It seems like the sky is the limit when it comes to the adoption of Cloud technology. It’s across a wide range of industries and specializations. More and more companies are searching for technical professionals with expertise in AWS, GCP, Azure, etc. Because of this increased demand, getting into Cloud tech is more sensible than ever. It’s driving salaries higher and higher.

To better understand what’s driving this demand, look to a recent report from the Cloud Foundry Foundation which found that 51% of mission-critical applications are now deployed in the Cloud. Only 45% of respondents are still stuck in their legacy stacks. There’s a turning of the tide amongst the majority of companies. They are now putting their eggs in the Cloud basket. 

This movement is largely driven by two factors: PaaS and containers. According to that same survey, 41% of respondents are utilizing PaaS with an additional 38% saying they haven’t implemented it yet. But they are evaluating it as an option for their company. In the same vein, 38% of respondents reported using containerization for their important apps. And 43% are taking a hard look at this emerging technology.

If you want to pivot your career to focus on Cloud technology or simply want to diversify your skillset to add some Cloud expertise to the fold, focus on the following three areas.

1. Pursue the Cloud Behemoths

First, you’ll find it challenging to get anywhere in the Cloud. Not without the expertise in at least one of the public giants: Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure. Though there are more niche Cloud offerings, these three heavy hitters are a good jumping-off point. You can either pick just one to specialize with or start with one and familiarize yourself with multiple to have more versatility on the job market and be able to build a multi-platform experience.

2. Containerization Is Key

Next, because containerization is one of the main factors driving the increased adoption of Cloud technologies at a wide variety of companies, it’s important that you get into this field too. At the moment, Docker and Kubernetes are the leading options for developers looking to build and run containerized applications in this technology, though there are several alternatives that may be worth exploring too.

3. Automation

Then, the usage of tools like Puppet, Chef, Ansible, and other automation tools continues to grow in Cloud shops. If you want to meet employer demand, knowing your way around these platforms is a great idea.

It’s a great time to get into Cloud technology. It continues to gain steam and importance at a wide variety of companies. All thanks to the rising utilization if PaaS and containerization. As more organizations transition their mission-critical applications to this technology, the demand for these skills only continues to rise and salaries continue to keep pace with that increased demand.

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