There’s little doubt that cloud architects are in demand right now, with companies seeking to innovate faster and accelerate digital transformation. But technical skills and the right certifications from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud are just the starting point for a technology professional that wants to enter or remain relevant in this field.
Smarter companies are looking for knowledgeable experts in Cloud Security and Networking with a proven track record as cutting-edge problem solvers who can help simplify and accelerate cloud migrations.
A cloud architect is someone who designs, develops, implements, and maintains an organisation’s cloud computing strategy. Deep technical knowledge of the cloud is essential, but companies are also looking for the cloud architect to have the business acumen, leadership skills, and collaborative outlook to guide the business’s cloud journey. Here are some of the skills, qualities, and attributes companies seek from a cloud architect as they move ahead with their digital transformations:
The right technical background: The cloud architect needs to develop deep skills across a range of data centre and cutting-edge cloud technologies, including servers and operating systems, networking, cloud platforms, security, and applications. This is because they cannot do their jobs without an end-to-end understanding of the environments, services, and workloads a company is running in its data centre and the implications of migrating them to the cloud. Programming skills can give a cloud architect an edge in the job market since scripting is key to the automation and orchestration of cloud services.
A background in modern work practices and tech frameworks: Cloud architects will need to collaborate with the leaders and teams in fields such as DevOps and FinOps. A sound understanding of DevOps and FinOps frameworks and practices, along with experience working in modern Agile methodologies like Scrum, can help the cloud architect to align the organisation behind the cloud strategy and achieve better outcomes.
Interpersonal skills: Cloud architects play a central role in digital transformation, which is ultimately one of the largest change programs the people in the business will face. As such, they need to master a range of skills and competencies, from project management through to change management. Those that have strong leadership, communication, and collaboration skills will be best positioned to be change agents in their business, winning buy-in from colleagues in IT as well as from people in the rest of the business.
Solutions orientation and business acumen: Digital transformation should ultimately be about solving business problems. The cloud architect should help the organisation to become quicker, more agile, more efficient, and more effective. They are asked to understand the business and design solutions to its business problems. The ability to calculate ROI to guide the strategy is a must. So is aligning technology with business KPIs.
1Nebula: Cutting-edge cloud solutions
1Nebula has helped cloud engineers and cloud architects from many leading organisations to guide their businesses through the challenges and opportunities of cloud migration. Get in touch to learn how our knowledgeable team, FinOps and DevOps experience, and the seamless process can guide and simplify your digital transformation journey.