For many workers, their homes have become their offices and all enterprise applications are now accessed remotely, driving IT companies across India to face up to an unprecedented level of cloud adoption.
Cloud adoption in enterprises has hit new heights during the pandemic as it has become the catalyst for digital transformation. Many organizations have moved towards remote working in response to COVID-19, making the cloud an immediate priority rather than a future project. That’s led to a need for internal reskilling and upskilling of teams. Cloud has enabled IT staff to be frontline supporters as it eliminates the complexities of a hardware-based IT infrastructure.
ComputerWorld takes a look at the cloud skills in demand across India, and how IT/ITes companies are going about reskilling and upskilling the workforce.
Cloud skills in demand
Some businesses are looking for cloud expertise in a narrow field; others want it across the board. We took a small but representative sample of what’s hot at tech companies operating in India.
India’s highest paying tech jobs and the skills that rake in the big bucks
For Sandeep Soni at data protection service provider Clumio, the needs are technical. Soni, the GM and VP of Engineering for the company’s Indian operations based in Bengaluru, says a basic understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in cloud development and serverless applications is the most important skill for a developer these days.
There’s a big difference between database programming for the cloud and on-premises, he says: “Engineers need to have cloud automation skills to build, test, deploy, and manage especially when there are rapid releases. Devops is another important skill that is needed. A good cloud developer needs to enable a smooth running of a software (in the cloud) for operations.”
At business process management specialist Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS), CIO Natarajan Radhakrishnan is looking for cloud skills across the board. The company is in the business of helping its customers migrate to the cloud, provide managed services, and also develop cloud-native applications, he says: “For us, the most sought-after cloud skills are sales, migration, application development, and administrative skills.”
Meanwhile, at software consultancy ThoughtWorks, capability development lead Jaydeep Chakrabarty says the latest technology trend becomes the new skill shortage for any organization. Currently, he sees the most in-demand cloud skills as cloud security, serverless architecture such as Google Cloud Platform or AWS, and ML and AI in the cloud.
Automation skills are among those in demand at CSS Corp., according to Phanikishore Burre, SVP and delivery head for network, cloud, infrastructure and security services. He sees a need for cloud skills in a number of roles, including administrator, devops, and security. Hands-on experience on Linux and Windows is important, he says, as are coding chops in Python, knowledge of automation platforms such as Ansible or Jenkins, and familiarity with Kubernetes and other container technologies, databases, and serverless and multi-cloud computing.