1. Cloud Security
The very nature of cloud computing—outsourcing the storage and retrieval of often-sensitive business data—necessitates a profound focus on security and trust. IT security is (or should be) a top priority in most organizations, since a single security breach has the potential to expose customer data, steal valuable intellectual property, and permanently damage a company’s reputation. The demand for cybersecurity talent in general is massive and growing every day, but particularly in the cloud domain.
2. Machine Learning and AI
Machine learning and artificial intelligence in general is a red-hot market segment, cloud computing aside. But since the major cloud vendors have offered tools and services that provide greater access to cloud-based AI and machine learning applications, they have become vital cloud computing skills. Once referred to as “infrastructure as a service” by Amazon’s AWS division, cloud computing can deliver the computing power and infrastructure that organizations of every size need if they want to dabble in AI and machine learning.
As the machine learning industry has matured, the delivery of machine learning solutions over the cloud is now referred to as machine learning as a service, or MLaaS, and is expected to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43 percent through 2024. As with cybersecurity, machine learning and AI are in need of talent generally. Combining technical skills required for cloud computing with AI skills, however, could exponentially raise your stock as a professional in the field.
3. Cloud Deployment and Migration Across Multiple Platforms
As organizations continue to migrate native IT systems to cloud platforms, or from one cloud platform to another, they have a need for professionals with deployment and migration skills. This isn’t as simple as flipping a switch, but requires advanced cloud computing skills in order to protect the integrity and security of data while minimizing downtime. While it’s always smart to avoid limiting yourself, many organizations need professionals who understand all three major cloud platforms. If you have AWS skills, Azure skills, and Google Cloud skills, you’ll have more career opportunities and more value within a given organization.
As a cloud computing professional, there are other technical skills you should have to thrive in your career. Being skilled in databases, DevOps, and other related technologies can help you to succeed and grow in the cloud computing industry.
4. Database Skills
Globally, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day, much of it unstructured but with the potential to provide enormous value for organizations. As these databases are mostly hosted on cloud platforms, the interest in distilling useful insights from this information fuels the demand for professionals with the cloud computing skills to manage, store, and access data. If you’re an IT professional, this is the perfect time to invest in learning a database querying language and an associated database platform.
The de-facto standard database language to learn is SQL. If you want to develop your skills a little more, you could consider learning MySQL, MongoDB, or Hadoop. If you’re new to database querying languages, then a good place to start is with Simplilearn’s SQL Certification Training Course
5. DevOps
Derived from the term “developmental operations,” DevOps refers to the popular method of software development that takes the entire software lifecycle into account, from planning to maintenance. The DevOps method enables organizations to automate certain updates and get updates out much quicker and efficiently. It’s an important development process in the world of cloud computing, so adding DevOps to your set of cloud computing skills is a smart move.
