How to become a Cloud Developer? A Beginner’s Guide

As per predictions, the Cloud Computing market will rise from about US$370 billion in 2020 to approximately US$830 billion by 2025 at a global level. Major companies, including several Fortune 500 companies such as Amazon, IBM, Google, Deloitte, etc., are hiring cloud professionals around the globe.

According to the Times of India and the Economic Times, India alone would need over 1 million certified cloud professionals by 2025.

Watch this video on Cloud Computing, and get a better overview of the concept:

For you to understand this profession with ease, you must first understand what Cloud Development is.

What is Cloud Development?

Cloud Development is the overall process of building cloud architecture through planning, sorting, and designing. This will further help in the implementation and structuring of the cloud delivery models, i.e., IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS. This process also includes the management of the delivery models of the cloud services, such as connecting the data centers of external providers back to your organization’s network, strategizing and developing recovery plans for times when the cloud services collapse, managing network bandwidth, etc.

What is a Cloud Developer?

In general, developers are professionals who build and design useful websites, programs, applications, etc. either from the start or with the help of templates and predefined resources. A professional Cloud Developer is one who builds computer applications and software. Cloud professionals can use the same software and tools to build these, just like the other IT developers. However, the resources that are used by these professionals are taken from a cloud-based platform.

These professionals are mainly responsible for implementing and maintaining the cloud infrastructure of their organizations. Their main job role is to design, develop, analyze, and maintain the cloud systems of the companies.

I am sure that you must have now had a basic understanding of Cloud Development. This information is enough for you to understand the topics that follow. Now, let’s understand who these cloud professionals are and how you can become one.

Cloud Developer Jobs

As per LinkedIn, there are over 125,000 jobs in the field of Cloud Computing for all levels of professionals in the United States alone.

There are numerous job opportunities available for these professionals in major organizations worldwide, including Spotify, IBM, Google, Deloitte, etc. A few of these job profiles include the ones mentioned below:

• Cloud Engineer
• Database Engineer
• Cloud Developer
• Cloud Data Engineer
• Software Engineer
• Cloud Administrator

Cloud Engineer at IBM, New York

Source: LinkedIn

Data Engineer at Spotify, New York

Source: LinkedIn

The Cloud Developer Job Role

To become a professional in this competitive field, you need to understand the job role. Only a clear understanding of the job role will help you know what you will get yourself into. Cloud Professionals have a myriad of roles and responsibilities at both entry and advanced levels.

In the first place, cloud professionals need to attain skills to build effective cloud applications using resources from any given cloud platform. Besides, they must trace program errors and debug the program code. The professionals must have in-depth knowledge and experience in numerous Cloud Developer tools and services to make effective business decisions, meeting the market requirements.

In the next level, the certified cloud professionals must also work on the scalability and security of cloud applications. These advanced-level cloud professionals will have to use several DevOps practices to build and deploy applications on distinct cloud platforms.

After briefly understanding the overall job role of these professionals, let’s proceed with the basic requirements that you need to fulfill to get into this profession.

Requirements to Be a Cloud Developer

On realizing what Cloud Computing for developers is, along with their various responsibilities, let’s further discuss the basic criteria for individuals, including you, to be a successful Cloud Developer. To get into this profession, you need to have advanced programming skills and experience.

To pursue a career in Cloud Computing, you need to be proficient in at least one programming language. When you enter the profession, you will learn that about 98 percent of cloud professionals have over 2 years of working experience in the IT field in either web or software development. Hence, any IT developer is eligible to learn and become a cloud professional.

However, to compete with the Cloud Computing candidates and get into the company of your choice as a cloud professional, having experience is not sufficient. You need to have expertise in writing codes, developing software, websites, applications, etc., and also gain the necessary skills.

Further, let’s discuss the qualifications you need to have as a Cloud Computing professional.

Qualifications for a Cloud Developer

For a Cloud Computing career, you need to have a graduation degree in computer science or other related domains. On completing your bachelor’s degree, you may or may not opt for a master’s degree in a similar domain. Although, it is not necessary for you to have any of the above educational backgrounds. If you have the skillset and are keen to become a cloud professional, you can easily pursue a career in it.

Further, let’s check out the required qualifications to get into this cloud career:

• Proficient in at least one programming language
• An understanding of software development and database concepts
• Networking skills
• Cloud infrastructure basics
• Basic knowledge of technologies such as hypervisor and data visualization

Now, you will come across some of the most popular and significant certifications that you need to clear to land a high-paying job in the field of cloud.

Cloud Developer Certifications

Following are some of the certifications that you may clear to become a certified Cloud Developer:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers certifications such as AWS Certified DevOps Engineer and AWS Certified Developer Associate for Cloud Development roles.
• Microsoft Azure provides two certifications: AZ-400: Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions and AZ-203: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure for Azure Developers.
• Google Cloud offers certifications such as Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer for individuals at the associate level and Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Developer for individuals at the professional level.
• Cisco offers cloud certifications such as CCNA and CCNP.

They are all reliable platforms to gain certification and give a head start to yourself to build a career in this domain. They will help you evaluate your skills in distinct technical arenas.

Next, in this ‘How to become a Cloud Developer? A Beginner’s Guide blog, you will learn various skills you need to attain to become a professional in this field.

Cloud Developer Skills

To become proficient in the cloud, you should have the skills mentioned below:

• In-depth knowledge of the services and concepts of the cloud architecture
• Setting up and configuring the cloud environment
• Deploying and implementing cloud solutions
• Ensuring the successful conduct of a given solution
• Designing scalable and accessible cloud-based applications
• Integrating vendor-specific cloud services
• Managing and monitoring the performance of cloud applications

These are some of the most significant skills that you need to acquire to build a career in Cloud Computing.

Steps to Pursue a Career in Cloud Development

Here is an overview of the steps you need to follow to attain the skills required and become a cloud professional:

• Complete a bachelor’s degree in a technical field
• Enroll in a Cloud Developer course from a reputed institute
• Learn any programming language
• Work on cloud-specified projects and gain practical experience

Intellipaat also helps you prepare a Cloud Developer resume, which will be molded as per the specifications needed for the job openings in this field.

To understand the worth of working in this profession, let’s find out the salaries earned by these cloud professionals.

Cloud Developer Salary

Cloud Professionals are among the highest-earning IT developers in the world today.

According to Glassdoor, entry-level Cloud Developers earn about US$99k per annum, and this amount may increase to approximately US$121k per annum based on knowledge and performance.

In India, these professionals earn around ₹405k per annum, which may increase to ₹1,107k per annum with experience.

Ready to build a career in Cloud Development?

The main aim of this blog is to give you an understanding of how you can become a Cloud Computing professional from the beginning. In this, you have learned about the business requirements expected from professionals as per the current market trends, the skills you must become proficient in, the salaries earned by cloud professionals, and more. Now, grab this opportunity and start preparing yourself to become a successful Cloud Developer!