Skills You Should Learn To Become A Cloud Engineer

The popularity of Cloud Computing has rocketed sky high. Forecasters have also given it a thumbs up suggesting that Cloud Computing is here to stay. No wonder we see a rise in the number of individuals wanting to make a career in this domain. If you too have a similar desire then I am sure you must have questions like what skills you should learn to become a Cloud Engineer? This article will help you answer thess questions.

Skills You Should Learn To Become A Cloud Engineer

As a Cloud Engineer you will be working with crossfunctional teams which is a mix of software, operations and architecture. This means when it comes to learning these skills, you would have quite a few options in your bag you can choose from. Here are some of the must have cloud engineer skills:

1. Cloud Service Providers

If you are to get started with Cloud Computing you cannot do that without understanding how different Cloud Service providers work. These Cloud Service providers offer end to end services like compute, storage, databases, ML, Migration, that is why almost everything that is related to cloud computing is catered by them making it a vital cloud engineer skill.

It is important you choose atleast one from many that are available. AWS, and Azure are market leaders and compete neck and neck in the Cloud market. AWS has the experience of holding the top position in the market and is known for its niche. Azure is a microsoft product making it easier to integrate with almost all the stack of microsoft products that are there. GCP, Openstack have their strangle hold in big data and software development markets respectively. Depending upon the business needs, you would be required to choose one or more.

Each of these service providers have their free tier for usage which is enough to get you started and have sufficient hands on practice. You can even check out the details of Azure with the Azure Course.

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2. Storage

Cloud storage can be defined as “Storing data online on the Cloud” So company’s data is stored and accessed from multiple distributed and connected resources.

Some of the benefits of Cloud Storage are:

• Greater accessibility
• Reliability
• Quick Deployment
• Strong Protection
• Data Backup and Archival 
• Disaster Recovery
• Cost Optimisation

Depending upon the needs of an organistion, it may choose from following types of storage:

• Personal Cloud Storage
• Public Cloud Storage
• Private Cloud Storage
• Hybrid Cloud Storage

The fact that data is centric to Cloud Computing. It is important one understands where to store and how to store it. This is because the measures taken to achieve what is mentioned above may vary based on the type and volume of data an organistaion wants to store and use. Hence understanding and learning how Cloud Storges work, would be a good idea making it an important cloud engineer skill.

Again there are various popular storage services that cloud service providers use. To name a few popular ones, we have S3, Glacier in AWS, blobs & Queues, Data Lakes, in Azure.

3. Networking

Networking is related to cloud computing, as centralized computing resources are shared for clients over the Cloud. It has spurred a trend of pushing more network management functions into the cloud, so that fewer customer devices are needed to manage the network.

Improved Internet access and reliable WAN bandwidth has made it easier to push more networking management functions into the Cloud. This, in turn, has spurred demand for cloud networking, as customers look for easier ways to build and access networks using a cloud-based service.

Cloud Engineer may also be responsible for designing ways to make sure the network is responsive to user demands by building automatic adjustment procedures. Hence understanding of networking fundamentals and Virtual Networks are very important Cloud engineer skills as they are centric to networking on the Cloud.

4. Virtualisation

Virtualisation software has allowed many users to reduce their hardware assets, or use them more efficiently, by running multiple “virtual machines” side by side on the same hardware, emulating different components of their IT systems.

Virtualization plays a very important role in making scalable, fault tolerant resources available to organisations. So working experience or knowledge of virtualisation or services like virtual machines, EC2, Lambda would be a big step towards Serverless Computing. Thus making it a top notch cloud engineer skill.

5. Linux

Linux brings in features like Open source, easy customization, security etc making it a paradise for programmers. Cloud providers are aware of this fact and hence we see adoption of linux on different cloud platforms.

If we take into consideration the number of servers that power Azure alone, you would note that around 30% of those are Linux based.  So if you are a professional with skills like architecting, designing, building, administering, and maintaining Linux servers in a cloud environment, you could survive and thrive in the Cloud domain with this single cloud Engineer skill alone.

6. Security and Disaster Recovery

Cloud security aims at protecting data, applications, and infrastructures involved in cloud computing. Its not much different from from security of On-premise architectures. But the fact that everything is moving to the Cloud, it is important one gets a hang of it.

For any computing environment, cloud security involves maintaining adequate preventive measures like:

• Knowing that the data and systems are safe.
• Tracking current state of security.
• Tracing and responding to unexpected events

If operations interest you then let me tell you Security and Disaster Recovery related concepts will help you immensely as a Cloud Engineer Or Cloud Admin. These are methodologies which are central to operating a software in the Cloud, and are cloud engineer skills that would get you lucrative job.

7. Web Services And API

The underlying foundation is very important to any architecture. Cloud architectures are heavily based on APIs and Web Services because Web services provide developers with methods of integrating Web applications over the Internet.  XML, SOAP, WSDL and UDDI open standards are used to tag data, transfer data, describe and list services available. Plus you need API to get the required integration done.

Thus having experience of working on websites, and related knowledge would help you have a strong core in developing Cloud Architectures. Check out our Google Cloud Certification Program which comes with instructor-led live training and real-life project experience. 

8. DevOps

If you are a software developer or an operations engineer then you are no stranger to the constant issues these individuals deal with as they work in different environments. DevOps brings in Development and Operations approach in one mold thus easing their work dependencies and filling in the gap between the two teams.

This cloud engineer skill may look a little out of place on this list. But this development approach has definitely made its presence felt. DevOps gels really well with most of the Cloud Service Providers, AWS in particular making AWS DevOps a great skill to have.

9. Containers

Containers offer a logical packaging mechanism in which applications can be abstracted from the environment in which they actually run. This decoupling allows container-based applications to be deployed easily and consistently, regardless of whether the target environment is a private data center, public cloud, or even a developer’s personal laptop. Hence understanding how, popular containers like Kubernetes and Docker work will give your resume that extra bulk not just for Cloud domain but for software domain in general.

10. Programming Skills

Talking about cloud engineer skills, you cannot ignore the importance developers play in computing. Developers possess the ability to build, deploy, and manage applications quickly. Cloud Computing uses this feature for strengthing, scalability. Hence learning appropriate programming languages or frameworks would be a boon. Here is list of some popular languages and frameworks:

• SQL : Very important for data manipulation and processing
• Python: lets you create, analyze and organize large chunks of data with ease
• XML With Java Programming: Data descripion
• .net: must have framework specially for Azure Developers

Stack up these programming skills and you would be an unstopable Cloud Engineer.

If you wish to know what are the roles and responsibilities of Cloud Engineer this article would definitely help: Roles and Responsibilities of Cloud Engineer

So this is it folks as we come to an end of this article on ‘Skills you should learn to become a Cloud Engineer’. If you wish to master Cloud Computing and build a career in this domain, then check out our Cloud Masters Certification Program which comes with instructor-led live training and real-life project experience. This training will help you understand Cloud Computing in depth and help you master various concepts that are a must for a successful Cloud Career.

Got a question for us? Please mention it in the comments section and we will get back to you or join our GCP Training in Saudi Arabia today.