Getting into Cloud Computing - AWS/Azure/Google Cloud

[cosmic]

Considering this is a market that will be expanding in the next few years; what do you suggest as the best way to get into cloud computing for someone who has worked as a SW engineer since the early 2000s - mainly embedded C and C#?

Is there any chance that getting certified would land me a developer's contract, or should one start their way from the bottom again, looking for a junior permie role?

As a 365/azure consultant I would say you would need to have commercial experience. The current client and many others are struggling to find developers and or architects to cover roles. Most have no or little experience so cv's are binned. I would get your feet in a a junior to understand how cloud computing works. Learn PowerShell code and reactJS while at it and once you have 2-4 years experience you would get a good salary. In contracting it can be from 350 to 750 per day once you have the experience but you would be fighting against seasoned contractors with many clients under their belt.... but we all started somewhere and having the commercial experience is key.

[Klodge]

I've been looking into Cloud services as well (my background is from architecture within defence companies rather than as a developer though). I wouldn't say you have the rest of the other required skills to really make use of cloud experience to be honest, certainly not enough for someone to employ you based on it.

I've paid for Azure and AWS courses as its a big hole in my skillset as an architect but in your shoes, I'd spin up some Azure and AWS trial labs and just play and see if it helps fill any gaps.

[tomtomagain]

I've been selling an Azure based solution for the past 4 years and I'm impressed with the breadth, size and types of organisations using it.

I've got customers with 100 employees all on Office365 & Azure and customers with 100,000 employees all on Office 365 & Azure. Across a range of industries, plenty of financial companies, government departments, charities, manufactures, oil & gas giants. You name it. Someone in your sector is using it.

For anyone working in a corporate IT environment, regardless of role, I'd say having at least some understanding of Azure ( or AWS ) and it's capabilities is likely to be time well invested. The skills required for Azure will converge with the skills required for "On-Prem".

You might not buy into the "Cloud-Will-Eat-Everything" hype and of course the computer industry loves a good fad but consider this:

Microsoft is in the process of pushing Azure into the corporate environment anyway. Features in on-prem Windows Server, SQL Server, AD and so forth are designed to work in conjunction with Azure.

I would not be surprised if a unifying "Private-Azure" product is launched. Instead of installing a Windows server you might one day deploy a "Private-Azure" onto your rack of ( Microsoft approved hardware ) which would give you the Azure experiance within your own DC ... and of course link seamlesly to Microsoft Azure to allow you to buy-in additional capacity as and when required.

[Lance]

I would not be surprised if a unifying "Private-Azure" product is launched. Instead of installing a Windows server you might one day deploy a "Private-Azure" onto your rack of ( Microsoft approved hardware ) which would give you the Azure experiance within your own DC ... and of course link seamlesly to Microsoft Azure to allow you to buy-in additional capacity as and when required.

like this? What is Azure Stack | Microsoft Azure

what have you been selling? That's been around quite a while now

[tomtomagain]

like this? What is Azure Stack | Microsoft Azure

what have you been selling? That's been around quite a while now

Yes. Exactly like that!

It's a big product area and I certainly don't claim to know all of it ...

Have you used Azure Stack? If so, how close to the Cloud Azure is it? i.e does it offer the same range of services such as Functions and Cosmos or is it limited to SQL databases and VM's?

[BigDataPro]

Considering this is a market that will be expanding in the next few years; what do you suggest as the best way to get into cloud computing for someone who has worked as a SW engineer since the early 2000s - mainly embedded C and C#?

Is there any chance that getting certified would land me a developer's contract, or should one start their way from the bottom again, looking for a junior permie role?

I would suggest getting some courses, sign-up for the free tier on all (AWS, GCP and Azure) and get the basics right. If you prefer, obtain some certification. It worked for me

[Lance]

Yes. Exactly like that!

It's a big product area and I certainly don't claim to know all of it ...

Have you used Azure Stack? If so, how close to the Cloud Azure is it? i.e does it offer the same range of services such as Functions and Cosmos or is it limited to SQL databases and VM's?

I've not used it as it's only recently that entry level options have been available. Prior to that it was £250k starting price.
It doesn't provide every function but you'd need to read up on it. Or ring MS directly.

[FK1]

Considering this is a market that will be expanding in the next few years; what do you suggest as the best way to get into cloud computing for someone who has worked as a SW engineer since the early 2000s - mainly embedded C and C#?

Is there any chance that getting certified would land me a developer's contract, or should one start their way from the bottom again, looking for a junior permie role?

To get to where? Those DevOps are no more happy developers but sad black magic technicians. It is good for those who never enjoyed coding.



Regarding development it still be "web" not "cloud" even if "hosting" is renamed to "cloud".

I've been selling an Azure based solution
I've got customers with 100 employees all on Office365 & Azure and customers with 100,000 employees all on Office 365 & Azure.
...
Microsoft is in the process of pushing Azure into the corporate environment anyway.

Not every corporate that small if we speak not Office 365 but ERP

[Lance]

To get to where? Those DevOps are no more happy developers but sad black magic technicians. It is good for those who never enjoyed coding.

In my experience someting is called black magic, or a black art by people who don;t understand it.

Regarding development it still be "web" not "cloud" even if "hosting" is renamed to "cloud".

utter rubbish, spouted by someone who thinks cloud services are black magic

[FK1]

In my experience someting is called black magic, or a black art by people who don;t understand it.

utter rubbish, spouted by someone who thinks cloud services are black magic

A typical admin/IT support activities in complex environments IS black magic. Especially in Clouds. You could be a very good engineer, a computer science expert but you have to do black magic. Because of it is out of your control. You just a technician that servicing the Tools. You do restore/restart/reinstall to fix an issue. Because of no point to go deeper as there is nothing to understand what is there in a regular dropping. And that could be a bit bored for someone who enjoy creativity and coding.

In terms of skills "Cloud developer" could be named "Git" or "TFS" developer i.e. that is a just a marketing word. It still be 80%-90% web development skills if that is about development. Where it is not so it is a DevOps/technician/Sales role.
Cloud Developer jobs, salary benchmarking, skill sets & demand trends | IT Jobs Watch

For an experienced embedded programmer to go that high? IoT is not less trendy than Clouds. While in IoT he could still be a master not a servant.
Embedded Engineer jobs, salary benchmarking, skill sets & demand trends | IT Jobs Watch
Embedded C jobs, average salaries and trends for Embedded C skills | IT Jobs Watch