Cloud architect to cloud engineer
A cloud architect already meets 30% of what the cloud engineer role asks for. The move turns on 22 required skills not yet in the profile.
77.1/ 100
1 How much of what a cloud engineer is expected to do is already part of a cloud architect’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the cloud engineer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A cloud engineer role treats 11 of its required skills as things a cloud architect already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- automate cloud tasks
- cloud security and compliance
- cloud technologies
- deploy cloud resource
- design cloud architecture
- design cloud networks
What stands in the way is 22 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 11 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A cloud engineer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a cloud architect background worth leading with.
- already held deploy cloud resource working with computers
- already held design cloud networks communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held plan migration to cloud working with computers
- already held do cloud refactoring working with computers
- already held develop with cloud services working with computers
- already held automate cloud tasks communication, collaboration and creativity
All 11 carried skills, including the 11 the cloud engineer role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 34 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn ICT system integration required
- still to learn ICT system programming required
- still to learn cloud monitoring and reporting required
- still to learn database development tools required
- still to learn operating systems required
- still to learn service-oriented modelling required
- still to learn systems theory required
- still to learn web services required
- still to learn computer programming required
- still to learn systems development life-cycle required
- optional, not held ICT security standards optional
- optional, not held Java (computer programming) optional
- optional, not held Python (computer programming) optional
- optional, not held Ruby (computer programming) optional
- optional, not held data engineering optional
- still to learn align software with system architectures required
- still to learn analyse software specifications required
- still to learn debug software required
- still to learn develop software prototype required
- still to learn manage keys for data protection required
- still to learn solve ICT system problems required
- optional, not held apply ICT systems theory optional
- optional, not held design interaction model optional
- optional, not held use query languages optional
- optional, not held perform data analysis optional
- still to learn implement cloud security and compliance required
- still to learn interpret technical texts required
- still to learn manage cloud data and storage required
- still to learn analyse business requirements required
- optional, not held apply risk management processes optional
- still to learn respond to incidents in cloud required
- still to learn cyber security required
- optional, not held ethics optional
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a cloud engineer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 ICT system integration study this
- 02 ICT system programming study this
- 03 align software with system architectures practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 11 skills that carry over
- already held automate cloud tasks skill
- already held cloud security and compliance knowledge
- already held cloud technologies knowledge
- already held deploy cloud resource skill
- already held design cloud architecture skill
- already held design cloud networks skill
- already held design database in the cloud skill
- already held design for organisational complexity skill
- already held develop with cloud services skill
- already held do cloud refactoring skill
- already held plan migration to cloud skill
The 1 learning area not shown above
- optional, not held security engineering optional
12 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held ICT security standards optional
- optional, not held Java (computer programming) optional
- optional, not held Python (computer programming) optional
- optional, not held Ruby (computer programming) optional
- optional, not held apply ICT systems theory optional
- optional, not held design interaction model optional
- optional, not held use query languages optional
- optional, not held apply risk management processes optional
- optional, not held data engineering optional
- optional, not held ethics optional
- optional, not held perform data analysis optional
- optional, not held security engineering optional
6 held skills the cloud engineer role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role Agile development knowledge
- not needed by the target role Agile project management knowledge
- not needed by the target role DevOps knowledge
- not needed by the target role ICT architectural frameworks knowledge
- not needed by the target role collaborate with engineers skill
- not needed by the target role coordinate engineering teams skill
18 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn ICT system integration required
- still to learn ICT system programming required
- still to learn cloud monitoring and reporting required
- still to learn cyber security required
- still to learn database development tools required
- still to learn operating systems required
- still to learn service-oriented modelling required
- still to learn systems theory required
- still to learn web services required
- still to learn computer programming required
- still to learn systems development life-cycle required
- optional, not held ICT security standards optional
- optional, not held Java (computer programming) optional
- optional, not held Python (computer programming) optional
- optional, not held Ruby (computer programming) optional
- optional, not held data engineering optional
- optional, not held ethics optional
- optional, not held security engineering optional
Common questions about this move
Can a cloud architect become a cloud engineer?
Yes, and it is a career change move. A cloud architect already covers 30% of what a cloud engineer is expected to do: 11 skills carry over, 11 of which the cloud engineer role treats as required.
What skills does a cloud architect need to become a cloud engineer?
22 required skills are missing, plus 12 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information and communication technologies (icts). The single most important is ICT system integration.
How hard is the move from cloud architect to cloud engineer?
Its learning distance is 77.1 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.