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&lt;p&gt;For any high-tech employee that currently works as an IT specialist, the word &quot;cloud&quot; can produce two reactions: (a) confusion over just what a cloud is, and (b) uncertainty about the impact of the cloud on traditional IT processes. Both of these reactions can contribute to a third reaction which may be the most unpleasant of all: job insecurity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Will a shift towards cloud computing and cloud storage reduce the need for traditional IT specialists, such as pure network and/or storage administrators?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I believe the answer is yes. It may not happen &lt;em&gt;immediately&lt;/em&gt;, but it will happen &lt;em&gt;inevitably&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are numerous ways to read up on the term &quot;cloud&quot;. This type of research can lead to a job search based on that knowledge. Internet-based research is a common tactic for anyone concerned with planning for a job future in the cloud (e.g., here is a U.S. government definition of common cloud computing terms).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A more fruitful approach would be to attend a certification course that specifically trains IT specialists to become cloud specialists. What kind of training would a cloud specialist undergo? There are two potential areas for certification.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;padding-left: 30px;&quot;&gt;•The overall architecture of a cloud deployment. This includes how to stitch together three of the main elements of a cloud (server, network, and storage), the importance of IP (internet protocol), the role of virtualization, the challenges of security as it pertains to multi-tenancy, etc., etc., etc.&lt;br /&gt; •Drill-down courses that provide more detail on a specific aspect of cloud deployments. Certification in one or more of these areas would allow a cloud designer to work closely with a higher-level architect:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;padding-left: 60px;&quot;&gt;oDesigning the storage networking interfaces for a cloud.&lt;br /&gt;oDesigning the information security aspects of a cloud.&lt;br /&gt;oDesigning cloud services (e.g. storage as a service)&lt;br /&gt;oDesigning a cloud for information availability.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The picture below describes the courseware and certification levels (EMCCA and EMCDCA) that were recently announced by my own corporation (EMC).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://www.vault.com/VCM/articles/cloudcertification.png&quot; width=&quot;607&quot; height=&quot;406&quot; style=&quot;display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Industry analyst Steve Duplessie hints at the shifting role of IT specialists in a recent blog post:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;padding-left: 30px;&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;the data shows overwhelmingly that storage management functions will start to get sucked up into the virtualization layer. You will either become the &quot;vSys Admin&quot;, who also handles storage [and networking] or a lower level tech&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have more questions about the benefits of certification (cloud or otherwise), please feel free to connect with me using the contact methods below. Also consider watching (or joining) a certification community.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Steve&lt;br /&gt; http://stevetodd.typepad.com&lt;br /&gt; Twitter: @SteveTodd&lt;br /&gt; EMC Intrapreneur&lt;/p&gt;

Steve Todd

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