SimplivLearning Blog

What Is A Cloud Architect | How Do You Become One?

Simpliv

“Cloud is about how you do computing, not where you do computing” – Paul Maritz, CEO of VMware

Anyone who is working as an IT professional must have heard the term Cloud Computing. Now, this technology is becoming mainstream in the present IT world. The reason is because a growing number of companies around the globe are in the process of adopting cloud computing technology.

With the gradual increase in the focus on cloud computing technology over the last few years, cloud architects are in great demand these days. More and more organizations have moved to cloud platforms for better scalability, mobility and security and hence the professionals who specialize in cloud computing skills are expected to be in high demand to meet this growing industry.

Did You Know? Cloud adoption statistics reveal that by 2020, a staggering 83% of all the company workload will be stored on the cloud – Source: techjury

If you are looking to pursue your career as a Cloud Architect, then you are at the right place, as this blog aims to discuss what exactly a Cloud Architect is. It will show how one can successfully become a Cloud Architect professional.

Before we jump to discuss what becoming a Cloud Architect is all about, let us first see what Cloud Computing is and some of its types to understand this concept with more clarity. Here we also suggest you please read this blog Top 12 AWS Certifications | Right AWS Certification Path to get detailed information about different AWS certifications.

The topics we will be covering in this blog are as follows:

What is Cloud Computing?

To put in simple terms, Cloud Computing is the delivery of computing services – including servers, storage, database, networking, etc., over the Internet, as it offers faster innovation, flexibility, resources, and economies of scale.

Cloud Computing can also be understood as the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user.

With the help of cloud computing technology, business owners can access technology services, such as computing power, storage, and databases, without having to buy, own, or maintain physical data centers and servers. This can be done on an as-needed basis from any of the cloud service provider.

One major benefit of using this technology is that organizations can avoid upfront cost and the complexity associated with owning and maintaining their own IT infrastructure. Instead, they can simply pay for what they use, whenever they use it.

Cloud Computing technologies come in 3 different types:

Each of the above mentioned Cloud Computing types provides different levels of control, flexibility, and management enabling businesses to select the right set of services as per their needs.

Overall, we can say Cloud Computing is one of the transformative innovations of the IT sector and is completely changing the field for the better. With the introduction of this technology, numerous career opportunities have been emerging for the IT professionals The profession of the Cloud Architect is one such.

So, let us understand in detail about Cloud Architect.

What is Cloud Architect?

Over the years, the IT industry has become more complex, and numerous types of IT architect jobs have been evolved. Some of the job types, such as enterprise architect, application architect, and storage architect, have evolved. Similarly, the role of the Cloud Architect has also gained ascendancy.

Cloud architecture is that on which all the necessary components and capabilities to build a cloud are connected in order to deliver an online platform on which applications can run. Cloud architecture refers to different components in terms of databases, software capabilities, and applications, etc., that are engineered to leverage the power of cloud resources to solve business problems.

Did You Know? Dropbox continues to be the leading cloud storage provider with 47.3% of the market. Other top services include Google Drive (26.9%) and Microsoft OneDrive (15.3%) – Source: techjury

Cloud Architects are responsible for planning and designing cloud environments based upon the requirements of an organization. These Cloud Architects take responsibility for developing a company’s computing strategies that include:

These professionals are responsible for bridging the gaps between the complex business problems and solutions in the cloud.

Some other professionals of the technology team, such as DevOps engineers and Developers work with Cloud architects to make sure that the right technology or technologies are being built.

Role of a Cloud Architect in the success of the Cloud Computing technology

Cloud Architect is a relatively new job profile and various organizations assign different kinds of roles and responsibilities to these professionals based upon their needs. Now that you have understood what Cloud Architect is, let us study some of the roles assigned to Cloud Architect in various organizations.

Cloud Architect Job Description:

Cloud Architects are the professionals operating at the forefront of transformational Cloud technology to help their enterprises or customers to avail the benefits of this technology and run their applications efficiently.

Some of the other important roles Cloud Architect are assigned are as follows:

Top Skills and Qualifications required to Become a Cloud Architect?

Cloud Architects must possess certain skills set to reach a new height in the career. Since it is a constantly evolving field, it demands of professionals to stay updated with all the latest technologies and trends.

The Gartner analysts say that “The Cloud Architect should have a variety of technical and nontechnical skills, but above all, the Cloud architect must be great collaborator in order to empower and connect with a verity of other architecture roles in your organization”.

