How do I get started with a Cloud Computing career?

hey friend cloudbard here you know i get asked all the time hey bart what's the best way to get into cloud computing or where should i get started if i want to get into cloud computing and i'll tell you right now starting off the best thing to know is that if you're getting into information technology you're already getting into cloud computing so stick with me in the video ahead we're going to talk a little bit about what i see as some of the best paths and indeed that kind of parallel some of what i've done in my career to get you into cloud computing and to keep you excited about a career in cloud computing [Music] so kind of starting right off the biggest thing i try to recognize is that there's really uh three different paths that i see people coming to the cloud from the first one would be a beginner so this is someone who is new to it he's this is someone that's coming out of maybe out of school maybe moving from some non-technical industry into the information tech world and they're looking to get into cloud computing now as you heard me mention just a minute ago if you're getting into it you're already getting in the cloud and that's because ultimately when we think about it there's really three different technologies that are happening there you're talking about virtualization you're talking about networking and you're talking about automation coming together so if you're going to do anything in the cloud computing world you're going to end up touching these three different facets of technology those are some really big categories we're thinking about hypervisors supporting the hardware that might be running these systems virtualized storage virtualized networks as well all great underlying principles and so if it's your first chance to get into cloud computing or if you're moving from somewhere else in it start by evaluating where you stand on those three different technologies so if you're really comfortable with them that's already a great starting point if you're just getting into it and figuring out what your course load should look like make sure that these technologies land on your plate somewhere if it's virtualization remember there's a lot of different types of hypervisors and virtualization solutions out there so brushing up on this is a great place to start it could mean running and managing these systems on your own it could mean starting with a cloud vendor somewhere out there and using their virtual infrastructure the point is we need to begin understanding uh this abstraction that virtualization provides after that networking makes all of the connectivity happen for us whether that's in a data center that someone is running in their own organization or connecting over the internet out to cloud-based services the point being that networking is kind of that fundamental connective tissue between how all of these different systems services users and applications and functionality get connected together so if networking isn't on your plate yet then absolutely make sure that there's a healthy helping coming your way after that when i look at automation i'm thinking of the many different facets of automation this could be writing software it could be scripting it could be using infrastructure as code services it could be using continuous integration or deployment pipelines the point is beginning to understand the principles of automation and then understanding some of the ways that these frameworks and languages facilitate that is a very important hallmark of getting into cloud computing so if you find yourself in the beginner paradigm and you're looking what to get into these are the three areas of technology beyond that the other big part i try to get people thinking about are the operating systems when it comes down to a career in cloud computing you want to recognize that you are not just using services you are supporting a business by supporting the applications that they use and so as much understanding as we can gain about the applications and the operating systems that run those applications uh the better we can get in a position to help support the businesses themselves and i'll tell you right now that is the number one secret to success in it is making sure that you make yourself indispensable to the business and solve problems for them because i t will change the tech will change the tools and problems will change but ultimately it's about addressing the businesses concerns so as a beginner looking to get into this world this means choosing one of the two different paradigms windows administration or linux administration if you can pick one of those operating systems or if you already have some background in those environments then you're in a good starting point if you're not there yet then consider looking at linux administration or looking at windows domain administration this is going to ensure that you understand some of the operating environments in which these modern applications run now the other side of this would be if you're not a beginner maybe you're coming from existing it professionals my big advice for you is to consider what you are strong at already and also pair that up with what you think as far as an objective and this kind of goes across the board i encourage users to consider first of all where in the world they want to work think specifically geography do you want to run work in your own town do you want to work overseas do you want to work in the united states do you want to work in europe okay once you establish where you might try to work after that you could begin considering the types of organizations or industries that you might want to be a part of so consider is it information technology just as a core service are you supporting developers do you want to work in healthcare do you want to work in finance do you want to work in some other production and manufacturing world the point is picking the where and then picking the industry helps you begin narrowing your search down and i tell you friends you can't start this process too soon the earlier you decide what your objectives are the better you can tailor some of these different paths than i'm talking about now if you're coming from the existing i.t world odds are you've already been in one of the main camps you're either doing some sort of desktop support or front support or maybe ticket desk you're maybe you're doing networking support maybe you're in some sort of a developer facilitation role the point behind it is to consider what you know best and then how to pair up some of these other technologies with your understanding so if you already are strong in networking but you haven't been exposed to automation and virtualization as much boom that's your task go ahead and get to it and consider some of the different paths that allow you to reach those goals the third category that i wanted to talk about on here would be outside of it so maybe you're in a business supporting role you're a project manager you're working with a business that has technical services or you