The ascendance of Cloud Computing has taken the technological world by storm. With its popularity growing exponentially, everybody wants to cash in on the opportunity of being a part of this seemingly ever rising domain. And hence arises a vital question that is ‘How to become a Cloud Engineer?’. If this question intrigues you then this article will answer all your questions that revolve around this topic.
Before we proceed any further let’s understand Cloud Computing in a nutshell, something you should know as a Cloud Engineer. You can learn more from the Cloud Computing Course.
What Is Cloud Computing?
The rise of Internet has led to the rise of IT industry and computing in general. Some Of the Concerns Modern day computing faces are listed below:
- Optimising costly server setups
- Monitoring and governing complete infrastructure
- Taking care of security
- Conveniently scaling up and down
What if someone else could do it for you? And you could consume all the services just by paying a minimal charge for it. Well Cloud or Cloud Computing does exactly that you. It orchestrates all the above-mentioned tasks for you and you only pay for the services you use just like you do for electricity.
In simple words, Cloud Computing is the process of Orchestrating storage, computation and retrieval of data to optimize and simplify the process of Computing over a huge space online (network of data centres). For more information refer this article: What Is Cloud Computing? or join our Google Cloud Training program.
Getting back to the main question in hand ‘How To Become A Cloud Engineer?’,
How To Become A Cloud Engineer?
Cloud Engineer is an IT professional responsible for performing technological responsibilities concerning Cloud Computing. He or She is mainly responsible for:
- Maintenance and support
- Management
- Planning and design Of an Infrastructure on Cloud
That means your role as a Cloud Engineer may vary depending upon the vertical you serve. You may serve as:
- Cloud Security Engineer
- Systems Engineer (Cloud)
- Cloud Developer
- Cloud Architect
- Network Engineer (Cloud)
So, in your quest of becoming a Cloud Engineer you will have to set a path that meets up some or most of the above mentioned responsibilities. Let us start with a chalked-out approach
Start With The Basics
I have already defined Cloud Computing for you but start by understanding Cloud Computing in little more depth. Focus on following pointers:
- Need For Cloud Computing
- Domains Cloud Computing Impacts
- Cloud Service Models
- Deployment Models
- Cloud Computing Vs On premise Approach
- Different Cloud Service Providers
These topics will form the core of your approach towards your goal because these topics will help you understand what role would you like to take up as a Cloud Engineer. It will at same time make you Cloud aware. Please refer this if you want to now more: Introduction To Cloud
Understand Computing Fundamentals
Now, whether you are a fresher or a professional, it is expected you have some basics covered. Before you start practicing Cloud Computing, these are some of the fundamentals you would be required to consider:
- Networking (Routing, IP adresses, networking layers, networking protocols etc)
- Computer Security (Basics Of Access Policies, encryption, data security etc)
- Computer Architecture (Try to understand system design principles and fundamentals surrounding it)
- Learn pl/SQL and linux fundamentals
Learn About Cloud Service Providers
Read and gain knowledge about different Cloud Service Providers. All these service providers have their portals and consoles made available to you for free. Register for those and get some hands on these Services.
AWS and Azure are two of the most talked about Cloud Service Providers in the market. People often have trouble choosing one of the two. Here is a video: AWS Vs Azure that would help you compare the two. Frankly speaking, the margin of difference is very less as both of these Service Providers, pack a punch. As mentioned above, practice and get as much hands on as you can.
Please Note there are other popular Service Providers in market which you are free to choose from, but these are the most talked about or popular ones, hence the suggestion
Practical Implementation
Now that the fundamentals and pre-requisites are out of the way, let us take a look at what topics you should focus on to gain hands on expertise. Here is a list of topics:
- Compute Services
- Storage Services
- Database Services
- Networks Or VPN
- Load Balancing and Scaling
- Cloud Monitoring
- Application Migration
If you manage to master these services using any of the Service Providers mentioned above. You are 70 percent on the way to becoming a Cloud Engineer in any of the verticals mentioned previously. Wait, did I just say 70 percent?. You heard me correctly.
As a Cloud Developer you may be required to pick up some development skills and understand scripting. As a Cloud Administrator you will be rquired to have knowledge on working of Administrative roles. And as a Solutions Architect you need to have understanding of how Cloud works and how can you design plausible applications for your organisation. So work on these aspects as well.
Take a Structured Approach
By now you have a sufficient knowledge as to how to become a cloud engineer? You should take a further a notch. All the Cloud Service Providers have official certifications. Pick the desired certification and a role by browsing respective websites of these providers. Then Start preparing for the certification, this will help you revise your concepts and you will also gain hands on in the process. Try taking up a project in similar domain and try to work on it. Again AWS and Azure both have sufficient sample projects on their website, enough to get you started.
Time To Be Invested
There is no definite timeline for the learning process, different individuals may take up different time to reach their respective goals. However we can always have a rough estimate. Here is one for you:
- Basics (2Weeks/20hours)
- Computing Fundamentals (4weeks/40hours)
- Service Providers with Practical implementation (4Weeks/40hours)
- Projects (2weeks/20hours)
- Certification Preperation tentatively (4weeks/40hours)
We have covered all the bases I wanted you to focus on. This brings us to the end of this article on ‘How To Become A Cloud Engineer’. I hope this article helped you clarify all your doubts and I hope you have a clearer perspective towards what approach to take in becoming a Cloud Engineer. Enroll in Azure Cloud Engineer Certification Program to become the master!
