Choosing Your Cloud Computing Career Path

Cloud computing, backup and recovery services are being widely adopted by enterprises worldwide, creating a need for cloud professionals. Are you considering a career in cloud computing?

A few in the IT field are frightened by the increased adoption of cloud technology, but the vast majority have taken it as an opportunity to build up their careers and earning potential by gaining related skills. However, if you are looking to move into cloud computing, you have to choose a specific path, and in this business, some skills are more valued than others.

The statistics

IT professionals today have everything to smile about. According to statistics, there are over 3.9 million jobs for cloud computing professionals in the United States and counting. Of these, roughly 390,000 of them are IT-related. In addition, the current median salary for an IT professional with some cloud computing skills is about $91,000.

Going global, there are more than 18 million jobs in the cloud computing industry, with about 41% of them being based in China (in case you’re looking for a place to move to). Because of the massive explosion in the adoption of cloud-based storage, backup and recovery systems and solutions, there is a growing need for professionals well versed in cloud migration and related skills. In fact, the average qualified candidate today has 100 jobs to pick from, according to research.

Choosing your path

As to developing your career in cloud computing, there are two ways to go about that: you can acquire specific cloud skills, such as backup and recovery, in addition to your IT knowledge, or acquire cloud-architecture know-how to become an IT administrator for could-based solutions in enterprises.

The enterprises that need specific cloud-based skills are usually fully committed to solutions from particular service providers such as Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS) or MS Azure. Commonly, the job openings depend on conversance with up-and-coming DevOps automation processes and tools.

The trend towards container and Docker technology creates a demand for skills related to container-based portable application building. Docker container technology is widely adopted in many enterprises, making it a highly sought-after skill, in addition to container-clustering technologies.

Cloud backup and disaster recovery is a big part of adoption of cloud computing by many enterprises. This is because cloud backup is not only cheaper, it also gives higher availability and with less hassle, which makes it a choice solution for enterprises of all sizes.

There are likely to be more jobs that require specialized skills in Google and MS-based cloud solutions, which are more widely adopted than AWS and other public cloud service solutions. Other providers like Verizon, CenturyLink, HP and IBM are also growing, so skills in this area may also be in demand.

Cloud architecture

Finally, cloud architects are those sought after to define a business’s cloud requirements. This covers everything from requirement mapping to the actual deployment. Such jobs are available with companies that haven’t yet implemented cloud solutions, or wish to change service providers for any reason.

To venture into this field, you will need strategic knowledge in as many cloud computing technologies and providers. In turn, you should be able to leverage this knowledge to meet business goals for clients. Suitable candidates are those with prior experience in service-oriented architecture and/or enterprise architecture.

Mostly, qualified candidates will be engaged in consultative capacity, with earning potential of $150K-250K according to location and level of experience.