10 In-Demand Cloud Admin Skills You Should Master in 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic really drove home the importance of the cloud. GartnerOpens a new window  predicts that in 2021, companies will spend over $304 billion on public cloud. And this isn’t a one-time investment – LogicMonitor’s Cloud 2025 forecastOpens a new window  indicates that a whopping 87% of companies will deprioritize on-premise workloads over the next five years. Companies leveraging public cloud resources had a far lower risk of business disruption than their on-premise/private cloud counterparts. 

This cloud boom opens up new possibilities for IT professionals, particularly those who already have cloud systems management experience. As companies invest in cloud resources, they need skilled professionals who can optimize utilization, maintain security, fix glitches, and maximize value. Essentially orchestrate the entire cloud infrastructure and service delivery value chain – the backbone of the modern enterprise. 

If you are a cloud administrator looking to level up your career in 2021’s post-COVID-19 landscape (or you’re an IT services professional eager to specialize in a bullish job market), here are 10 skills and concepts you need to master to turbocharge your career.  

Learn More: Cloud Computing Job Roles: How to Become a Cloud Administrator, Architect, Engineer, or Developer 

1. Overseeing hybrid cloud deployments

In 2021, companies will leverage hybrid infrastructure to balance security and compliance with on-demand access. In a hybrid scenario, public and private clouds co-exist, with some workloads running private virtualized infrastructure situated on-premise and others on public cloud resources. In a hybrid workplace, for example, companies can choose to host meetings partially on on-premise systems as well as cloud-based collaboration platforms. 

As a cloud administrator, you should be prepared to work with organizations migrating some of their on-premise systems to cloud-based platforms and transforming the application landscape for seamless hybrid functionality. 

2. Operating multi-cloud solutions

In 2020, the adoption of multi-cloud grew by 70%Opens a new window , and IDC analysts predictOpens a new window that 2021 will be “the year of multi-cloud.” This is because multi-cloud gives you the flexibility to choose where you want to host an application or workload, potentially gaining from the combined resilience of multiple infrastructures to avoid any downtime. This is a complex task, as multi-cloud solutions can be all-public, all-private, or hybrid. 

Cloud administrators must be conversant with multi-cloud infrastructure management, including building common data services, managing heterogeneous infrastructures, and resolving endpoint complexities. 

3. Implementing virtualization 

Virtualization, which utilizes on-premise servers to host virtual servers and networking hardware so you can optimize your resource utilization levels, will be a top priority in 2021. By virtualizing their data, infrastructure, platform, and application hosting environments, companies can reduce business continuity risks. Cloud administrators will need to know the ins-and-outs of key virtualization enablers like Hyper-V, VMware and Kernel Virtual Machine (KVM) to help organizations stay competitive.

4. Formulating data management strategies

Cloud systems can handle both relational and non-relational data to give you rich insights, which is a massive differentiator when making decisions in a post-COVID-19 dynamic landscape. Cloud administrators in 2021 will be expected to devise and manage distributed databases using database-as-a-service tools, non-relational data stores, and the like – keeping in mind the need for analyzing unstructured Big Data and maintaining backups.

5. Budgeting for the cloud

As organizational dependencies on the cloud grow, there’s a risk of budget overruns. Applications, desktop support, and network services will all be rolled out via virtualized infrastructure in the coming months, but it is vital to contain costs and enhance ROI. To obtain the best return on their organizations’ cloud investments, administrators will need to understand the differences between vendors’ pricing models, such as the differences between the pricing of serverless functions vs. cloud VMs. 

Learn More: What Skills Do You Need to Work in Cloud Computing? 

6. Using autoscaling tools 

Remote teams require an adaptive IT environment, leveraging AI to automate the process of resource scaling and orchestration. Public cloud providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud offer autoscaling tools, and there are options for virtualized infrastructure as well. As a cloud administrator, you’ll have to know about various tools and their role in provisioning cloud environments:

• • Scheduled auto-scaling tools – Set a maximum number of instances or CPU usage to prevent new instances from being created if reached
  • Predictive auto-scaling tools – Predict how many instances will be required to handle a workload at any given time
  • Dynamic auto-scaling tools – Spin up instances as needed based on target metrics such as CPU usage

7. Supporting continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) 

Continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines can enable cloud migration at lower infrastructure costs and reduced cybersecurity risks. CI/CD is at the heart of agile cloud migration, making sure that companies stay adaptive in the face of a changing global environment. Knowledge of CI/CD tools and principles is essential for cloud administrators to assess organizational needs, align IT, and respond instantaneously.

8. Leveraging Infrastructure as code (IAC) 

IAC lets you provision and manage your cloud infrastructure using configuration files (i.e., machine-readable code) instead of manually configuring hardware or a software interface. It dramatically reduces the costs of IT management due to less dependence on hardware and manual efforts. It also enhances scalability. It is a good idea for IT administrators to brush up on their IAC expertise with tools like AWS Cloud Formation or Azure Resource Manager. They should also leverage IAC to optimize deployment orchestration, automated testing libraries, and version control systems. 

9. Harnessing the power of AIOps

AIOps uses AI analytics to move from traditional reactive IT systems monitoring (including cloud systems) to proactive monitoring and issue anticipation/resolution. AIOps can help you better manage complex cloud infrastructures, analyze incoming data from multiple systems and devices – even in a post-COVID-19 distributed computing environment – and detect signals of future downtime. AIOps can even launch corrective processes automatically, reducing the pressure on you as the cloud administrator. 

10. Secure federated computing environments

Perimeter-based security measures are no longer effective when there is no real physical office perimeter. Instead, the heterogeneous IT infrastructure resulting from WFH calls for a heterogeneous security model. Cloud administrators must be prepared to secure a federated computing environment, centrally governing the multiple applications, cloud resources, and workloads it may contain. When securing federated environments, your security mechanisms must reach down to the end-point level across tiers/devices, including the cloud, edge, mobile, and IoT. Knowledge of embedded zero-anonymity security features, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and privileged access management (PAM) can also be helpful in this regard. 

Learn More: Open Source Skills Are the Most Sought After for Cloud Tech: IBM 

Rise Up the Ranks as a Cloud Administrator in 2021

There is a chronic lack of cloud talent in the tech industry, even as demand continues to grow. Last year, a survey suggested that the absence of the right skills could slow down cloud projects, according to 86%Opens a new window of IT decision-makers. 

These skills and concepts can play a crucial role in your organization’s rebound in 2021 and advance your career as a cloud administrator. Additionally, you could also consider obtaining certifications in a specific environment such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud. 

What are your thoughts on the role of the cloud in a post-COVID-19 world? Let us know on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window . We are eager to hear from you.