| Figuratively,
the global cloud computing market is expected to grow from $37.8
billion in 2010 to $121.1 billion in 2015 at a CAGR of 26.2 per cent
from 2010 to 2015. Not only does it reduce business costs, but also
makes applications accessible from any location: cloud computing is
undoubtedly the future of computing (good news is, it's already here and
kicking!). As such, IT professionals must have a technical know-how of
all things 'cloudy' and must ensure that their skills are up to date. |
|
Here are 10 Cloud-focused skills every IT pro must know:
1. Business and financial skills
Business (the act of making money) and technology don't always go hand in hand when it comes to the larger share of open source community. One might contend that there's always a price to pay, well not necessarily! However, in the case of cloud-based market, restraints, and opportunities IT professionals must have necessary business skills to meet challenges.
2. Technical skills
In the world of cloud computing, of course much of the IT resources can be stramlined thereby offloading an organisation's day-to-day system management, however, that doesn't take away the fact that technical skills are put on the back burner. There is always a need of technical assistance, for instance when developing a language for an application.
3. Enterprise architecture and business needs analysis
When it comes to service-oriented architecture it's always ideal for IT professionals to readily cross disciplines and multi-task efficiently.
4. Project management skills
Don't let the 'richness' of cloud computing befool you. It's very flexible, yes, but that doesn't mean it shall work on its own by magic! Over dependance on cloud and its advantages should not lead to missed deadlines and vague goals that at the end of the day compromise the very advantage of Cloud.
5. Contract and vendor negotiation skills
It's ideal that IT pros have some prior experience dealing with contract and vendor negotiations. They must be aware of where they are getting their hands and feet into. Service-level agreements are made and breached in seconds!
6. Security and compliance
A firm understanding of security protocols and the regulatory mandates is a must when it comes to IT professionals dealing with Cloud.
7. Data integration and analysis skills
While workinh with big data and making full use of it, IT professionals must assist data scientists in hooking up big data as also maintain a healthy enterprise resource planning.
8. Mobile app development and management
The future my friends is 'mobile' (mobile via cloud to be precise). IT professionals and the organisations they serve must have their basics right when it comes to providing mobile experience to customers via cloud. There must be ideas brewing up every now and then that focus on improving their services for which they must aggressively follow market trends and patterns.
9. Knowledge of open hybrid clouds
The future is also 'open'! It's high time IT professionals come to realise the importance of going open, building and extending their organisation's cloud computing infrastructure accordingly.
10. Understanding of OpenStack
In order to take full advantageof open source, IT pros must have a firm understanding of the technology required to make it so. OpenStack essentially is a merger of developers and cloud computing technologists that together deliver a number of cloud infrastructure components through their projects.
