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Trends in cloud jobs can be overall indicators of trends in the cloud computing space. With an ever-evolving and increasing use of cloud services, new and important changes are needed to the skill sets, roles, and responsibilities of cloud professionals. Here are some trends we’re seeing.

The Cloud Job Market is on the Rise

There is exponential growth in the cloud computing industry, so it’s no surprise that the demand for cloud computing intellect and skills is also increasing, with no slowing down in the foreseeable future. According to Gartner TalentNeuron, an online real-time labor market insight portal, “there are about 50,248 cloud computing positions available in the U.S. from 3,701 employers, and 101,913 open positions worldwide.”

As more and more enterprises drive value from container platforms, infrastructure-as-code solutions, software-defined networking, storage, continuous integration/delivery, and AI, they need people and skills on board with ever more niche expertise and deep technological understanding. Anecdotally, many organizations we talk to share that getting and keeping talent on board is a challenge as they seek to evolve their use of cloud services. The cloud jobs that are available in the market today are a result of employer demand to drive innovation and are paramount for delivering new business applications and services to the end-user.

Cloud Talent Demand Trends

Here are a few roles and talent areas that will see increased demand this year.

Cloud Architect

Cloud architects are experts responsible for the supervision of a company’s cloud computing system, overseeing the organization’s cloud computing strategy through deployment, management, and support of cloud applications. Cloud architects have a strong background in networking, programming, multiple operating systems, and security. In addition, they also have a strong knowledge of cloud services such as AWS, Google or Azure, with experience in ITSM, I&O, governance, automation, and vendor management. Here at ParkMyCloud, we talk to a lot of cloud architects!

Cloud architects are also known as cloud developers or cloud systems administrators. When it comes to getting hired, an AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, or Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect certifications are currently the industry standards to help you emerge above the rest in this cloud job arena.

Cloud Consultants

Cloud consultants are “the experts” who can help an organization conduct an overall technical analysis and assessment of the enterprise and recommend suitable cloud technology options to promote productivity and efficiency. A cloud consultant’s education background includes IT or business administration, IT consulting experience, and highly effective communication skills. A cloud consultant’s expert knowledge of cloud service providers and cloud technologies available is key to provide maximum value to an enterprise.

You may find of interest cloud computing careers that are relatable to cloud consultant. These include cloud security engineers, cloud operations engineers, and cloud infrastructure engineers. An educational path to becoming a cloud consultant ranges from studying different programming languages to getting certified – although not necessarily required – in a single or multi-cloud computing system.

Business Intelligence Analyst

A BI analyst has strong skills in database technology, analytics, and reporting tools, and excellent knowledge and understanding of computer science, information systems, or engineering. Skills necessary to this role is the ability to understand a company’s cloud needs through data interpretation and to be able to collate and cogently communicate cloud-based services and cloud strategy solutions to drive actionable results. This is an important role in the cloud management of businesses as demand for data and data analysts increases. BI analysts will collaborate with many individuals in the IT department in an organization to maximize proficiency and productivity.

A BI analyst can also be described as a BI developers, BI managers, and Big Data engineer or data scientist. To work in BI, you do not need to be certified, but it may help you get an advantage when considered for a job if you have certifications like Certified Business Intelligence Professional and Certified Application Associate: Business Intelligence.

IoT Engineer

An internet of things (IoT) engineer is an IT professional who is an expert in at least one or more of the core IoT disciplines: devices, connectivity, edge and cloud analytics, enterprise integration, platforms, and development and DevOps. Job titles for IoT engineers in the industry depend on the discipline they focus on, for example, they can be called IoT Architect, IoT data scientist or IoT hardware engineer. But all have in common an in-depth knowledge in specific subject matters of IoT in comparison to other engineers, making them the right person when it comes to decision- making regarding the specific IoT subject matter. The main responsibility of IoT engineers is to help businesses keep up with IoT technology trends.

According to Gartner, “By 2022, 80% of leading I&O organizations will devise I&O strategies for digital business initiatives such as artificial intelligence and IoT.”  And if you have any doubt that this is important in the cloud space, just see how many of AWS’s new services this year are IoT-focused.

The Future of Cloud Computing Jobs

In today’s trends in cloud computing jobs, if you’re looking to get involved in cloud for the first time, read about these four cloud computing jobs to check out if you want to break into the space. Or, perhaps consider these interesting cloud job titles we came across for the future:  

• Data Detective
• Master of Edge Computing
• Cyber City Analyst
• Man-Machine Teaming Manager
• Quantum Machine Learning Analyst

Cloud computing growth continues to accelerate at unprecedented rates as businesses continue to invest in cloud services like SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. The adoption of cloud technology platforms empowers businesses with unlimited possibilities for innovation, but in order to stay at pace with this innovation and the dizzying array of services being offered by Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and IBM, all businesses will need skilled resources, offering cloud computing professionals a very promising career in the cloud industry for years to come.