Why should students seriously consider cloud training?

When I was graduating, the only 'Cloud' that existed was the one you would see blocking the blue sky and you had to find a 'silver lining' as a consolation. Lately, anyone in tech has forgotten THAT cloud as there is a new kid in the block - the kind which has a farm of servers that would submit to your needs with a few lines of instructions. Ok.. if you still did not get it, I am talking about 'cloud computing', the stuff Amazon, Microsoft and Google talk about all the time.

'Students' in the title could be anyone who has the tech know-how enough to play around the computers beyond the instructions manual but, to make a stronger point, I want to narrow the scope to anyone wanting to enter the job market with a tech-related role.

What is Cloud?

There was a time you sit in front of your computer and write instructions and execute everything locally in the big machine in front of you. Then came the mainframes and other servers which you bought and installed them in a big cold room (data center) that YOU owned which did all the heavy computing and gave your results through an expensive data pipe (ethernet/LAN), way beyond what your 'personal' computer could do on its own. Closely on the heels of that technology, came Cloud Computing which delivers information technology services over the internet. The email server is a cloud service - you don't know where the server is, all you know is that you can check your emails securely from your mobile phone or your computer and pretty much see the same thing. As you start understanding Cloud better, you will make 'as-a-Service' part of your Lexicon.

Cloud Services fall broadly into three categories - Software as a Service (e.g. Email), Platform as a Service (e.g. Roblox - where you can create your own games) and Infrastructure as a Service (imagine you are renting a computer from someone on the internet for a period of time). We will discuss this in depth in my future articles.

Why is Cloud not 'another technology'?

Before you take a stand that you are not going to be 'techie' and you don't need to learn about Cloud, remember there is still a generation which thinks mobile phones are complex and knowing how to play around with applications is a 'tech skill' (sorry dad!) . Cloud will be that mobile phone in a few years. Even artists, the people who feel fully entitled to the right side of the brain, put out such quality websites with such ease that engineering grads like me struggled to create 20 years ago. Think of it Wex, which is a popular website hosting service, is a PaaS. Some working knowledge of the cloud, even conceptually, is important for anyone who has gotten this far to read this article.

Why is Cloud THAT big ?

Beyond the obvious value of knowing the tools in the digital age, there are several industry reports on how cloud can impact the current companies. My most quoted study is from McKinsey which concludes that Fortune 500 companies have an opportunity to add $1 Trillion EBITDA by 2030 by moving their business to the cloud. Mind you, two thirds of the value is unlocked through new innovations. Not going through the nuances of how to get to the $1T number, just remember, that it is THAT big an opportunity? The Cloud market is approximately $500B today and is growing at a CAGR of 18% .

Why should YOU train yourself on cloud computing?

1. High Demand : I gave you the $1 Trillion number, do I say more? Needless to say, this is a relatively new area and potentially create 100M+ job opportunities in the next decade.
2. Remote Work: Cloud has facilitated a culture of remote working. If your servers can work remotely, why not you? Cloud computing opens you up to different types of jobs which can help you to be well employed from the location of your choice.
3. Cross-skilling : Cloud Services companies are constantly adding new capabilities and one can continue to expand horizontally in their skills and stay relevant for the next 10-20 years.
4. Start on your own : Imagine you decided to start a tech company in 2000, you had to rent an office, create a huge temperature controlled server room, get all your engineers in the room connecting to your servers on a dedicated LAN, hire a marketing team, payroll team etc. Today, with a good idea and coordinated team, one of your team members could be sipping a margarita on a beach, other must have just come down the Himalayan ranges and overnight you can power up hundreds of servers (quantum ones too if it pleases you) and test out your brilliant idea. All you do is pay by the minute of using these services. If you have the right incentives, you may get it partly free too. Remember your beloved Whatsapp was born on the cloud and had only 55 employees when sold to Facebook for whooping $19B.
5. Enrich your job : You could be a florist, artist or dental assistant and still derive value by building simple applications for yourself on the cloud that would automate some boring tasks.
6. Be an innovator: If you are an tech hobbyist and derived your kicks by tinkering with Raspberry Pi or such tools, can you imagine you now have access to exactly the same tools that the biggest companies in the world have at their disposal through cloud services companies. One night and a few dollars off your credit card, you can run your analysis of what are the chances of Giants winning the Super Bowl.

You are pumped! Where do you sign up?

What if I tell you, you can get all the training for FREE (almost) and just needs your attention and hardwork. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has made 100s of courses, training labs and is providing free for eager learners through AWS Educate. There are similar programs by Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform. They also provide incentives in form of free credits for you to test drive the platforms.

If you are just an enthusiast and want to get started, you can get a foundational certificate (e.g. AWS Cloud Practitioner). Further you can branch out through several certification paths to become a Cloud Systems Administrator, Cloud Developer, Cloud Operations Engineer, Cloud Security Engineer, Data & Analytics expert etc. Check out the various certifications paths for Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.

In conclusion, any level of cloud knowledge in the digital world will give you leg-up in your life in general, and in career in particular.

Disclaimer: Opinions are my own