Cloud adoption continues to rise. In fact, worldwide Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) public cloud services grew by 29.5% in 2017, according to Gartner.
It doesn’t matter if it’s not currently in a company’s plans to use cloud technology. It most certainly will (or should) be in the next few years. IDC recently found that only 14.4% of organizations consider themselves to be in an “optimized state” of cloud technology, and that this number will rise to 42% in the next two-years.
What is the IDC definition of an “optimized state” cloud? “Organizations that have implemented a Cloud-native strategy, which is proactive managed and clearly drives business innovation while improving IT operational efficiency.”
Cloud technology is not always the best option. While training may not always be a top priority when considering a cloud investment.
Include training in your cloud strategy
IDC was commissioned by Amazon Web Services (AWS), to prepare a report on cloud training in order to validate its importance for accelerated adoption. They shared their findings with IDC’s White Paper, “Training to Accelerate your Cloud Strategy.”
“We found that training helps organizations accelerate cloud adoption and help them achieve their business goals sooner. It also helps to overcome concerns about cloud adoption.”
It is always a good idea to take one or two training courses. Continuous learning is the only way for professionals to keep up with technological advancements. According to the IDC White Paper, organizations that invest in comprehensive training will eventually reap the greatest benefits.
What is comprehensive training? Comprehensive training includes both cloud basics training for many stakeholders and deep cloud training to key technical teams.
Comprehensive training should not be seen as a single group attending a training course. It is a company-wide initiative that involves everyone, from IT professionals to executives, who require foundational to advanced skills.
Tiers of cloud knowledge
The full IDC White Paper contains first-hand accounts by executives from GE and a few business units in Siemens Building Technology on how they used comprehensive training for cloud computing to reap the benefits. According to Peter Loeffler (head of Innovation and Industry Affairs at Siemens), the C-level IT leaders and their direct reports received cloud education. “Everyone needs to know what cloud services (and tools exist),” he said.
There are many levels of cloud knowledge required within an organization. Some people in an organization may only need to “dip their feet in” to learn about cloud basics and how it affects their day-today work.
You will also find a number of IT professionals whose roles could change with the adoption cloud. They need to re-educate and upskill to meet changing needs. These skills can include traditional networking skills as well as the management and operational skills required to manage the changing costs of cloud usage.
The final tier is for professionals who are “elbows-deep” in technology. They need to learn how to migrate legacy apps or transform all data into useful and insightful information to speed up business decisions. These skills are more in demand than they supply, so hiring them can be more costly than training current employees. The IT profession is also growing.
