the Digital Skills Observatory promoted by Aica, Aintec-Assinform, Cloud Computing is one of the most requested professions, registering an increase in demand in 2020 equal to + 106%.
As of 2019, more than 50% of companies globally were using at least one public cloud platform for their daily business operations. In 2020, that number has jumped to nearly 68%, with many analysts predicting a similar, if not greater, increase in 2021. In fact, the health crisis, lockdowns and the escalation of smart working have accelerated the growth of this market and in 2021, total cloud solution expenditure will rise seven times faster than overall IT spending, according to Deloitte's recent TMT predictions 2021. This market will probably emerge from the crisis stronger than ever: "Cloud service providers and other ecosystem players will have the opportunity to capitalize, while users will have additional means to create value. In the near future, cloud technologies could become the main solution for multiple types of business ”. Between 2021 and 2025, revenue growth in this sector will remain above 30% as companies migrate to the cloud to become more efficient, agile and innovate. A recent study from In
deed predicts that cloud computing is set to become a more than $ 330 billion industry by 2022.
Furthermore, the same CompTia report states that the cloud (59%) will be the second most important infrastructure in 2021, after the network (73%) and more than the server administration (55%). According to Cisco, multi cloud will be one of the five trends of 2021, to manage additional workloads, a choice already made by 21% of companies as a CapEx investment connected to the pandemic, according to an Idc report.
For developers, this presents a tremendous opportunity. Large and small enterprises will continue to seek cloud computing skills, offering some of the highest salaries in the tech domain. However, since this profile is one of the newest professions deriving from digital transformation, being able to understand exactly what are the skills required by the job market in the field of cloud computing can still be difficult and not very clear.
The goal of this article is to illustrate everything you need to know in order to become a cloud engineer and the questions we will answer are the following:
1. Why could becoming a cloud engineer be a turning point in your career?
2. What really means to be a cloud engineer?
3. Roadmap to become a Cloud Engineers
1. WHY BECOME A CLOUD ENGINEER COULD BE A TURNING POINT IN YOUR CAREER?
The first and biggest reason is the speed with which you can acquire skills in cloud computing, especially if you already have a background related to software development.
If you are a software developer, you are already halfway there. Moving from software development to cloud engineering is just a slight shift in your skills development. In fact, many job openings overlap between software and the cloud. Therefore, if you master Java, Python or SQL, you already meet most of the hiring requirements for this position.
THE TREND OF THE LABOR MARKET
This is the second reason: the demand for cloud engineers is constantly growing. Cloud usage is on the rise, which means there are more job opportunities for cloud engineers. The entire field of the Cloud, in fact, is opening up and expanding steadily.
In a recent Burning Glass survey, "Cloud Computing" was ranked as the most in demand skill for technology / development positions, appearing in over 90,000 job postings - even more in demand than the "Python" and "Java" skills put together! This identifies cloud computing as the skill with the highest recruitment rate within the modern technological environment.
This increase in demand has resulted in very attractive salaries. According to Glassdoor's most recent survey, cloud engineers across the industry average nearly $ 130,000 annually, about $ 40,000 more than senior software developers.
REAL WORLD PROBLEM SOLVING
In addition to the market demand for cloud engineers, another reason to specialize in this area is because it is one of the most exciting and satisfying fields in IT. In fact, cloud engineers are those who deal with the technological problems that afflict the world of work by collaborating with large companies on security, storage and accessibility, and also contributing enormously to the ease and accessibility of the smart working caused by the pandemic.
Furthermore, cloud computing also involves various necessary creative skills that are detached from software development. In fact, a job in cloud engineering uses skills in DevOps, web security, disaster recovery, containerization, networking, machine learning, and systems design.
2.WHAT REALLY MEAN TO BE A CLOUD ENGINEER?
Cloud engineering jobs generally fall into one of three categories Cloud Architecture, Cloud Development, and Cloud Support. Each category will be explained in depth below.
CLOUD ARCHITECTURE
These are engineers who oversee large portions of a cloud network. Positions in this category cover the planning and management of all cloud components, including hardware, software or applications. If an organization wants to expand its services, the cloud architecture is in charge of deciding which services are needed to meet the needs of the business. They also regularly evaluate cloud performance and develop technical solutions to overcome the challenges of any cloud component that interferes with its use.
Cloud Architect is the generic title for an engineer in this category. Salaries in this role average $ 107,000 per year.
Cloud Development
Cloud development consists of a programming work which focuses on developing the cloud architect's vision in codes on their respective platforms. They combine traditional development skills with cloud-specific knowledge to build, deploy and optimize applications across the cloud. Cloud developers can use their traditional software development skills along with computer networking, app development, user interface and UX, among others.
Some job titles in this category would be:
- Cloud Engineer, $ 128,000 per year
- Cloud Developer, $ 98,000 per year
- Cloud software developer, $ 76,000 per year
Cloud Support
This is a category more related to services, and current jobs tend to vary more than others. These jobs involve working directly with cloud clients to meet their needs and maintain individual cloud components. In cloud support, you can become an expert on a specific cloud technology or hosting service and work with clients to ensure their success. Some cloud support positions may also explore new technologies and troubleshoot together with cloud architects to solve customer problems on a larger scale.
Some job titles in the category would be:
- Cloud Support Engineer, $ 55,000 per year
- Cloud Security Engineer, $ 97,000 per year
- Cloud Systems Technician, $ 45,000 per year
WHICH ARE THE MOST POPULAR CLOUD PROVIDERS AND PLATFORMS?
There are many companies that provide cloud services for SaaS, PaaS, IaaS. Despite this, the world of cloud computing is generally run by a small group of cloud providers or services that host data. The cloud provider and the platform you work with on a daily basis usually depend on the company you are employed in, however, the most common are Amazon with AWS, Microsoft with Azure and Google with Google Cloud Platform.
3. ROADMAP TO BECOME A CLOUD ENGINEER: THE GEEKS ACADEMY
In an interview with dunp, Antonio Venece director of the Geeks Academy explains how Geeks was born in 2016 with the aim of being at the forefront and providing, through various study programs lasting 6 months, courses ranging from acquisition basic, intermediate and specialized knowledge of Cloud Computing, thus obtaining an all-encompassing preparation on issues inherent to the various paths and an immediate job opening.
At the end of these courses, participants acquire all the necessary knowledge regarding the provision of IT services over the Internet. Furthermore, they will be able to apply the fundamental concepts of cloud computing previously expressed, such as architecture, design and its implementation models, within different types of organizations and use them in data management, in order to improve business opportunities. of the company.
Furthermore, starting from 2018, at the Geeks Academy it is possible to attend and carry out the preparatory courses for the EXIN international certifications, including the EXIN CLOUD COMPUTING international certification.