5 key cloud computing courses helping to redefine employee skills post-pandemic

To say the cloud is here to stay would be an understatement. A recently published NASSCOM report “Future of Cloud and Its Economic Impact: Opportunity for India” indicates that the value add from cloud is expected to be US$310-US$380 billion to India’s GDP in 2026, accounting for ~8% of GDP. The same report also indicates investments in the cloud could create ~14 million direct and indirect employment opportunities.

This last bit of information should excite every student and professional in the country. If you want to take advantage of the rise of the cloud in India, here are five courses you should consider:

Cloud Basics

The first step you can take is to learn the basics. All the major cloud players Amazon, Microsoft Azure, Google offer free courses covering the basics. These courses are self-paced and offer certificates which can vouch for the skills learnt.

Cloud Fundamentals

This provides an understanding of basic cloud computing principles and concepts including cloud governance and service supporters and develop and affirm abilities to use open-source cloud technologies. This certificate is suitable for professionals in all fields of information systems giving them knowledge to understand the cloud, assess its risks, ensure its security, implement effective governance of its services and providers, and optimize the cloud’s potential. The cloud fundamentals certificate is a stackable module and part of ISACA’s Certified in Emerging Technology (CET) Certification to which you can add relevant certificates as well.

Data Science Fundamentals Certificate

Data and the cloud go hand in hand. This is more so in today’s big data world where data is the new oil. With the abundance of data available today, businesses are looking for ways to extract actionable knowledge from the data sets at their disposal. If this excites you, the Data Science Fundamentals certificate is for you, because it helps understand the key data analysis concepts and how to use data to help make informed business decisions. The course provides an explanation of data characteristics, types, uses, and structures, different data management systems, concepts, and procedures for data governance and more.

Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK)

The CCSK is offered by the cloud security alliance and is widely recognized as the standard of expertise for cloud security and provides a cohesive and vendor-neutral understanding of how to secure data in the cloud. The CCSK credential is the steppingstone to prepare other cloud credentials specific to certain vendors or job functions. The CCSK enabled the development of knowledge to effectively develop a holistic cloud security program relative to globally accepted standards. It covers key areas, including best practices for IAM, cloud incident response, application security, and data encryption, Security as a service (SECaaS), securing emerging technologies, and more.

Certificate of Cloud Auditing Knowledge (CCAK)

This certificate fills a gap in the industry for competent technical professionals who can help organizations mitigate risks and optimize ROI in the cloud. CCAK prepares IT professionals to address the unique challenges of auditing the cloud, ensuring the right controls for confidentiality, integrity and accessibility and mitigating risks and costs of audit management and non-compliance.

These five certificates are just the tip of the learning iceberg. There are a whole host of courses out there that students and professional alike can take. Professionals especially those in roles and related fields such as compliance assessors, third part auditors and assessors, cybersecurity professionals, enterprise architects, security consultants, privacy consultants would greatly benefit from cloud related knowledge and thrive in the cloud native world of tomorrow.

Both professionals and students alike would do well to equip themselves with the additional knowledge about the cloud especially in a post pandemic world which has stood traditional business models and technology paradigms on their heads. All one needs to survive and thrive in this cloud first world is the willingness and drive to continuously learn.

Guest contributor RV Raghu is the Director of Versatilist Consulting India Pvt. Ltd., which is active in India and the Middle East. He is platinum level member of ISACA, an international professional association focused on IT governance. Any opinions expressed in this article are strictly that of the author.