The cloud is here to stay. We’re at a point where organizations are moving from dabbling in cloud provisioning to making it the backbone of the IT infrastructure. According to “The New IT Normal: Cloudy and Getting Cloudier,” by Arthur Cole:
Already, the cloud accounts for more than half of all data center traffic, according to Cisco, and that is expected to climb to 76 percent by 2018. Much of the activity so far has focused on the development of private clouds, but now that familiarity with the technology is at a critical point, expect to see broader adoption of public resources, which will ultimately evolve into hybrid cloud platforms providing highly scalable, federated data infrastructure.
Given the effect the cloud is having on companies both large and small, it’s no surprise that job postings for cloud positions are one of the fastest-growing skill sets on Dice. An analysis of searches by hiring managers shows that the future of tech pros working in the cloud is anything but gloomy. This slideshow features the top skills that hiring managers are looking for from cloud professionals.
Working on Cloud Nine
Click through for the most-requested cloud skills sought by IT hiring managers, as identified by Dice.com.
Java
Not surprisingly, Java is all too important to firms hiring cloud candidates. The programming language and platform is the foundation for so many technologies today that it remains one of the top skills on Dice year after year. While other languages are gaining speed, Java is still king of the hill.
SaaS, Virtualization, vCloud, Salesforce
Cloud-specific skills like SaaS, virtualization, vCloud and Salesforce all rank on hiring managers’ wish lists for candidates. Salesforce hit 1,000 job postings in April this year and continues to grow in popularity, with job postings up 26 percent year-over-year on Dice.
Open Source
Open source technologies like Linux, Python and Hadoop create value for companies looking for cloud professionals. Tech professionals with Hadoop experience doubly benefit as other movements like Big Data continue.
Cloud Sales
What’s the future of a technology without professionals to sell it? Companies are frequently looking for cloud professionals with sales experience who can drive the product forward and hit goals while doing it.
Cloud Security
And you can’t have a conversation about cloud without the mention of security. Companies are looking for security professionals who can communicate best practices to colleagues, define vulnerabilities, and act quickly in the unfortunate event of a breach.
Cloud Vendors
One thing that hasn’t changed since Dice last reported on cloud via Open Web, its Big Data sourcing tool, is that Amazon/AWS is still the preferred vendor, but unlike last year, there’s another kid on the block. VMware also popped up frequently in hiring managers’ searches, proving that as the cloud proliferates, so will companies looking to capitalize on and further enhance the technology.
