Hey there!

Cloud computing is expected to grow 18% this year, resulting in a market size of around $300 billion.

The Infrastructure as a Service segment of cloud computing, (such as that provided by AWS) is expected to grow by a whopping 27%!

What does that mean for you?

It means there are significant investments in infrastructure – and a massive opportunity for developers.

If you haven't delved into the world of cloud computing, or want to add some new skills, it's a great time. Companies are already scrambling to find talent with the skills to migrate or build new projects – and that means higher salaries.

To get you started, we've put together our top cloud skills:

1. Amazon Web Services

You're likely already familiar with AWS, but if not, it's a great place to start because it's the largest 'infrastructure as a service' provider. Being the biggest means that most employers (and consequently public cloud projects) are using AWS, so they'll want to hire someone familiar with it.

You can get up to speed and demonstrate your knowledge with our resources:

2. Docker

Docker has quickly changed the way developers stage environments and deploy code. It's a huge benefit to DevOps - especially in continuous delivery, multi-cloud deployments and distributed teams.

By running applications in containers, Docker can reduce the number of instances required, as well as allowing developers to easily pack, ship, and run any application as a lightweight, portable, self-sufficient container, which can run virtually anywhere.

3. Cloud Security

Nearly two-thirds of organizations see security as the biggest challenge for cloud adoption. Those that can tackle hybrid cloud setups (a combination of public and private cloud), and mix security and containerization will be in especially high demand.

Learning public cloud security skills will depend on what setup/provider your company uses, so the respective AWS, Google Cloud courses will help, but further to that you can check out broader resources, such as:

Cybersecurity Essentials (book) - particularly chapter 15, Understanding Network Connectivity Devices
Hacking the Hacker (book)
Distributed Systems for Practitioners (book)

4. Google Cloud

Why double up on Cloud service providers? Many companies are now turning to multi-cloud deployments, with a mix of IaaS providers for added flexibility and performance, as well as public and private cloud. In fact, 53% of enterprises using cloud computing utilise a multi-cloud strategy.

Google's market share also rose from 20-34% compared to 2019, so brushing up on some of the competing products such as Google Cloud can give you more versatility and an edge if you're applying for a new role, or your company is expanding into new projects.

For Google Cloud resources, see:

Google Cloud Engineer Bootcamp (course)
GCP Cloud Architect Exam Bootcamp (course)
DevOps on Google Cloud Platform (course)
Google Cloud Platform Data Storage Management (course)
Official Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect Study Guide (book)
Official Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer Study Guide (book)

As always, if you'd like to stay up to date with the latest in tech, and expand your skills, join SitePoint Premium and you'll get access to our entire library of 600+ books, courses and talks for just $72/year.

Happy Learning!

The SitePoint Team