The IT job market has always shifted as technologies advanced, but cloud computing has pushed changes in the market to speeds never seen before. The job market for cloud architects changes as rapidly as the technology itself. At AWS Re:Invent 2018 last week, AWS announced 30+ new significant services alone. Then there is Microsoft, Google, and all the smaller players to keep track of.
In 2018, businesses big and small looked to either on board new IT staff, or advance the skills of existing staff, around a number of key IT trends. Some of these trends spotlight technologies such as machine learning and serverless computing, while others involve more table stakes technologies like cloud infrastructure management skills, especially those related to hybrid and multi-cloud. 2019 should see more of the same as cloud adoption starts to ramp.
All the flexibility that the cloud offers comes at a cost. IT teams must be able integrate multiple cloud and on-premise environments. As a result, many enterprises will fill jobs with architects who can bridge disparate infrastructures. To align with all the technology shifts, IT professionals must build or hone their skills around areas such as data science, AI, and container orchestration. Failing to do so could leave your career on the junk heap of technologists.
The top 2 skills to focus on for 2019 are multi-cloud and security.
Global spending on cloud security tools will reach $3.5 billion by 2021, a compound annual growth rate of 28% over the next five years, according to Forrester. AWS, Azure, and Google provide similar types of security services, such as monitoring, encryption, and identity management. Still, these tools operate differently, in ways that are unique to each particular cloud platform. This means that knowledge of one doesn’t necessarily translate to another. This of course doesn’t even start the discussion of compliance. That is a totally separate blog.
To ensure their cloud computing skills stay relevant, security managers must also keep pace with the latest trends, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, which some providers now incorporate to strengthen their offerings. These skills will be an increasingly big part of DevOps deployments.
Enterprises are moving to multi-cloud deployments to increase flexibility based on performance, cost and other factors. As a result, IT pros should expand their skills across multiple infrastructure-as-a-service providers. These multi-cloud deployments are going to require architects to have a strong understanding of network as well, so the flow of data across hybrid and multi-cloud deployments is reliable and performant.
Enterprises that plan hybrid or multi-cloud deployments will also be on the hunt for IT pros with container experience to help facilitate application portability across cloud environments. The most in-demand container skills involve Docker and Kubernetes.
Author Bio: Joe Goldberg is the Senior Cloud Program manager at CCSI. Over the past 15+ years, Joe has helped companies to design, build out, and optimize their network and data center infrastructure. As a result of his efforts, major gains in ROI have been realized through virtualization, WAN implementation, core network redesigns, and the adoption of cloud services. Joe is also ITIL certified.
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