Cloud computing has elevated from a cutting-edge technology to an enterprise IT best practice for businesses of all sizes and industries. The advantages of cloud computing over on-premises IT include scalability, cost-effectiveness, and the ability to access resources from anywhere, at any time. However, as organizations rely more on the cloud, IT professionals must develop their skills and knowledge through cloud computing courses.
Why are cloud computing courses so important, and how do they help students learn about cloud privacy and data protection? We’ll discuss these questions and more below.
Why Are Cloud Computing Courses Becoming Popular?
Cloud computing courses and certifications are growing in popularity—for a good reason. Below are a few reasons why more students are taking cloud computing courses:
- High cloud adoption rates: Gartner forecasts worldwide stated that spending on public cloud services will grow by 21.7 percent in 2023, reaching an all-time high of USD 597.3 billion (Gartner, 2023). With cloud computing playing an integral role for many businesses, professionals are looking to learn more about this valuable component of an IT environment. Cloud computing courses offer the chance to stay up-to-date with industry trends and technologies.
- Career opportunities: The surge of business interest in the cloud means that more companies are looking to hire individuals with expertise in cloud computing. Employees, too, are attracted to the field for benefits such as remote work and high salaries. According to Payscale, the average salary for workers with cloud computing skills is $136,000 (Payscale).
- Flexible learning: Many cloud computing courses offer flexible learning environments, making joining and completing the program easier. Students have more options than ever: in-person learning, self-paced video courses, and online lectures with a live instructor. These courses are also increasingly affordable, making them attractive to professionals who want to learn cloud computing and enhance their job prospects.
- Greater competencies: With so many advantages of the cloud, students in cloud computing courses can develop their skills and expertise in several areas. For example, system administrators can learn how the cloud improves IT uptime and reliability. Security professionals can broaden their knowledge by learning about cloud computing security and much more.
Who Should Opt for a Cloud Computing Course?
IT professionals working in a wide range of areas can all benefit from a cloud computing course. Students typically come from the various roles mentioned below
- System administrators manage an organization’s IT infrastructure. Cloud computing courses can provide system administrators with the skills to deploy, configure, and manage cloud computing infrastructure.
- Network administrators help maintain an organization’s computer networks. Cloud computing courses teach network administrators about cloud-specific networking topics such as cloud networking models, load balancing, virtual private clouds (VPCs), and content delivery networks (CDNs).
- Network security professionals help protect enterprise networks from cyber-attacks, preventing data breaches and unauthorized access to restricted resources. Cloud computing courses offer insights about securing network infrastructure in a cloud IT environment, starting with fundamentals such as the shared responsibility model.
- Cybersecurity engineers design, develop, and implement solutions to protect IT environments from cyber-attacks. Cloud computing courses teach cybersecurity engineers about cloud-specific IT security questions and concerns, including application security, incident response, forensics, and compliance.
- Operations professionals ensure that an organization’s IT operations are running smoothly. Cloud computing courses teach operations professionals about cloud infrastructure management, automation and orchestration, monitoring, performance optimization, change management, and more.
Of course, professionals in different roles will be interested in different cloud computing courses. IT security experts interested in cloud security will do well with a certification such as EC-Council’s C|CSE (Certified Cloud Security Engineer) program. The C|CSE course includes 11 modules on various cloud security topics, including configurations, forensics, cloud penetration testing, risk management, business continuity, and disaster recovery.
Learning Cloud Privacy and Data Protection in Vendor-Specific and Vendor-Neutral Environments
Cloud computing can be categorized into two types: vendor-specific cloud computing and vendor-neutral cloud computing.
A “vendor-specific” cloud computing course focuses on a particular public cloud provider. The major public cloud platforms include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), as well as offerings from other major tech firms such as Oracle and IBM.
On the other hand, a “vendor-neutral” cloud computing course teaches broad principles and best practices for cloud computing environments without delving into the specifics of any single platform.
Vendor-neutral cloud computing courses are important because many businesses have chosen a “multi-cloud” strategy. Companies use services from two or more cloud providers according to what best fits their needs and situations. According to a 2023 survey by Flexera, the percentages of organizations running at least some of their workloads in AWS and Azure are 47% and 41%, respectively (Flexera, 2023).
Many top public cloud providers offer certifications specializing in a single cloud platform. However, it’s often not the wisest idea to specialize by choosing a Google Cloud or AWS course—especially early in your career. Instead, IT professionals interested in cloud computing should select a vendor-neutral program that teaches widely applicable fundamentals and concepts.
Once you’ve established a firm basis for cloud security, you can proceed to vendor-specific courses—whether an Azure program or a Google Cloud certification. These programs discuss the intricacies of a particular cloud ecosystem and offer hands-on activities using the vendor’s tools and services. Vendor-specific courses are a good choice for experienced IT professionals who want to increase their knowledge of their employer’s choice of cloud vendor.
C|CSE: A Holistic Approach to Protecting Cloud Data and Better Understanding Privacy Norms
With organizations moving more and more sensitive data into the cloud, IT professionals must have a solid understanding of data privacy and security. This requires cloud computing courses that offer a holistic approach to cloud data protection and privacy—such as EC-Council’s C|CSE program.
EC-Council’s C|CSE (Certified Cloud Security Engineer) program offers the real-world skills and tools that students need to excel in the rapidly growing field of cloud security.
In particular, the Certified Cloud Security Engineer course is primarily a vendor-neutral course: it does not make any assumptions about the cloud providers students will use in the real world. C|CSE focuses on the essential practices, technologies, frameworks, and principles that IT professionals need for success in the fast-paced field of cloud security.
However, EC-Council’s Certified Cloud Security Engineer program balances this vendor-neutral approach with vendor-specific materials, such as more than 50 lab activities that teach the practical skills needed for specific platforms such as AWS, Azure, and GCP. This makes C|CSE an ideal blend of theoretical knowledge and practical expertise for cloud security professionals.
The Certified Cloud Security Engineer course is a career-oriented program that maps to real-world cloud security job roles, including network security administrators, cybersecurity engineers, cloud administrators, information security professionals, and more. C|CSE modules thoroughly cover platform and infrastructure security, application security, data security, penetration testing, incident detection and response, forensic investigation, business continuity, disaster recovery, risk management, compliance, and more.
References
1.Gartner. (2023, April 19). Gartner Forecasts Worldwide Public Cloud End-User Spending to Reach Nearly $600 Billion in 2023. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-04-19-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-public-cloud-end-user-spending-to-reach-nearly-600-billion-in-2023
2. Payscale. (2023). Salary For Skill: Cloud Computing https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Skill=Cloud_Computing/Salary
3. Flexera. (2023). Cloud computing trends and statistics: Flexera 2023 State of the Cloud Report. https://www.flexera.com/blog/cloud/cloud-computing-trends-flexera-2023-state-of-the-cloud-report/
About the Author
David Tidmarsh is a programmer and writer. He’s worked as a software developer at MIT, has a B.A. in history from Yale, and is currently a graduate student in computer science at UT Austin.
