This is one of those annoying ‘I told you so’ posts.
A couple of years back I could see the writing on the wall and began to recruit top cloud engineers to put together training courses for certifications including:
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate
I’ve also issued free exam offers and other incentives. My reason was that I saw a massive recruitment drive coming for cloud engineers, and I didn’t want you to miss out. I had the usual emails from idiots saying I was only pushing these courses for my own benefit, but my criteria has never changed. I only add courses I’m 100% sure will give you a big career boost and make you a very valuable IT engineer to any company. Otherwise, what's the point of us all being here right?
We’ll it’s all kicking off now. There is a literal stampede to hire cloud certified engineers with salaries ranging from $300,000 to $1 million for experienced engineers. It’s all driven by market supply and demand and (as I pointed out many months ago) and there is currently a massive shortfall in cloud engineers which means two things to you and me:
- Massive salary hike, even for low-end roles
- The bar is lowered for people with very little experience
“On the social media site LinkedIn, for example, there are over 130 engineering positions available at Oracle Seattle. Many of them are the kind of jobs that now pay $300,000 to $1 million a year, according to Shannon Anderson, who has been recruiting engineers in Seattle and the Bay Area for 25 years.” – New York Times (Online)
I last saw this in the late 90s when recruitment consultants would fight over Cisco certified engineers and Microsoft engineers. They would take you out to lunch and dread another recruitment agent stealing you away from them. Cisco CCIEs were being offered $120,000 plus a big benefits package. As soon as I passed my CCNA I was offered jobs because of the lack of certified engineers.
Supply vs Demand
As supply increased, we all saw salaries drop, and it became a buyers market. You were lucky if any recruitment agent would reply to your emails. Now even the most seasoned CCIEs barely earn more than an experienced CCNP. We’ve all seen the job adverts asking for 15 years experience, MCSE, CCIE and speak three languages. Ugh.
So, while the frenzy is going on, I’m suggesting you get cloud certified as a matter of urgency. It will literally take a couple of weeks to get CompTIA Cloud certified and the same for Amazon. All the tools you need are supplied by Amazon by way of free trials. It literally doesn’t get much better than this for any IT person but especially rookies who are looking for a break.
Even if you start out doing some crummy cloud support engineer / helpdesk role to start with I guarantee you that your salary will be very high (due to lack of qualified engineers) and with six months experience under your belt, you will be able to choose your next job and name your price.
For all the skeptics out there, none of this is coming from me. Below is last weeks article on this very subject from the New York Times:
And here is an article from last weeks recruitment website Dice.com:
So, have a think whether you enjoy the idea of cloud computing (it’s really great to learn and very rewarding indeed) and consider that, just as with IPv6 it’s coming whether you like it or not.
If you choose to only stick with the traditional networking route, then you risk becoming irrelevant in the next few years and, of course, you will be competing in a very busy market. All vendor networking skills will continue to be important for several years to come so still pursue them but you really should be getting cloud certified also.
Consider
MCSA/MCSE + Cloud certifications
Cisco + Cloud certifications
So why not stack the deck in your favor?
Have Fun.
Paul Browning
Hello Paul,
Thanks for your regular posts.
How do I get started on the cloud engineering stuff please.
I am very interested.
Many thanks,
when will you teach Cloud
We have 3 courses online already, links at the top of the article.
regards
Paul
We have 3 courses online already, links at the top of the article.
regards
Paul
I have completed the video’s for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, do I just need to go back through the training videos or would the test at the end of each video be enough to study for the exam.
Hello Paul,
As always, thanks for keeping it real.
I took heed and have been studying for my AWS SysOps test which I have scheduled for this Tuesday March 22, 2016 (before the end of March cut-off date). I will let you know how I performed. If I pass, I will re-attempt my AWS Architect exam and then it’s off to IPv6 exam. I figure for the next 6 – 9 months I’m going to attack these exams until I pass and design my future the way I want to live.
Yours is the most cost-effective means for anyone with any real desire to move ahead to do so. Up to and including a person with no experience whatsoever.
Hi Folks,
About a month ago I completed an online AWS solutions architect course and found it fascinating, still to sit the exam though. As is so happened my new job working for a local authority as an ICT Business Liaison Officer I have an opportunity to get involved in cloud solutions for which the business is starting to push towards. Also a big part of this is data security and ownership and the policies surrounding these cloud solutions which is very interesting. So having gone through the AWS course has proved to be very beneficial. I am also looking at the Cisco Cloud certs.
See this YT link with Jeremy Ciora (CCIE), he mentions ‘If you choose to only stick with the traditional networking route’ – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=342KEaxFVjM
Good luck
Shawn
Hey Paul I really like the articles I receive from HowToNetwork and I am interested in Amazon Web Services but wondered what prerequisites are needed to start and build up to being a cloud administrator. Do you need coding/programming ability to begin ? Or is it like doing a CompTia or Microsoft MCSA where you can kind of jump in easily?
