With many organizations migrating their on-premises data management to cloud, the dependence on cloud technology is rising. It is a well-known fact that organizations who were on cloud had far more chances of surviving the pandemic. On the other hand, with or without awareness, customers of various products and services have also got pushed into the cloud in order to connect with the supplier/provider. Whether it is to face an exam, order groceries to be delivered or entertainment, the presence of cloud amongst the general public has become stronger. This is true for Sri Lanka as well, as we have companies like Pearson, LSEG, Sysco Labs to name a few that bear witness to this phenomena. 

Arjuna Nanayakkara, Head of Shared Services at LSEG noted, “Cloud is one of the best places to invest in your career. The reason is platforms, infrastructure and products available on cloud platforms are very stable giving assurance and options of scalability that conventional platforms can not offer. So if you want to invest in a very safe career for the next ten to fifteen years, cloud is a very good choice”

Buddika Godakanda, Director Operations as Sysco Labs noted, “COVID-19 was an event that changed the world. One of the few good things about COVID-19, is that it accelerated digital growth. Today we do everything online and we are connected more than ever. If you look at any organization today, they talk about Digital First, Digital Transformation and something to do with Digital. Behind these digital transformations initiatives, we have Cloud Transformation as well. This happens on many levels, from subscribing to off the shelf SaaS to moving the entire workload to Cloud, or some hybrid model in between. If you look at the numbers, the global cloud computing market size was around $450 billion in 2021 and it’s expected to reach nearly 1 trillion by 2026. This means, the annual growth rate is expected to surpass 15%. What does this mean for you? Well, the Bigger the market size, the higher the demand for Cloud related jobs. During the Internet era, there was a huge demand for System Admins, Network Experts and DB admins. The next revolution has already started, and it’s in the Cloud. Keep in mind, that in the future understanding cloud concepts will be like having general IT knowledge, no matter what field you are working on”

Sri Lanka is slowly but steadily moving towards being a destination of choice for off-shore IT and BPM services. Hence the existence of the Sri Lanka Association for Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM)  to support the industry’s journey towards generating USD 5.0 billion of revenue by the year 2025. In working towards this objective, it is essential to ensure that the stakeholders of the Sri Lankan IT-BPM industries are cloud ready. 

SLASSCOM recently launched the SLASSCOM Academy with the aim to empower tech talent at all levels. The Academy caters to a wide range of potential learners from diverse educational needs and backgrounds that includes  schoolchildren, undergraduates, seasoned professionals of the industry and C-level executives. This is done by bringing in world-class learning experiences of both current and emerging technologies, thereby positioning the Academy as a central hub for educational and training programmes for the tech industry.  

Given this context, SLASSCOM Academy gathered the top professionals of the Sri Lankan IT industry who are mastering cloud engineering and developed a curriculum covering the foundational aspects of Cloud Engineering. You can now access this valuable learning opportunity by signing up for the Cloud Engineering Bootcamp which will commence on 19th March 2022. Learners will be exposed to delivery from the absolute best lecturers within the Cloud Engineering sphere of Sri Lanka. Held over a period of 12 weeks, covering 25 hours, the program will cover key topics of importance, ranging from an introduction to Cloud computing and AWS, GCP, AZURE, to Cloud services comparison and deployment, Cloud architecture and best practices, Security and Governance and Cloud Operations.

In addition, access to a community of Cloud Enthusiasts and mentoring from Industry experts will be a rare value addition for sure. The intention of this programme is strengthening professionals and gearing the IT industry of the nation to capitalize on the demand for cloud engineering skills. So if you are a web developer, programmer, QA professional, Software Engineering undergraduate or anyone with a basic IT knowledge wanting to specialize in Cloud Engineering, this is the opportunity you have been waiting for. Visit academy.slasscom.lk/cloud-engineering for further information and registration. Feel free to write to us at academy@slasscom.lk for further details.