In demand Cloud Skills for 2015
Ed Jones works for Firebrand Training, a Microsoft Gold Learning Partner. He has worked in the IT training and certification industry for the past 3 years. He is a tech enthusiast with experience working with SharePoint, Windows Server and Windows desktop.
Research from the Cloud Industry Forum suggests cloud computing has now achieved mainstream deployment in the UK. The study claims 78 per cent of UK-based organisations are now utilising at least one cloud-based service.
This has created huge demand, and benefits, for IT pros who can demonstrate cloud based skills. So if you’re thinking about tapping into the cloud phenomenon, or simply looking to keep your knowledge current, here are the in demand cloud skills for 2015:
Migration
Windows Server 2003 faces ‘End of Life’ on July 14, 2015. Due to financial implications and perceived security issues, up to a third of organisations are planning a migration away from the soon defunct software according to the 2015 IT Budget report from Spiceworks.
Many of these organisations will turn to cloud technologies like Azure and System Centre as destinations for their applications and workloads. IT professionals demonstrating the skills required to migrate to public, private or hybrid cloud solutions will be hot property.
Cloud Security
Security is often the primary concern for businesses considering a migration to cloud, one that remains an on-going priority once the migration to the cloud is complete. Over the course of 2014, The IT Job Board saw an increase in the number of Azure IT jobs that required skills in security, in total there were 227 new jobs that required applicants to have skills in security. Add to this the recent string of high profile hacks and it’s no surprise demand for cloud security skills is top of the agenda for businesses in 2015.
Virtualization
Companies looking to optimise the use of server capacity, whether on premise or in the cloud, are increasingly turning to virtualization as a solution. Virtualization allows organisations to eradicate multiple servers running at sub optimal capacity by running multiple virtual instances of database, storage and desktop OS on a single server.
Professionals with virtualization skills continue to experience increased demand. Professionals looking to develop these skills can turn to the MCSA: Windows Server 2012 certification (263 jobs on The IT Job Board required this skill in 2014) or VMWare’s Certified Professional 5 - Data Center Virtualization certification which provide a solid foundation in virtualization.
Cloud based java
As an ever-increasing series of workloads shift to the cloud, from CRM systems to SQL databases, it comes as no surprise that software development is moving there too. Demand for developers with skills in cloud-based java is at an all-time high driven by companies in the SaaS, PaaS and IaaS spaces. For instance, two of the top five skills advertised for Java jobs through 2014 on The IT Job Board included Cloud (13,778 jobs) and Security (12,937 jobs).
Java developers considering transitioning their exisiting skill set to the cloud should consider familiarising themselves with some of the major PaaS services like Google App Engine for Java.
Linux
Demand for IT pros with Linux skills continues to rise with 93% of employers planning to hire a Linux pro in the next 6 months, according to research by LPI. You might wonder what this has to do with cloud, the answer, Azure.
More than 1000 customers sign up to Azure every day, what you might not know however is that 20% of Azure virtual machines run on Linux. So as this trend continues the demand for Linux pros will follow suit.
There we have it, the in-demand cloud skills to get your head around in 2015. Think we are missing a skill that should make this list, or simply want to find out how you can develop the aforementioned skill set, share your comments and questions below.