Cloud Engineer is an IT professional who takes care of all the technical work related to Cloud Computing. A cloud engineer is an Information Technology professional responsible for any technological tasks associated with cloud computing, such as design, planning, management, maintenance, and support. In addition, cloud engineer manages workload like managing, planning, architecting, and monitoring cloud systems. Cloud Engineering also includes knowing and implementing the best practices for deploying the application on the Cloud.
Who is a Cloud Engineer?
Cloud Engineer is the IT professional responsible for performing technological workload concerning Cloud Computing. Cloud engineer is mainly responsible for the following tasks:
- Maintenance and support
- Cloud services management(Scaling, backup, migration)
- Planning and design of the Infrastructure on the Cloud
Job listings on various recruiters platforms seek cloud engineers with at least three to five years of experience with cloud services, including open source technology, software development, system engineering, scripting languages, and multiple cloud provider environments.
Additionally, cloud engineers should have a background in building or designing Web services in the Cloud.
The job description of Cloud Engineer
A cloud engineer position can be divided into multiple roles, like the following.
- Cloud Architect
- Cloud software engineer
- Cloud security engineer
- Cloud systems engineer
- Cloud network engineer
Let’s see them one by one.
Cloud Architect
A Cloud Architect is responsible for converting the project’s technical specifications into the architecture and design that will guide the concluding product.
Cloud Architects are often qualified to bridge the gaps between complex business requirements and solutions in the Cloud.
Other representatives of a technology team, including DevOps engineers and developers, work with the Cloud Architect to ensure that the right technologies are being built in the Cloud.
The job responsibilities of a cloud network engineer are the following.
- We are designing and deploying apps on the Cloud.
- Identifying and using the appropriate cloud services to support apps on the Cloud.
- Migrating on-premise apps of the company to the Cloud.
- Maintaining the usage of cloud services and implementing cost-saving strategies.
Cloud software engineer
Cloud software engineering professionals responsible for assessing the organization’s infrastructure and migrating different functions to the cloud-based system are in high demand. More companies move their critical business processes and applications to public, private, and hybrid cloud infrastructures.
These field experts build, maintain, and link to cloud services with a mix of technical skills, business knowledge, and experience with at least one of the major cloud providers like Amazon Web Services(AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform(GCP).
Cloud engineers must be familiar with leading programming languages, including Java, PHP, and Python.
Many big companies looking to hire cloud engineers seek experience with OpenStack, Linux, Amazon Web Services, Rackspace, Google compute engine, Microsoft Azure, and Docker.
Experience with APIs, orchestration, automation, DevOps, and databases like NoSQL is also essential.
Cloud security engineer
A cloud security engineer practices providing security for cloud-based digital platforms and are indispensable in protecting a company’s data. This may involve analyzing existing cloud structures and creating new and enhanced security practices.
They often help as part of a larger team dedicated to cloud-based management and security.
Cloud security engineers usually work full-time in the office environment, with some positions requiring personnel to respond to after-hours emergencies.
For example, cloud engineers need to respond to the ticket created by clients when something does not work in cloud services.
If you are in a business cloud, you need expert employees who can handle any client’s big or small issues, errors, or bugs.
See the following responsibilities.
- Identifying potential bottlenecks in applications’ performance.
- Strategizing a recovery plan to compensate for possible downtime or failure scenarios.
- Maintaining data integrity by implementing proper access control for cloud services.
- Managing network-related workloads, including DNS and firewalls.
Cloud systems engineer
Cloud support engineers are liable for maintaining the cloud computing systems.
Their work involves a lot of computer programming knowledge, and they also need to be familiar with computer hardware.
Cloud network engineer
Cloud network engineers ensure that a company’s computer network can process and handle all the data of that company.
They must configure the network to meet the company’s needs, including security provisions.
The network engineer evaluates the network platform and trains users to interface with a network using a particular software.
They also make projections of future network needs and create designs that will grow with the company.
Network engineers monitor bandwidth usage and assess routers to coordinate the timing of upgrades to match the demands on the network.
The job responsibilities of a cloud network engineer are the following.
- Setting up client accounts for employees in the network.
- Troubleshooting computer network problems.
- Developing installation procedures to minimize work disruption.
- Preparing the backup systems to protect against outages due to disasters.
- Tracking network safety.
- Coordinating the use of printers.
Cloud Engineer Salary in 2023
According to one job posting blog, the average annual pay for a Cloud Engineer in the United States is $130,306 yearly.
While annual salaries of cloud engineers are as high as $174,000 and as low as $69,500, the majority of Cloud Engineer salaries currently range between $111,500 to $149,000 across the USA.
The average salary range for the Cloud Engineer varies a little (about $37,500), which suggests that regardless of the location, there are not many opportunities for increased pay or advancement, even with several years of experience.
Cloud Engineer Salaries in India
According to Glassdoor, the Average Base Pay of Cloud engineers in India is ₹557,058/yr.
According to IDC, almost half of ‘IT spending’ in 2019 was cloud-based.
This should give you a picture of what is expected of Cloud Computing in a few years.
If the above points don’t convince you, then these are some of the statistics given by Rightscale on Public Cloud Spend:
- Twenty-six percent of businesses spend more than $6 million a year on public Cloud, while 52 percent spend more than $1.2 million annually.
- Twenty percent of companies will spend double in public Cloud spending in 2022, and 71 percent will grow public Cloud spending by more than 25 percent.
How to become a Cloud Engineer in 2023
To become a cloud engineer in 2023, you must set a path that meets up some or most of the Cloud mentioned above job responsibilities.
Let us start with a chalked-out approach.
Start With The Basics
I have already defined Cloud Computing for you and understand Cloud Computing in a little more depth.
Focus on the following key points while starting your career in cloud computing.
- Need For Cloud Computing
- Domains Cloud Computing Impacts
- Cloud Service Models
- Deployment Models
- Cloud Computing Vs. On-premise Approach
- Different Cloud Service Providers
Understand Computing Fundamentals
Now, whether you are a fresher or a professional, it is expected you have some basics covered.
Before you start approaching Cloud Computing, these are some of the fundamentals you should be needed to consider following points.
- Computer Security (Basics of Access Policies, encryption, data security, etc.).
- Networking (Routing, IP addresses, networking layers, networking protocols, etc.).
- Learn PL/SQL and Linux fundamentals.
- Understand the complete Computer Architecture
Learn About Leading Cloud Service Providers
AWS and Azure are the most talked-about Cloud Service Providers in the market. But unfortunately, people often have trouble choosing one of the two.
Now that the fundamentals and prerequisites are out let us look at what materials or topics you should focus on to gain hands-on expertise.
Here is a list of topics you need to cover to become an in-demand cloud engineer.
- Storage Services
- Computer Services
- Networks Or VPN
- Load Balancing and Scaling
- Database Services
- Cloud Monitoring
- Application Migration
- Cloud Security
Conclusion
In this article, we have seen what Cloud Engineer is, their roles, types of cloud engineers, cloud engineering jobs and salary, and how to become a cloud engineer in 2023.
Cloud computing is a booming industry in which supply is significantly less and demand is very high.
The current era is a golden era to start a career in cloud computing, and it is also less competitive than other jobs in computer science.
