Any Cloud architects here?
Discussion
I'm about to take my AWS-SAA exam in the next couple of weeks then start looking for a job whilst I take my SAP and start on learning Azure, I'd be interested to hear from anyone who currently works in Cloud architecture what your day to day looks like and how much fulfilment you get compared to other IT sectors? Any advice would also be very much appreciated
I'd suggest you learn Terraform. That way your designs get to be more repeatable in multiple cloud platforms, including private. Look into Kubernetes and perhaps OpenShift. It kind of depends what sort of role you want, but the future in cloud-native is probably a combination of contains and PaaS services. You can't learn everything, but the guys I valued most as a CIO understood many many things at a fair level, a few things in depth, and could engineer repeatability and consistency into a design and delivery process.
Cloud is much more interesting than working in the data centre - newer products, faster paced, less beuracracy etc.
Its a bit more developer led which might hold back the number of cloud architect roles or lead to a slightly different experience in working directly as part of teams rather than ivory tower architecture.
Cloud security would be an interesting and more lucrative niche to aim for.
Agree if you can get hands on I would go for that as the route into cloud.
Its a bit more developer led which might hold back the number of cloud architect roles or lead to a slightly different experience in working directly as part of teams rather than ivory tower architecture.
Cloud security would be an interesting and more lucrative niche to aim for.
Agree if you can get hands on I would go for that as the route into cloud.
sociopath said:
h0b0 said:
The most impactful SAs are the ones that can translate what an existing App, on-Prem, should look like and provide a path for modernization.
And spell modernisation ;-)Having said that, when you google "Cloud modernisation", where I live, it "corrects" me to Modernization. I would think, in terms of cloud, the more likely spelling to be used is the US version.
Results in the UK may be different though.
mr_spock said:
I'd suggest you learn Terraform. That way your designs get to be more repeatable in multiple cloud platforms, including private. Look into Kubernetes and perhaps OpenShift. It kind of depends what sort of role you want, but the future in cloud-native is probably a combination of contains and PaaS services. You can't learn everything, but the guys I valued most as a CIO understood many many things at a fair level, a few things in depth, and could engineer repeatability and consistency into a design and delivery process.
I've heard a few people say that Terraform is pretty much essential to learn, especially as an alternative to CloudFormation dmahon said:
Cloud security would be an interesting and more lucrative niche to aim for.
I was planning on going into cyber security after I left school but found it just didn't interest me enough, especially as my networking skills aren't anywhere near what they should be yet. I know I want to do something relating to cloud architecture, in all honesty I've been spending so much time actually learning it that I really haven't educated myself on specific roles as much as I should've. I'd like to find myself with enough knowledge and skill that I have some flexibility as to what role I can pursue. The actual design and strategy of building/migrating in the cloud is what really interests me. h0b0 said:
The most impactful SAs are the ones that can translate what an existing App, on-Prem, should look like and provide a path for modernization.
It was that very thing that got me interested in it. At a previous job we had some ancient applications that had never been updated simply because nobody ever thought to bother, looking into how to improve those was how I really got interested in the cloud. It's the design and strategising how to actually build, implement/migrate that I enjoy. I've found my strengths with AWS seem mostly in the database/ on-prem to cloud migration area, although it won't be until I do some GitHub AWS sample projects that I really find my area. Traditionally, SAs have not had a strong position as they were advisers for Developers and typically, developers don't like advice. With migrating to the cloud being driven by cost reduction (rightly or wrongly) there is a lot of focus on those that can accelerate the process and they are in demand.
You may see this pattern in companies that are more mature in the cloud journey. The legacy infra architects will be trying to inject themselves into discussion but frankly be perceived as blockers. Up stairs, the cloud SAs will be in demand as they can be the gate keepers/shepherds.
In my work I speak with companies that want to change their approach to technology. One customer recently said that "In the world of cloud, SAs should be the right hand arm of the CIO".
Also, good luck with the test. Do not under estimate it. If possible, use multiple sources for practice tests as A cloud Guru is far from bullet proof. You can get the A Cloud Guru course on Udemy for $10 and that comes with practice tests from Udemy which are more aligned with the actual test.
You may see this pattern in companies that are more mature in the cloud journey. The legacy infra architects will be trying to inject themselves into discussion but frankly be perceived as blockers. Up stairs, the cloud SAs will be in demand as they can be the gate keepers/shepherds.
In my work I speak with companies that want to change their approach to technology. One customer recently said that "In the world of cloud, SAs should be the right hand arm of the CIO".
Also, good luck with the test. Do not under estimate it. If possible, use multiple sources for practice tests as A cloud Guru is far from bullet proof. You can get the A Cloud Guru course on Udemy for $10 and that comes with practice tests from Udemy which are more aligned with the actual test.
h0b0 said:
Traditionally, SAs have not had a strong position as they were advisers for Developers and typically, developers don't like advice. With migrating to the cloud being driven by cost reduction (rightly or wrongly) there is a lot of focus on those that can accelerate the process and they are in demand.
