Gauri Chhabra
If you are in any way related to Information Technology and have ridden with its dynamic waves, you would have experienced the crest called Cloud Computing.It is the new mantra whereby computing is delivered as a service over the Internet rather than as a product installed inside a company’s premises.
With the exponential rise in cloud computing, there has been a need for jobs in the same arena.Many organizations and professionals are looking for a solution to build cloud competencies to properly manage, utilize and govern new technologies.
What is Cloud Computing?
A cloud refers to a distinct IT environment that is designed for the purpose of remotely provisioning scalable and measured IT resources. Metaphorically, it refers to the Internet which is, in essence, a network of networks providing remote access to a set of decentralized IT resources. Cloud Computing is a type of computing which involves sharing of computer resources rather than using local servers or dedicated devices for processing.
Cloud computing comes into focus only when you think about what IT always needs: a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends IT’s existing capabilities.
Types of cloud computing
Software as a Service SaaS:
This type of cloud computing delivers a single application through the browser to thousands of customers using a multitenant architecture. On the customer side, it means no upfront investment in servers or software licensing; on the provider side, with just one app to maintain, costs are low compared to conventional hosting. Salesforce.com is by far the best-known example among enterprise applications, but SaaS is also common for HR apps and has even worked its way up the food chain to ERP, with players such as Workday.
Utility computing
This type offers storage and virtual servers that IT can access on demand. Early enterprise adopters mainly use utility computing for supplemental, non-mission-critical needs, but one day, they may replace parts of the datacenter. These solutions help create virtual datacenters from commodity serversenabling IT to stitch together memory, storage, and computational capacity as a virtualized resource pool available over the network.
Web services in the cloud:
Closely related to SaaS, Web service providers offer APIs that enable developers to exploit functionality over the Internet, rather than delivering full-blown applications. They range from providers offering discrete business services to the full range of APIs offered by Google Maps.
Platform as a Service(PaaS):
This form of cloud computing delivers development environments as a service. You build your own applications that run on the provider’s infrastructure and are delivered to your users via the Internet from the provider’s servers. Like Legos, these services are constrained by the vendor’s design and capabilities, so you don’t get complete freedom, but you do get predictability and pre-integration.
MSP (managed service providers):
One of the oldest forms of cloud computing, a managed service is basically an application exposed to IT rather than to end-users, such as a virus scanning service for e-mail or an application monitoring service.
Service commerce platforms:
A hybrid of SaaS and MSP, this cloud computing service offers a service hub that users interact with. They’re most common in trading environments, such as expense management systems that allow users to order travel or secretarial services from a common platform that then coordinates the service delivery and pricing within the specifications set by the user.
Internet integration:
The integration of cloud-based services is in its early days. It mainly concerns itself with serving SaaS providers and employs in-the-cloud integration technology.
Expert speak:
Rahul Narasimha Akmol, Practice Lead, Technossus Software Services, Bangalore says,”Cloud Computing has already revolutionized our lives be it be cab booking, IPL telecasts, messaging, video calls and even personal health monitoring. I would say this is the best symposium of the skilled manpower and computing resources which helps us to realize the next big thing. All major software giants have made this as their core strategy to build their next solutions, and this has created a wide array of opportunities for individuals to tap into and adapt. The best way to align is to choose a certification from one of the three service portfolios, of industry’s top players of cloud engineering sector (IBM, Amazon, Microsoft, Clouderaetc), achieve it and make the next stride in their careers”
Certifications Path:
Right now, there is a lack of cloud-related talent because the cloud is changing IT skill sets. IT professionals now have to know a little bit about everything.There really hasn’t been too many measures that say how qualified an individual was to work with cloud offerings.Enterprise IT teams aren’t the only professionals struggling to understand cloud services. In addition to third-party IT training companies, many cloud providers have also begun offering cloud training and education programs for technology partners, value-added resellers and managed service providers who are in front of customers.
Infrastructure Services
*Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert – Private Cloud (link)
*Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions (link)
*AWS Certified Solutions Architect (link).
*AWS Certified SysOps Administrator (link)
*IBM Certified Solution Architect – Cloud Computing Infrastructure (link)
*VMware Certified Professional -Vmware
The virtualization pioneer offers six cloud-specific certifications, from beginner to advance. These tracks certify knowledge and expertise in a variety of cloud and virtualization-related technologies and methodologies. Offerings include the VMware Certified Associate — Cloud, VMware Certified Professional — Cloud, and VMware Certified Advanced Professional.
*Red Hat Certificate of Expertise in Infrastructure-as-a-Service — Red Hat This is one of the newest cloud certifications available. The Red Hat Certificate measures professionals’ ability to design, build, deploy and manage private clouds based on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack platform
Big Data & Data Sciences
*Cloudera Certified Developer for Apache Hadoop (link)
*Cloudera Certified Professional: Data Scientist (link)
*IBM Certified Solution Advisor – Big Data & Analytics (link)
Software Suite Solutions & Internet of things
*Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate for Office 365 (link)
*IBM Certified Advanced Deployment Professional (link)
*Cisco Industrial Networking Specialist (link)
*Salesforce.com Certified Professional-Salesforce.com offers several certification tracks, including Salesforce Administrator, Force.com Developer, Implementation Expert, and Architect.
*CCSK — Cloud Security Alliance-This is the mother of all cloud computing security certifications. The Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge certification is vendor-neutral, and certifies competency in key cloud security areas.
*Cloud U – Rackspace- According to Rackspace, Cloud U is a vendor-neutral curriculum designed for IT professionals and business leaders that covers and certifies knowledge of the fundamentals of Cloud Computing.
Institute Scape:
*University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun offering B Tech in Cloud Computing and Virtualization
*University of Shillong offering B Tech in Cloud Computing and Virtualization
*IIHT – Indian Institute of Hardware and Technology, Chandigarh
*Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Chandigarh
Do IT Professionals need to reskill?
As an IT Professional, you might not need a fresh reskill but definitely a balance. To deliver the cloud effectively, you have to know how it works together with legacy systems and IT fundamentals
Engineering colleges are already training students who want to reskill in writing ‘cloud-ready’ applications. While coders use frameworks such as .net and programming languages such as Java to create applications for traditional IT, writing cloud applications require newer frameworks such as SpringSource and Ruby on Rails.
For instance, for a job interview as an enterprise cloud architect, you would be asked a few questions about what’s trending in the cloud computing space, such as the differences between Chef and Puppet, the last four Amazon Web Services releases etc.The focus would also shift to more traditional concepts, such as database design and implementation, network performance modeling, even enterprise architecture. You do have some basic knowledge but missed a few of the more basic questions. And even though your cloud skills are certainly impressive, your limited knowledge of more traditional IT concepts gets your résumé tossed in the trash.
Career Pathways:
There are a plethora of opportunities for IT engineers who can write cloud-ready applications, provision and maintain the infrastructure at the back-end.These can be broadly classified into the following:
*IT Architects responsible for defining main solutions.
*IT Administrators to maintain service provider infrastructure.
*IT Consultants to evaluate clients’ needs and understand how these different offerings can be useful to attend client expectations.
Cloud Computing is a long-running trend with a far-out horizon. So, if you are ready for an IT marathon, Cloud Computing is the best option for you.
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