Below is a list of both technical as well as soft skills that Cloud Architects need to possess:

Cloud Architect skills:

Skills specification for Cloud Architect professionals varies across different organizations depending upon the organization’s specific cloud infrastructure. It is always advised that candidates keep updating their knowledge about the upcoming technologies in this field to stay competitive in the IT market.

The factor that separates best Cloud Architects from the rest is their ability to utilize the skills they have learned to maximize value for their employers. There are several certification courses provided by online educational platforms such as Simpliv to help aspiring candidates in this regard.

Now let us discuss some of the technical and soft skills that a Cloud Architect must possess.

Technical skills required:

Soft Skills required:

Start Building The Cloud Computing Skills You need


Cloud solutions Architect Qualifications:

Now let us some of the desired qualifications of Cloud Architect professionals.

Basic qualifications:

Preferred qualifications:

Education Details:

Individuals who want to pursue their career in this profession need to have a bachelor’s degree in computer science or in any related discipline. Some employers prefer candidates with a master’s degree.

In addition, having good knowledge of programming language and some related skills is an advantage for the candidates.

Cloud Architects Jobs Roles and Responsibilities

Some of the jobs associated with Cloud Architect are as follows:

Cloud Architects Job Roles And Responsibilities

Let us discuss in detail about the roles and responsibilities of each of these job titles.

Roles and responsibilities include:

    1. Write code, perform testing, and debugging of applications using the latest programming language and technologies.
    2. Write technical specifications based on conceptual design and stated business requirements
    3. Interact with product managers and users to define system requirements.

Roles and responsibilities include:

    1. Provide architectural assessments, strategies, and roadmaps for identified client service innovations
    2. Work closely with the corporate IT team in areas such as security protocols, application integrations, and product support.
    3. Lead in all aspects of resulting projects that include technology identification acquisition and deployment, UI design, and access provisioning.

Roles and responsibilities include:

    1. Develop the long-term strategic roadmap for all Enterprise Systems architecture in line with business priorities and objectivities.
    2. Define and document standard business systems and processes for cross team, delivery of business capabilities.
    3. Organize training to improve employee’s knowledge and skills for future organizational growth.

Roles and responsibilities include:

    1. Work closely with the Customer engineering and technical staff on SE process definition and execution.
    2. Support SE integration across the analysis, design, development, and testing teams.
    3. Coordinate and help lead SE process execution across the entire team.

Roles and responsibilities include:

Top 5 companies

Today, we can see most companies are willing to hire Cloud Architects. Companies that work across different industries such as finance, e-commerce, health care, retail prefer hiring these professionals.

Now we will provide a list of some of the top 5 companies that prefer to hire Cloud Architect professionals. Here is the list:

Cloud Architect Salary

Cloud Architects professional is the most desired job of the present IT era. The salary of these professionals varies, depending upon several factors peculiar to the individual, such as their qualifications, work experience, type of project, country or city in which they are working and organization for which they are working, etc.

Credit: LinkedIn

As per the LinkedIn reports, the median salary of Cloud Architects in the United States is about $140,000/year. The industries that are offering the highest pay packages for Cloud Architects are:

Top Paying Locations:

Some of the top paying locations of the United States are:

Cloud Architect Certifications

If you have been working in the IT sector, becoming a certified professional over the years will give your career an edge. In addition to earning a degree in a particular IT sector, it is also beneficial for you to pursue different level certifications that make you a sought-after candidate. Certification also helps you stand ahead of your competitors while searching for a job.

In the field of Cloud Computing, several companies are offering certification courses and they validate your skills, knowledge, and expertise to the organizations. Each of the certificates offered by different organizations has something different to offer. So it is very important to choose the right certificate that closely aligns with your career goals and get certified.

So here is a list of different cloud certifications provided from different vendors that you can consider to opt for:

How to become a Cloud Architect?

Cloud Architect profession is a key role and is in very high demand. With a continued exponential growth forecasted over the coming few years, it can be estimated that opting to be a Certified Cloud Architect is definitely the right choice.

Now let us discuss some of the steps or guidelines that help you to become a Cloud Architect professional:

    1. Earn a Bachelor’s degree:
    Anyone who wants to become a Cloud Architect is advised to earn a bachelor’s degree in any of these fields: software engineering, computer science or in any other related field.

