What are the Most-Demanded Cloud Business Skills in 2018?

Back in January, LinkedIn published its “Most Promising Jobs 2018” report based on data mined from its 500 million-plus members. Naturally, the list was dominated by cloud business skills; but, considering the cloud covers such a wide range of roles, we look at the most-demanded cloud business skills in 2018. 

Big Data is the Big Thing – Provided You Are Certified

One of our favorite quotes relating to Big Data is attributed to Dan Ariely, the author of a guide to behavioral economics entitled “Predictably Irrational”. In his book, Ariely wrote: “Big Data is like teenage sex: everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it, and everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they are doing it.”

Although not strictly true, there is a considerable amount of space on the Internet dedicated to “How to Spot a Fake Data Scientist”. Therefore, the most-demanded cloud business skills in 2018 relating to Big Data are certified Big Data scientists, analysts and engineers. If you are a data systems architect, it also helps your job prospects if you have a certificate from an accredited source such as Oracle.

In Application Security, a Good Track Record is Essential

There are more than fifty-five thousand vacancies advertised on LinkedIn for experienced Application Security Engineers and Managers. Everybody from PayPal to Mercedes-Benz to Weight Watchers is looking for people with the right skills to address increasingly complex cyber-threats and to ensure their apps comply with increasingly complex privacy regulations.

Typically these potential employers are looking for a minimum of five years´ experience working in multiple languages with a substantial knowledge of web application attacks and defense strategies. It is particularly advantageous if the aspiring applicant can demonstrate a good track record that includes contributing to an open source project.

Up-To-Date Cloud Architects and Migration Specialists

Cloud architects and migration specialists are often developed internally by the leading Cloud Service Providers. Microsoft, Amazon and Google etc. tend to look after valued staff, so their cloud architects and migration specialists are rarely tempted to search for alternative employment – thus creating a “cartel of talent”, making it very difficult (and expensive) for HR departments elsewhere to fill vacancies.

Another problem faced by HR departments is that the cloud is a rapidly evolving environment and the most-demanded cloud skills in 2018 differ a lot from those demanded five years ago. Therefore, jobseekers with experience in migrating IT infrastructures to the cloud in 2013 need to brush up on their skills in order to meet the current employment criteria for cloud architects and migration specialists.

Internal Engagement Leaders

One of the most-demanded “soft” cloud business skills in 2018 is engagement. In layman´s terms, an internal engagement leader is the person who acts as a bridge in communications between the C-Suite and IT. However, rather than simply relaying messages back and forth like a postman, he or she has to analyze and resolve issues – so more like a marriage guidance counsellor than a postman.

In order to analyze and resolve issues, an engagement leader has to have a full understanding of the cloud and the issues it presents. The engagement leader also needs to have management or consulting experience at the highest levels in order to engage effectively with the C-Suite. This role is not dissimilar from that of a CIO, only more communications-orientated.

Site Reliability Engineers (or Forward-Thinking DevOps Engineers)

The job title of “Site Reliability Engineer” will probably leave DevOps engineers splitting feathers. This is because, in their eyes, Site Reliability Engineers (or SREs) do exactly the same as they do, but have a different job title because Google decided to create new roles for different types of DevOps engineers. The new title caught on, and now SREs are in greater demand (because there are not so many of them).

There is a subtle difference between the two roles. An SRE is considered to be more an architect of a fully automated IT infrastructure, whereas a DevOps engineer orchestrates the infrastructure. It could be described as a relationship between a composer and a musician; and, at the moment, being able to compose is one of the most-demanded cloud business skills in 2018.

Author: Richard Anderson

Richard Anderson is the Editor-in-Chief of NetSec.news