And it may be true.
Theres a huge gap between the skills businesses need and what theyre able to get.
Its estimated that there will be 14 million new cloud jobs available worldwide in the next few years.
Typical of the exciting job possibilities in the cloud is the cloud administrator position.
These positions usually require specific cloud skills AWS, Google, Microsoft and Rackspace, for instance.
Salaries are often over $100,000.
How do you qualify for one of these lucrative jobs?
Its the Wild West in cloud training right now, with new programs springing up all the time.
Fortunately, many of the cloud giants are offering certifications.
Their programs focus on their own products, but they also provide cloud computing architectures basics.
And there are some vendor-neutral offerings that have been around long enough to have an established track record.
Here are some possibilities for cloud administrator certification today.
Successful candidates receive the Google Apps Certified Administrator badge and certificate.
The exam is taken from the admin console of a live domain created for the exam.
Amazon expects candidates to have at least one years experience operating AWS-based applications.
Amazon provides a 3-day course thats helpful for candidates, Systems Operations on AWS.
The course cost varies, but its ordinarily above $2,000.
Cost per Exam is $150.
AWS continues to dominate among cloud offerings, so AWS certification is one of the most popular.
Its a free vendor-neutral program that includes a MOOC learning series about the most interesting topics in the Cloud.
CloudU grants a cloud certificate.
The new acronym seems to signal the fact that Microsoft expects broad expertise from the people its training.
For MCSE: Private Cloud, MCSA: Windows Server 2012 is a prerequisite.
The coursework is based on Windows Server and System Center 2012.
The two MCSE exams are $150 each; each of the prerequisite exams is $450.
Cloud Credential Council Professional Cloud Administrator Certification
The Cloud Credential Council is vendor neutral.
It offers several certifications from Associate to Architect level.
For the PCA, attendance on a course is required.
Course costs vary depending on the provider; the range from $2,300 to $10,000.
The eBook is $200, and the exam is $300.
The grandfather system test, for applicants with a great deal of prior experience, is $350.
This course is for web link, systems, and database administrators.
It includes cloud provisioning and all aspects of administering cloud services.
HP ATP Cloud Administrator V1
HP offers training in several cloud specialties.
These programs use HP software and hardware, but they also offer a lot of cloud theory.
Classes cost approximately $2,000.
VMware Certified Professional Cloud
What could be more fundamental to the cloud than virtualization?
And what could be more fundamental to virtualization than VMware?
So it certainly isnt surprising that VMware offers a cloud certification, the VCP-Cloud.
Coursework covers VMware vSphere environments, public/private/hybrid clouds, multi-tenancy and cloud security.
The two vCloud Director classes mentioned above are each five days courses and each cost approximately $2,500.
Each exam is $175.
Some courses allow self-study, some insist on the candidate taking a class or series of classes.
If the classes are offered through private schools, they can become quite expensive.
Another factor for many candidates will be price, with wide variations between qualifications.
Potential candidates should do a careful analysis of the real cost (and potential benefits) of each certification.
