On Cloud Nine

Updated on: Monday, December 14, 2009

It’s what they call a first mover advantage. That’s cloud computing for you: 70 per cent business and 30 per cent technical,” says Diptarup Chakraborti, Principal Analyst, Gartner, India. A big interest area for IT majors globally, cloud computing is a new generation of computing that utilises distant servers for data storage and management, allowing the devices to use smaller and more efficient chips that consume less energy than standard computers. So, every company operating in the new global space is a customer to this trend. The process lends special benefits to a company with no funds to expand and buy machines — one may simply rent a cloud and work on another company’s server. “Not a new product or service, cloud computing is a mode of delivering business,” Chakraborti adds.

What experts like Chakraborti also suggest is a huge demand of professionals to run this expanding cloud computing business. The estimated cloud computing infrastructure market is suggested to be in the order of US $42 billion. “According to IDC reports, cloud computing is reshaping the IT marketplace, creating new opportunities for suppliers and catalysing changes in traditional IT offerings. In addition, Gartner estimates the worldwide cloud services revenue to surpass US $56.3 billion in 2009. This figure promises a steep rise in the adoption of cloud computing by numerous corporate giants. As a result, these organisations are now on the lookout for cloud architects who can efficiently manage cloud-based services,” says Vijay Mukhi, a pioneer in IT education in India and creator of the cloud computing specialisation course at Aptech Limited.

Those impressed by the staggering numbers may relax as the tag of a cloud computing professional does not call for a specialised degree of three years. “Any student with computers in +2 and as a subject in higher studies would be able to learn the science, and the way it operates, etc. What we basically look at are those who are in the line of engineers to software professionals, who can specialise in the subject,” says Ninad Karpe, MD and CEO, Aptech Limited.

Aptech has come out with a cloud computing course — the first batch began in the second week of December. A first of its kind in the cloud space, the course spans over 40 hours and is divided into three modules. It will be initially launched in 20 Aptech centres in metros and other main cities, and later scaled up to other cities in and out of India, says Karpe.
An aspirant could begin as a professional operating the cloud and servicing customers to eventually becoming a cloud evangelist or cloud architect, says Mukhi.

Since India is still to see its first breed of cloud computing professionals, it’s your guess at to the initial salary package. But as say obser-vers, the ‘cloud’ is the limit!

On Cloud Nine

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