You may see this pattern in companies that are more mature in the cloud journey. The legacy infra architects will be trying to inject themselves into discussion but frankly be perceived as blockers. Up stairs, the cloud SAs will be in demand as they can be the gate keepers/shepherds.
In my work I speak with companies that want to change their approach to technology. One customer recently said that "In the world of cloud, SAs should be the right hand arm of the CIO".
Also, good luck with the test. Do not under estimate it. If possible, use multiple sources for practice tests as A cloud Guru is far from bullet proof. You can get the A Cloud Guru course on Udemy for $10 and that comes with practice tests from Udemy which are more aligned with the actual test.
I see a high demand for qualified cloud architects in the States which is part of what drove me into it as I'd love to go live and work there. I've been mostly using DigitalCloud and Udemy now for revision, the DigitalCloud courses have been a godsend for working out where my weaknesses are. The biggest issue has been that I never revised for GCSE's or anything so revision is pretty much new to me. I can score 70%-100% on every section except the management and governance section which I absolutely butchered, luckily it doesn't make up much of the exam but it's one of the areas I'm revising anyway. Is it AWS or Azure you work around? I know AWS makes up the majority of the market but I want to learn Azure on the assumption that Azure will likely see massive growthYou may see this pattern in companies that are more mature in the cloud journey. The legacy infra architects will be trying to inject themselves into discussion but frankly be perceived as blockers. Up stairs, the cloud SAs will be in demand as they can be the gate keepers/shepherds.
In my work I speak with companies that want to change their approach to technology. One customer recently said that "In the world of cloud, SAs should be the right hand arm of the CIO".
Also, good luck with the test. Do not under estimate it. If possible, use multiple sources for practice tests as A cloud Guru is far from bullet proof. You can get the A Cloud Guru course on Udemy for $10 and that comes with practice tests from Udemy which are more aligned with the actual test.
aaron_2000 said:
I see a high demand for qualified cloud architects in the States which is part of what drove me into it as I'd love to go live and work there. I've been mostly using DigitalCloud and Udemy now for revision, the DigitalCloud courses have been a godsend for working out where my weaknesses are. The biggest issue has been that I never revised for GCSE's or anything so revision is pretty much new to me. I can score 70%-100% on every section except the management and governance section which I absolutely butchered, luckily it doesn't make up much of the exam but it's one of the areas I'm revising anyway. Is it AWS or Azure you work around? I know AWS makes up the majority of the market but I want to learn Azure on the assumption that Azure will likely see massive growth
Most companies want to go both Hybrid (on-Prem and cloud) and Multi-Cloud (multiple cloud vendors). The advantages seem clear on the surface because you avoid vendor lock in and can have an added layer of resiliency. In theory both those reduce risk. In reality, when people do the multi cloud approach they say "all windows workloads to Azure and all AI/ML to AWS". That is still vendor lock in based on workloads. Also, you are not going to have your Application on Azure and the DR on AWS. That kills the resiliency case. Finally, by having multiple cloud vendors you will have to have double cloud skills. That's an area that is preventing companies from migrating and now they have doubled the problem?!? Having said that...
When I speak with customers I have to be sensitive to their multi cloud dreams because I work for a vendor and it may look a little biased to tell them not to consider my competitors. Normally, the conversation ends with a "Oh, wait a second" type statement when they realize
Again, there are some exceptions. Some times there are use cases that require multi cloud but they should be minimized.
Having certificates for both Azure and AWS would be useful to give alternate perspectives. It also plays into the multi cloud requirement that companies want earlier on in their journey. Google are investing heavily in their cloud right now so should not be discounted as well.
Edited by h0b0 on Tuesday 6th April 22:33
h0b0 said:
Most companies want to go both Hybrid (on-Prem and cloud) and Multi-Cloud (multiple cloud vendors). The advantages seem clear on the surface because you avoid vendor lock in and can have an added layer of resiliency. In theory both those reduce risk. In reality, when people do the multi cloud approach they say "all windows workloads to Azure and all AI/ML to AWS". That is still vendor lock in based on workloads. Also, you are not going to have your Application on Azure and the DR on AWS. That kills the resiliency case. Finally, by having multiple cloud vendors you will have to have double cloud skills. That's an area that is preventing companies from migrating and now they have doubled the problem?!?
Having said that...
When I speak with customers I have to be sensitive to their multi cloud dreams because I work for a vendor and it may look a little biased to tell them not to consider my competitors. Normally, the conversation ends with a "Oh, wait a second" type statement when they realize
Again, there are some exceptions. Some times there are use cases that require multi cloud but they should be minimized.
Having certificates for both Azure and AWS would be useful to give alternate perspectives. It also plays into the multi cloud requirement that companies want earlier on in their journey. Google are investing heavily in their cloud right now so should not be discounted as well.
From a management point of view, multi-cloud just sounds like a nightmare to me. AWS is the cloud I want to do work with as I like how it's operated and how much flexibility and scalability there is within, Azure doesn't appeal too much to me but I know they'll see massive market growth in the next 5 years. Once I'm comfortable in them both then I'll look into certs in others. What is it you do out of interest? Having said that...