This is so, true. . I have been looking at the cloud market and the demand. . so as a Linux Infrastructure Delivery Engineer, I am now studying to get AWS SA and SysOps certified, so I can make the jump. .exciting!!!!
Hi, I am working as an IT Service Desk Analyst for the past 3 months.This is my first job as an IT professional. I want to move in the cloud engineering route as that is a growing market at the moment. I dont have any certifications. How long do you think I should stay at my current job and what certs I should aim for if I want to get a job as a cloud engineer.
Thanks
Paul,
LOVE this and you did mention this awhile back. I’m in a top technical sales development program at Cisco and engineers and executives all the way up the chain are preaching cloud and security and we are playing “catchup” in these arenas. I just finished CCNP and after getting my CCDA I will start down the cloud road. Well said!
Paul,
As always, thank you for your precious advices and guidance. AWS are the certifacations to be.
Kind regards,
Jimmy
Do I need any prior IT knowledge before going into a certification like being a Sysops administrator on Amazon Web Services because so much you hear you must be a developer first to get into learning cloud engineering
Any experience is good but you can learn it along the way as we cover all you need.
Regards
Paul
The videos plus all the exams are needed. We are adding a practise exam to the exams section of the site also.
regards
Paul
Not really, check the job adverts to see what they are asking for.
regards
Paul
Well your comment gives me hope Paul, I have some previous experience in CompTia certification and content from MCSA but no real coding experience besides a little HTML but have been out of IT field a few years now. So I definitely will be pursuing Cloud certification and is it possible to get through the solutions architect exam or sysops one in about 6 weeks you think?
I clicked on the “CompTIA Cloud Essentials” link above, went to the associated web page and clicked on the “Subscribe Now” button. But then got the:
Access All Areas
You don’t have access to purchase this item.
message. What do I need to do now?
Are you a member? If so then request via the helpdesk as usual.
Regards
Paul
Hi Mr. Browning,
I just wanted to say thanks for all of your help and your book I passed the Cisco CCNA today!
I also wrote an excellent Amazon review for your book. I will be signing up for the AWS program in short order.
Regards,
Jaime Ortega
Great news Jamie,
regards
Paul
Great stuff! I also find myself at a crossroads. I’ve always been a traditional hands on Network / Server guy, but times are a changing! As my CCNP renewal nears, I question its usefulness. Now that I’m AWS certified and working on Google GCP certification, I have to ask myself, why bother renewing my CCNP? I haven’t installed any Cisco gear in quite a while. My work is all cloud based now. My time is better spent getting certified on cloud based technologies. It’s tough to let it go since it was a painful journey to get my CCNP, but times change and you either evolve or get left in the dust! Here’s to many cloudy days ahead! Cheers!
I’d keep it current. I think you can renew by passing just one exam:
“To recertify, pass ONE of the following before the certification expiration date:
Pass any current 642-XXX Professional-level or any 300-XXX Professional-level exam, or
Pass any current CCIE Written Exam, or”
Beating CCIE by double? That should send a chill down any CCIE’s spine.
I admit, I was one of those CCIE’s that said, “nah — until I see these cloud goons AT LEAST get Ethernet right, let alone 802.1Q and let’s not even start on VxLAN or TRILL, then CCIE is still top.”
However, it was this week that my eyes finally opened. It started with an intro into Cisco ACI, which moved me into VMware NSX — which then moved me to look into (in detail) OpenStack. Once I started to put all these ideas into a monetary value, I quickly started to realize how you could save literally millions of dollars by utilizing NPI’s to configure your DC fabrics, and API’s to configure your bare metal — all automated, and all eventually converging to a single GUI (ACI is ALMOST there, yikes..).
And here’s the scary part for my fellow CCIE’s out there: these “cloud goons” don’t NEED to understand Ethernet/VxLAN/MPLS/MP-BGP, etc. name your technology. THE SOFTWARE IS DOING IT FOR THEM. I like to compare this to IRQ. Do you need to set the IRQ anymore? NO! Of course not, it’s all automatic now. It’s a nice readup if you have the time, just to understand what it does and how it works, but in the end, I dare say there are few CCIE’s that understand IRQ on a deep level — and they don’t have to is the point. And be honest, how many of you CCIE’s just now googled “IRQ”?
It’s one thing to see cloud/SDN articles talking about theory and their assumptions about the future. It’s another thing when you’re in the same room as your CIO, watching a vendor demonstrate with real products how all these technologies are easily orchestrated by a single GUI with very few caveats which aren’t even worth mentioning since it gets patched in the next code upgrade. The last thing you want your CIO to think about after the demo is, “why do I need a CCIE?”
Scary stuff Ben
Regards
Paul