Gauri Chabbra
Cloud Computing is the latest buzz that is growing bigger everyday. Does it mean you can compute sitting on a plane, on a cloud, or even on a cloudy day?
None of these. Cloud Computing is a Pay per use Computing Service. In simple words, imagine your company had a website that has a number of users interacting with each other. The website is hosted on a server. Imagine these users start interacting with their friends and their friends start interacting with their own circle of friends and it grows wider. Success knocks at your door and suddenly you have customers clamoring for you. Now, you need extra server space to cater to the increase in traffic which might require extra costs and might not be instantaneous.
Cloud Computing comes to your rescue. You can place all your software and code on the cloud server for a fee. Thus, it gives you 3 distinct advantages. It is scalable, instantaneous and cost effective. It is like paying for the taxi and your meter starts only when you use it, you do not have to busy the entire taxi. Besides, the hardware cost is reduced and you can concentrate on software.In a nutshell, you are trying to dis connect the applications and the hardware.
What is Cloud Computing?
In technical terms, Cloud computing marks a paradigm shift from computing being a product that is installed inside a company’s premises to being a service delivered over the Cloud. It makes life easier for people and organizations dealing with huge amounts of data and information. Today institutions, both government and private, invest a great deal in maintaining servers to store that information. However, not all of this data is accessed frequently. This results is underutilization of available services and unnecessary costs. Cloud computinguses remote servers to store and maintain data for clients who can access it when they need to. You don’t need software or a server for this; all you need is an internet connection. The server and email management software is on a ‘cloud drive’ on the internet and is managed by service providers like Yahoo, and Google.
The building blocks:
The 3 ways to Cloud compute,each offering a different level of user flexibility and control are:
Software as a Service (SaaS): allows users to run existing online applications
Platform as a Service (PaaS):allows users to create their own cloud applications using supplier specific tools and languages
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS):allows users to run any applications they please on cloud hardware of their choice.
Getting in:
To land yourself in a Cloud Computing job you can either go for a B. Tech(CS and IT) or BCA and then go in for a Certification. You should be skilled 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 will require newer frameworks such as SpringSource and Ruby on Rails.
Already working in the IT field?
In case you are already an IT professional, you can leverage your skills by getting certifications in the field. Larger cloud computing technology providers and vendors, such as IBM and Microsoft, as well as independent training organizations such as Cloud School and Learning Tree, typically offer these programs. Top cloud certification programs include:
*IBM Certified Solution Advisor — Cloud Computing Architecture
*IBM Certified Solution Architect — Cloud Computing Infrastructure
*Microsoft Learning
*Google Apps Certified Deployment Specialist
*VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
*Certified Cloud Professional (CCP)
Skillset:
The skills required are Communication, teambuilding, problem solvingand a keen eye for security and adaptability to look at the consumer and provider’s side of the cloud.
Where are the jobs?
Cloud Computing offers a multi- pronged pathway in the following job profiles:
*IT pros with specific cloud skills
In case you go in for a certification in specific cloud computing skills such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) expertise or Google App Engine development skills, you can get a job with companies that have already committed to any of these specific cloud service providers. Typically,you would be doing a tactical job for newly formed groups within IT departments. You would be responsible for configuration, to development, to operations positions.
*IT adminwho have knowledge of cloud architecture.
You may also work as a Network engineer for a big organization where your core responsibility is to design and develop a network that offers constant and secure connectivity to its cloud based mission critical solutions. with positions for cloud architects seek people who can define the cloud– from business requirements to the actual cloud deployment. These jobs tend to be with companies that have yet to define their path to the cloud and need some assistance in doing so. They may be defining the use of existing private and public clouds, or perhaps building clouds from the ground up.
*Enterprise Cloud architect- a confluence of both the development and architecture
This is a hybrid role in which you need to have both the skills- specific cloud skills as well as knowledge of cloud architecture. Commonly known as ‘enterprise cloud architect’, in this role you would need to both design and manage application frameworks and operations. This role is a marriage of the developer and the architect wherein you not only need to develop the IT assets but also are responsible for the architecture and maintenance of IT assets.
*Integration Specialist- consulting and thought leadership
As an Integration specialist, you have less to do with development and maintenance but more with consulting and transforming organizations into platforms of increasing productivity.
*Cloud Marketing Manager
As with other sectors, those with a penchant for marketing and sales can team it up with an MBA and can start a career in creating and identifying a need for Cloud Computing in business houses.
The Cloudy haze:
Cloud Computing came with a mixed response. While some hailed it because of the ease of computing and cost effectiveness, there are others who feel that it might sound a death knell for IT Engineers as it hinges on virtualization and automation.
However, certain categories of engineers will continue to be in demand and many more jobs could be created to offset the loss in maintenance and the number of jobs in application development for the cloud will increase.
According to a study by EMC and Zinnov Management Consulting estimates the total cloud market in India is expected to touch $4.5 billion by 2015. It expects the private cloud market, where the infrastructure is operated for specific companies, to create 100,000 IT jobs by 2015. It also warns that companies are currently underskilled in addressing cloud computing implementations.It is becoming harder for firms to find people when filling up positions which require particular skill sets related to cloud. Most of the companies just outsource to specialized cloud computing firms or they start training some of their own employees.
Salary levels ate quite impressive. An entry-level professional, perhaps with 5-6 years of experience, can earn around 12-19 lakh; while a mid-level executive can get around 20 lakh. People with 10-15 years of experience can hope to get 30 lakh or more.
When it comes to careers in Cloud Computing, sky is the limit…
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel