What is a Cloud Architect? A Vital Role for Success in the Cloud

What is a Cloud Architect, there are many similarities between cloud IT infrastructure and traditional on-premise servers, but there are also additional levels of complexity and new technologies to master.

That’s why putting together a strong cloud team is critical for any company.

A managed service provider will help fill your cloud expertise gaps and design a flexible and dependable cloud platform for business applications and data.

However, having a cloud architect on your IT staff can help you stay successful in the cloud.

What is the function of a cloud architect, and how has it changed over time? Let’s have a look at what we’ve got.

Why are Cloud Architects increasingly in Demand?

While full-fledged cloud architecture and cloud services teams will add a dozen or more positions to your IT organization chart, you can get by with just a few of them and your existing administrators and engineers. The Cloud Architect is one of those crucial roles.

Between 2018 and 2017, the number of self-identified cloud architects increased by 11%, according to the Right Scale State of the Cloud study.

What is a Cloud Architect?

Meanwhile, according to a CompTIA survey, 46% of IT professionals believe the overall IT skills gap is widening, with cloud infrastructure and applications among the most sought-after talents. 57% said they required cloud specialists on their staff.

What Does a Cloud Architect Do?

Some of the daily responsibilities include: recruiting cloud talent, future applications/software/hardware for cloud use, assessing existing, forming a cloud broker team, establishing cloud best practices, selecting and vetting service providers, managing governance and risk programs, managing budget and costs, and scaling infrastructure.

Collaboration and expertise with the most recent cloud platforms, vendors, and integration tools are essential talents for the cloud architect. Who must also have a thorough understanding of enterprise IT on multiple levels?

Management skills, communication, cooperation, financial or budgetary experience, vendor management, and thought leadership are among the soft skills required of a cloud architect.

Above all, this management position interacts with many IT teams, business stakeholders, managers of other business divisions outside of IT, and vendors.

A cloud architect can come from various places, including your corporate IT team (architects, engineers, and admins) or even the business side of operations if a candidate has exceptional technical ability.

Providing access to and payment for certifications offered by prominent cloud providers and virtualization technologies is a beautiful method to help existing employees migrate into cloud architect roles.

Suppose the company can’t hire more IT staff, lacks skills in a particular platform, or needs more resources to implement a cloud solution.

In that case, that company hired another one who can provide a managed cloud platform.

It is to make their employees focus on supporting business systems rather than maintaining the underlying infrastructure. This proves that every company needs a cloud architect directly or indirectly. 

How to Become a Cloud Architect?

There are several ways to become a cloud architect, but you might want to look into a formal degree program if you’re starting.

IT professionals with the following abilities and experience, according to Gartner, will find the transfer the easiest:

• Integration across the firm is one of the most challenging aspects of cloud adoption. Integration architects are proficient in working with complicated systems and cross-departmental collaboration.
• Employees who rock the boat or push the technology envelope can serve as critical liaisons to help the organization embrace new cloud technologies.
• A cloud architect is a new type of enterprise architect, and the shift from enterprise to cloud architect is simple. However, the research does warn that it is best suited to people with “genuine hands-on program leadership.
• Simple IaaS projects and virtualization architects are required at the beginning of cloud programs. Because they are the best-positioned to understand the technical nuances of a ‘virtualization-like environment, those with virtualization or infrastructure architecture experience are often a good fit for the cloud architect role.

According to Hilgendorf, you might even discover a “very technically competent employee in a business unit” who has the abilities and background to add value to enterprise cloud adoption.

If your organization is having trouble finding the right talent outside of the company, consider whether someone in another business unit would be a good fit for a cloud architect with some training and education.

What is the Required Education and Training to Become a Cloud Architect?

If you are just out in your career and want to be a cloud architect, you can enrol in a master’s degree that focuses on the subject. You can choose from numerous certification and professional development programs.

If you currently have IT experience or the necessary skillset for a cloud architect, consider pursuing one of the following professional certifications:

AWS Certified Solutions Architect: One of the most widely utilized cloud services is Amazon Web Services (AWS). This certification validates your knowledge of AWS applications and infrastructure management.

Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect: The cloud architect certification from Google evaluates your abilities to develop, plan, manage, and deliver cloud solution architecture and infrastructure. It also includes security and compliance, as well as cloud architecture analysis and optimization. 

IBM Cloud Computing Solution Architect: This certification validates your competence to “design, plan, architect, and manage an IBM cloud computing infrastructure.”

 What is the Salary of the Cloud Architect?

As you may be aware, cloud architecture is in high demand since it pays well. Salary varies depending on the position held, such as for senior personnel and managers.

A search of those corresponding professional papers turns up over 5,000 job openings with the title modeller that pays more than 7 Lakhs. For general IT draughtsman skills, a large number of those professions pay more than 12 Lakhs.

It is a brief about Cloud Architect and how they are essential in making the cloud successful for any enterprise.

Now, you know the importance of this job, so what are you waiting for? Join the course and step up a milestone in your career path.