    2. Learn Cloud Computing concepts:
    Learning the basic concepts of Cloud Computing is very important to become a Cloud Architect professional. You need to have answers for questions like What is Cloud Computing, which are the services offered by cloud providers, etc., and you need to know why so many industries are adopting Cloud Computing technology.

    Understanding the Cloud Computing technology will help to get more clarity about Cloud Architect’s job role, and hence you can plan your preparations accordingly.

    3. Get practical exposure:
    Before you register for any certifications, it is important for you to get practical exposure to all the tools and software using which you are going to provide a solution to the problems related to cloud infrastructure.

    Having a brief knowledge of such tools and software prove to be very beneficial for you in your journey of becoming a Certified Cloud Architect path.

    4. Build your skills set:
    Knowing what all skills sets you need to learn is very important. This includes both technical as well as soft skills.

    You need to consider learning all the skills set that we have discussed in this blog. During this learning process, you can enroll for online courses provided by online educational platforms such as Simpliv. These courses are proven to be very beneficial to you and give you complete knowledge about the subject.

    Learning these skills set makes you feel more confident and encourages you to apply for cloud certification exams.

    5. Register for certification:
    Certifications always bring a lot of advantages to any professional. They add great value to your resume and recognize you as one of the strong competitors among others while you applying for a job.

    The other advantage of obtaining certifications is, some of the organizations intend to provide a better paycheck to certified professionals as compared to non-certified professionals. So, always consider being a certified professional.

    The other important matter to be noted here is, since many organizations provide their own certifications to employees working in the Cloud Computing domain and all of them have their own advantages,  it is very important to choose the right certification that helps you take your career to a new height.

    6. Apply for jobs:
    Now if you learnt all the concepts related to Cloud Computing, knew all the required skills set, and have successfully obtained Cloud Architect certifications, then it is the right time for you to apply for jobs.

    You can consider applying for a Cloud Architect job in some of the popular job portals mentioned below:

Apart from the above-mentioned job portals, you can find jobs through other means:

3 Reasons To Become a Cloud Architect Now

Now, if you are curious to know why one should pursue a Cloud Architect role and what the prospects of this career are, then read further, as we are listing here some of the top reasons why one should become a Cloud Architect professional.

1. Expanding market:

Most of the technology partners have realized the potential of Cloud Computing and have started implementing Cloud Computing technology. One important aspect to be noted here is that industries of all sizes, from large enterprises to small and medium enterprises, are adopting this technology.

Source: Grand View Research

As per the report given by Grand View Research Cloud Computing size was valued at USD 266.0 billion in the year 2019 and is expected to expand at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 14.9% from the year 2020 to 2027. Some of the factors such as growth in the digital transformation among industries, increase in consumption of big data etc., have led to the growth of the Cloud Computing market.

Experts believe that this rising trend gives ample opportunities for Cloud Computing professionals, including Cloud Architects, in the coming years.

2. High Demand:

As per a research around 83% of enterprise workloads set to be cloud-based by 2020. So, the number of organizations looking to recruit IT professionals with Cloud Computing skills is increasing gradually.

Due to this, demand for Cloud Architect professionals has continued to increase exponentially across the globe and is set to accelerate in the coming years.

Job opportunities for an expert Cloud Architect are immense. If you have all the skills sets and have obtained a Cloud Architect certificate, then it is possible that you find a meaningful, in-demand job in a reputed company.

3. High salary:

Cloud Architect is one of the very interesting jobs if you are interested in Cloud Computing technology. Professionals working in this role are likely to get a higher paycheck. However, salary ranges can widely vary across individuals. It completely depends upon many factors such as education, obtained certifications, known skills set, experience, etc.

The above mentioned are a few prime reasons why one can opt for pursuing a Cloud Architect role.

Conclusion:

Dear readers, we hope that through this blog we have given detailed information about the Cloud Architect role. This information is aimed at helping people who are thinking of pursuing a career as a Cloud Architect. There is no doubt that this is the most in-demand job one can opt for.

In addition to the above details, we would like to share a link of online courses exclusively designed for you to help you to start building your career in the Cloud Computing arena. After going through all the information, if you think something more should have been discussed in this blog, then please share such messages with us in the comment section. We always welcome your valuable feedback.

Now Let’s Start Learning!

Exit mobile version