In the beginning, Cloud computing is in need of individuals with strong managerial skills because they must be able to take the initiative to evaluate all that Cloud computing has to offer. Once those individuals recognize that Cloud is not killing IT, but simply redefining it, the time to move forward will have arrived.

The company should then move forward with creating their company’s strategy relating to how it will move to the clouds. This will include how the company will handle negotiating services, how they will handle contracts relating to cloud providers, and what the role of the company’s procurement department and legal firm will look like as the company moves towards the Cloud. There will also be the need to choose Cloud applications that are appropriate for the company.

As more and more companies take their businesses to the clouds, the need for a number of different cloud professionals is going to continue to grow. There will be a demand for many different Cloud professionals such as Cloud network engineers, Cloud product managers, Cloud consultants, Cloud systems engineers, Cloud developers, Cloud systems administrators, Cloud sales executives, Cloud software engineers, and Cloud engineers.

Innovation and vision skills will definitely be necessary for Cloud jobs. In addition Cloud jobs will require skills in leadership, business communication, project management, planning, architectural skills, analysis, supplier relations, negotiations, and technical proficiency to name just a few of the skill areas that are going to be in great need.

Cloud computing offers a new way of doing business – a fresh take so to speak. It is very important that Cloud computing professionals understand how to maximize the use of Cloud computing so that they can run the entire enterprise.

The best way to know if a Cloud service will meet your company’s needs is to set up a simulation. Doing this will allow you the opportunity to run your business needs through the Cloud service to ensure it is living up to the expectations.

Another important Cloud computing skill is leadership. Cloud applications need to be brought into the company with a goal to improve the overall business performance, and so there is a need for strong leadership skills to implement the Cloud applications.

Cloud computing professionals need to negotiate with cloud vendors always keeping what is best for the company in mind. Cloud professionals need to have the skills to ask the necessary questions about physical location, service level agreements, data availability, service interruptions, and intellectual property rights.

The planning stage is important, and cloud computing professionals are also expected to create a cloud implementation road map for the company. Finally, cloud computing professionals need to have technical proficiency so that they secure business operation in the Cloud in the manner that will work best for the business, and over the most viability.

Even though some believe Cloud is killing IT, this is simply not true. Cloud is redefining IT, offering a number of interesting career opportunities.