In recent years, organizations have embraced digital transformation to stay competitive and better serve their customers. Digital transformation initiatives and the need to embrace agility in technology and operations have led many organizations to move to the cloud. 

The cloud is quickly becoming a business imperative, not only for CIOs and IT professionals but all executives, given the need to remain innovative in the face of increasing competition. One common misconception about cloud computing is that it is primarily a cost savings or efficiency play. In fact, McKinsey found that nearly 75% of cloud impact will come from boosting innovation over mere optimizations or risk reductions. McKinsey predicts it will unlock $3 trillion in business value. As such “large companies are aiming for having 60 percent of their environment in the cloud by 2025,” McKinsey stated.

However, a major impediment to realizing the cloud’s full benefits comes from the cloud skills gap, which means many companies do not have the right talent, technology, partners, or tools to fully leverage this technology. It is a huge issue for many companies and the economy as a whole. 

There are several reasons why the cloud skills gap is so prominent. First, the quick rise of cloud computing meant the need for talent and expertise outpaced overall demand. Cloud job postings soared 94% between 2017 and 2020, according to Deloitte. 

Also, the major cloud providers and other large technology companies have hired those ideal candidates, making it more difficult for emerging companies to fill their ranks. A 2022 survey from technology research firm 451 Research asked respondents about their top challenges for addressing the skills gap. The inability to recruit the right talent was number one.

Finally, the pace of change in cloud computing often makes earlier knowledge outdated, meaning organizations without the right external partners or robust training and development programs will find whatever skills they learned can atrophy quickly.

It’s the latter challenge that provides the biggest opportunity for individual companies to fix their cloud gap. Many companies will continue to struggle to hire the right people or train their existing workforce to be self-sufficient in navigating the cloud. The issue is multifaceted: There is not enough available talent, and those who are available either have too high salary demands or prefer to work at a FAANG company or other tech giant. Conquering the cloud skills gap requires forging partnerships with excellent service providers. 

Falling behind on innovation: The cloud unlocks innovation. Realizing cost savings can help companies reinvest in modernization and other AWS services. Scaling cloud resources enables companies to launch new products while keeping those costs at bay. The cloud also makes it easier to deploy next-generation technologies like generative AI, machine learning, and automation across the organization.

Rising cloud costs: While companies expect their move to the cloud will reduce costs and drive productivity and profit, some are dismayed to realize their costs have increased. That’s because costly cloud usage can skyrocket if left unchecked. Organizations need internal employees to monitor usage and determine the most efficient ways to optimize their cloud environments, or better yet, work with experts to manage cost optimization.

Managing talent: The clear issues in recruiting employees are only one side of the equation. Employees with cloud expertise need to continue training to keep ahead of emerging trends. A company that hires well but doesn’t invest in training will end up back at the same gap once new trends arise. 

Security issues: While native cloud providers do offer cybersecurity protection, an organization can’t depend on out-of-the-box security alone. The reality is that bad actors are attacking companies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s up to the company to ensure their customer and financial data is secure, which can be a struggle without the right support.

Realize the challenge: The cloud is no set-it-and-forget-it environment. It requires a strategic plan, the right resources, and diligence to ensure value is gained. Otherwise, security issues and costs mount, and the company will be tempted to return to on-premise workloads. 

Understand your opportunities: Combining internal training and recruitment with third-party expertise is the best way to maximize your response to the cloud skills gap. 

Change your recruiting strategy: Companies striking out on hiring the right workers need to pursue different avenues. While many potential employees may enjoy their current roles at large tech companies, they can be swayed by meaningful missions and values, or better compensation and benefits. Also, consider moving to skills-based hiring, where a candidate’s ability and proven skills are valued over where they went to school or which company they previously worked for. This can help identify new talent pools. 

Upskill your workforce: Cloud trends change quickly. You need to invest in internal training resources to ensure your technology teams are ahead of the curve. There are many external training resources provided by AWS and other organizations that you can incorporate into your own learning and development initiatives to educate your workforce. 

Find the right partners: There is a reason AWS and other cloud providers have developed strong partnerships with service providers like Deep Blue Cloud. AWS provides the tools to companies to manage their cloud environments, and customizations and optimizations must come from the companies themselves or the partners they hire. The right partner exists as an extension of your team, so your core team can focus on huge business priorities while we maximize your use of and value derived from the cloud.

Deep Blue Cloud’s services can help businesses mitigate the cloud skills gap. We are an AWS Advanced Partner, which means we understand the full scope of their solutions and how to best extend their expertise to your business’s unique needs. We can help organizations optimize their cloud journey during every step across the lifecycle of this challenge. Here’s how we can help you:

AWS Training and Certification: As an AWS Advanced Training and Certification Partner, we can help your employees stay current with the latest AWS technologies that will help your organization maximize its value from the cloud.

Assessment: Deep Blue Cloud services include assessment services like an Optimization and Licensing Assessment (OLA), well-architected framework review, cost optimizations, and security posture review. We have decades of experience navigating the AWS marketplace, which provides customers with many independent software vendors (ISVs). Our cost-effectiveness helps our customers derive business value from their cloud investments.

Migration Services: Migration undertaken during a skills gap period can lead to downtime, data loss, timelines that drag on forever, and exposure to security attacks. We provide migration services for workloads such as Microsoft Windows, VMware Cloud, and Nutanix on AWS.

Managed Services: Our experienced team manages your cloud journey so you can prioritize higher-level work and focus on what matters. We help customers at any stage of their journey, including managed services like disaster recovery and backups, managed security, and more. We also help with planning and design, building and migration, operations and support, and automation and optimization. We can also augment your external team, freeing them up to focus on their biggest priorities. 

Companies that haven’t partnered with the right service partner will likely fall behind in the dynamic cloud industry. The best way to solve the cloud skills gap is to work with someone like Deep Blue Cloud with a proven track record of extracting value and efficiency out of the cloud. Deep Blue Cloud is the best partner for companies of all sizes looking to fix their cloud skills gap. Right-size your cloud journey by reaching out today to speak with a Deep Blue Cloud expert.