want to get closer to delivering implementing designing and supporting the technical services this is actually possibly one of the best sides of it to start with especially for cloud the closer you are to the business and the further you are outside of it the better your perspective is already tailored to what the business needs and this is definitely going to be something that you would want to consider a talking point as you go into hiring situations a individual who understands a business dynamic when we think about capital flow asset management the delivery and leveraging of those resources to solve problems for the business okay that is a great angle to come at when you're looking at an it position so along those lines if you're coming from outside of it you definitely need to evaluate just how technical you are to begin with it may be that you want to be closer to managing technical projects and for that you might consider a project management certification which would allow you to go further from just the administrative side that you're in now into maybe the more directly technical management side of it if you really want to get into some of the hardcore tech then looking at virtualization network and automation is going to be very similar to that beginner path you want to begin understanding some of the basic technologies that make these applications work in the environments that support them as you begin that journey keep refining your understanding here and again looking at your objectives where do you want to work in the world what industries do you want to be a part of and then what job roles do you think might be a good fit and so kind of across these last three pieces and to wrap up this little look at getting started with cloud computing i always go back to the objectives identify a role it could be your wildest dreams i really want to do this one specific thing over here with these five things okay identify those roles and look at those job requirements identify what it is that they're expecting you to know when you come through the hiring process and then tailor your studies to meet those specific needs this is exactly the pattern that i've taken over the years and it's led me through everything from help desk all the way up to software development support now into the world of training and now i'm a self-employed consultant and a trainer still all these years later constantly building on the flexibility of what i've learned before so the last section that i wanted to talk about here were just some basic starting points so if you find yourself in any of these camps in fact i'm going to go ahead and clean this up a little bit here you might be thinking i think certification could be useful for me i especially like the challenge and study aspects of it that's a great place to start i do encourage people to consider first off some of the comptia certifications okay this is exactly where i started so this would be like your a plus your net plus you could also look at the security plus and there is also a cloud essentials and a cloud plus as well so these certifications in general are a great fit because they're not usually vendor specific so instead of just learning linux or just learning a windows environment or just learning cisco networking you're looking at principles that drive the information technology world i have taken all of these tests over the years and they are a great place to get started you definitely are going to need to skill up your language you're going to be skilling up your understanding and proficiency and talking about architectures and functionality and all of that plays into any of these three paths the beginner the existing i.t professional or someone in the business world outside of it moving into for information technology after that i would consider your specialization but don't go after specialization until you have that role or that objective in mind getting aws certified or azure certified or google cloud certified implies that there is some sort of a role that you were trying to pursue and indeed if we take a look over uh online i've already pulled up some certifications here are the google cloud certs and you can see that they're very much role oriented engineer architect devops engineer collab machine learning okay so these are the specialties that you're thinking about and starting right out you might have an idea but if not then definitely begin to understand the nature of the work to be done here because if we take a look at microsoft it's the same story developers data engineers administrators architects and over at aws again the same theme that's happening there as well role based and specialty certifications so you're starting with a very broad understanding and then you're refining it down to those specialties that might fit and suit your scenario so just to kind of recap here friends whether you're a beginner first getting into information technology moving from somewhere else in it or coming from somewhere in the business world everybody is leading themselves down the cloud path all information tech roads eventually lead to some sort of a cloud career and the reason i say this is because of the dependence on those three underlying technologies virtualization networking and automation so if you're getting into it you're getting into cloud already and you're going to be touching those technologies the other pieces that we talked about too were some of the non-vendor-specific certifications like comptia i think they are a great starting point it's exactly where my career began and it gave me a great chance to jump into organizations and begin moving up through the roles and positions that they made available one final tip is always ask questions if there's someone doing work that you like and you think it might be a good fit find out what it took for them to get there and what they think you should be studying beyond that recognize two friends that information technology is a never-ending arc of transformation so developing good learning skills and the ability to work closely to businesses to solve their problems is going to go very far regardless of which information tech path you end up down beyond that i hope you'll subscribe and check out the rest of the videos that i have here i'm a big aws fan but i also do a lot of training at cbt nuggets as well and cloud computing is one of the most important areas of information technology and one of the most important tool sets that we have available to solve problems with right now i get excited about it i hope you're excited as well so stick with me friends we'll see you in the cloud

Channel: Cloud Bart

Views: 61,403

Keywords: amazon web services, aws training, aws certification, cloud computing, cloud training, cloud career training, what is cloud computing, learn cloud computing, cloud computing jobs, cloud technologies, cloud career tips, why cloud computing, skills required for cloud engineer, cloud computing career path

Id: XDAP9fuBjlc

Length: 11min 37sec (697 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 22 2021