When I speak with customers I have to be sensitive to their multi cloud dreams because I work for a vendor and it may look a little biased to tell them not to consider my competitors. Normally, the conversation ends with a "Oh, wait a second" type statement when they realize
Again, there are some exceptions. Some times there are use cases that require multi cloud but they should be minimized.
Having certificates for both Azure and AWS would be useful to give alternate perspectives. It also plays into the multi cloud requirement that companies want earlier on in their journey. Google are investing heavily in their cloud right now so should not be discounted as well.
Edited by h0b0 on Tuesday 6th April 22:33
Multi-cloud to where you are wanting to spread your workloads between both vendors to avoid lock in is just the worse of both worlds - you have to simplify things down to where they work on both platforms which means building VM’s (IaaS) instead of PaaS because you cant push the same thing out to both vendors.
Then you need some sort of orchestration to drive the two platforms - and guess what that is from one vendor.
As mentioned you then need staff that are dual qualified or simply more staff.
Using multiple clouds is OK if you play to the strengths of each platform rather than the lowest common denominator which doesn’t achieve much
Then you need some sort of orchestration to drive the two platforms - and guess what that is from one vendor.
As mentioned you then need staff that are dual qualified or simply more staff.
Using multiple clouds is OK if you play to the strengths of each platform rather than the lowest common denominator which doesn’t achieve much
Head above parapet. Cloud architect is a nonsense term.
An architects job is to translate clients requirements into the most appropriate means to fulfil them. That could mean cloud, it could mean on prem, it could mean no technology change at all and just a change of business process.
Specialising in one area, even a broad one like cloud services is liable to leave some nasty blind spots in your knowledge which limit your solution options.
An architects job is to translate clients requirements into the most appropriate means to fulfil them. That could mean cloud, it could mean on prem, it could mean no technology change at all and just a change of business process.
Specialising in one area, even a broad one like cloud services is liable to leave some nasty blind spots in your knowledge which limit your solution options.
I work as an architect for one of the global SIs and currently specialise in Salesforce, although I’m also AWS certified and come from 20 years of Java development and IBM WebSphere.
In terms of day-to-day, the cloud bit makes little difference. Being an architect is more about working with the customer to convert their needs into solutions, managing risk, and ultimately being responsible for the technical delivery of the solution.
Oh and telling developers to write bloody documentation :-)
In terms of day-to-day, the cloud bit makes little difference. Being an architect is more about working with the customer to convert their needs into solutions, managing risk, and ultimately being responsible for the technical delivery of the solution.
Oh and telling developers to write bloody documentation :-)
Can I ask how old you are and what your current work experience looks like? You mentioned school, revision and GCSE's and while I did all those things (like you, I skipped some of the revision 
), if discussing work stuff, I'd typically mention the roles / projects / places I've been at, so am assuming that you're quite young and have limited commercial experience of working in IT? This isn't a negative, just trying to understand where you're coming in from and could of course be wrong on all assumptions.
), if discussing work stuff, I'd typically mention the roles / projects / places I've been at, so am assuming that you're quite young and have limited commercial experience of working in IT? This isn't a negative, just trying to understand where you're coming in from and could of course be wrong on all assumptions.Autopilot said:
Can I ask how old you are and what your current work experience looks like? You mentioned school, revision and GCSE's and while I did all those things (like you, I skipped some of the revision ), if discussing work stuff, I'd typically mention the roles / projects / places I've been at, so am assuming that you're quite young and have limited commercial experience of working in IT? This isn't a negative, just trying to understand where you're coming in from and could of course be wrong on all assumptions.
I'm 21, I spent some time pursuing cyber security but couldn't get myself interested in it, the same with performance testing. It's why I started the thread so I can get a real understanding of where I need to go and what I should be doing from people who've already built their careers as opposed to just starting out. I was lucky to work in a few decent fixed term contract IT jobs that weren't very specialised but helped me figure out how the different departments worked and how to work within the environment. Would you say that being young and starting out is both a big positive and a large negative from an employability point of view? ), if discussing work stuff, I'd typically mention the roles / projects / places I've been at, so am assuming that you're quite young and have limited commercial experience of working in IT? This isn't a negative, just trying to understand where you're coming in from and could of course be wrong on all assumptions.aaron_2000 said:
My biggest question for any of you is how would you suggest breaking into a more specialised role without 5-10+ years of real, tangible experience to put on your CV?
https://www.capgemini.com/gb-en/careers/your-career-path/apprenticeships/https://www.capgemini.com/gb-en/careers/jobs/digit...
aaron_2000 said:
My biggest question for any of you is how would you suggest breaking into a more specialised role without 5-10+ years of real, tangible experience to put on your CV?
A lot of the big places, be it tech, or banks, have graduate programs that will give you an opportunity to accelerate your career while being paid very well. I worked at one of the largest banks in the world and the grad hires were treated like they walked on water. Sometimes with good reason. I had a need for someone with kube knowledge so asked a couple of second years to figure it out for me. A week later they could teach many of the “experts” Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff