Cloud engineer to cloud architect
A cloud engineer already meets 72% of what the cloud architect role asks for. The move turns on 1 required skill not yet in the profile.
23.9/ 100
1 How much of what a cloud architect is expected to do is already part of a cloud engineer’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 architect role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A cloud architect role treats 5 of its required skills as things a cloud engineer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- cloud technologies
- deploy cloud resource
- design cloud architecture
- design cloud networks
- plan migration to cloud
What stands in the way is 1 required skill 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 architect role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a cloud engineer 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 5 the cloud architect role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 6 missing skills fall into 4 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 collaborate with engineers required
- optional, not held Agile development optional
- optional, not held DevOps optional
- optional, not held ICT architectural frameworks optional
- optional, not held Agile project management optional
- optional, not held coordinate engineering teams optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 1 entries a cloud architect role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
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 cloud technologies knowledge
- already held deploy cloud resource skill
- already held design cloud architecture skill
- already held design cloud networks skill
- already held plan migration to cloud skill
- already held automate cloud tasks skill
- already held cloud security and compliance knowledge
- 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
5 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held Agile development optional
- optional, not held Agile project management optional
- optional, not held DevOps optional
- optional, not held ICT architectural frameworks optional
- optional, not held coordinate engineering teams optional
34 held skills the cloud architect role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role ICT security standards knowledge
- not needed by the target role ICT system integration knowledge
- not needed by the target role ICT system programming knowledge
- not needed by the target role Java (computer programming) knowledge
- not needed by the target role Python (computer programming) knowledge
- not needed by the target role Ruby (computer programming) knowledge
- not needed by the target role align software with system architectures skill
- not needed by the target role analyse business requirements skill
- not needed by the target role analyse software specifications skill
- not needed by the target role apply ICT systems theory skill
- not needed by the target role apply risk management processes skill
- not needed by the target role cloud monitoring and reporting knowledge
- not needed by the target role computer programming knowledge
- not needed by the target role cyber security knowledge
- not needed by the target role data engineering knowledge
- not needed by the target role database development tools knowledge
- not needed by the target role debug software skill
- not needed by the target role design interaction model skill
- not needed by the target role develop software prototype skill
- not needed by the target role ethics knowledge
- not needed by the target role implement cloud security and compliance skill
- not needed by the target role interpret technical texts skill
- not needed by the target role manage cloud data and storage skill
- not needed by the target role manage keys for data protection skill
- not needed by the target role operating systems knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform data analysis skill
- not needed by the target role respond to incidents in cloud skill
- not needed by the target role security engineering knowledge
- not needed by the target role service-oriented modelling knowledge
- not needed by the target role solve ICT system problems skill
- not needed by the target role systems development life-cycle knowledge
- not needed by the target role systems theory knowledge
- not needed by the target role use query languages skill
- not needed by the target role web services knowledge
4 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- optional, not held Agile development optional
- optional, not held Agile project management optional
- optional, not held DevOps optional
- optional, not held ICT architectural frameworks optional
Common questions about this move
Can a cloud engineer become a cloud architect?
Yes, and it is an adjacent move. A cloud engineer already covers 72% of what a cloud architect is expected to do: 11 skills carry over, 5 of which the cloud architect role treats as required.
What skills does a cloud engineer need to become a cloud architect?
1 required skills are missing, plus 5 optional ones. They fall into 4 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is collaborate with engineers.
How hard is the move from cloud engineer to cloud architect?
Its learning distance is 23.9 out of 100, which is the adjacent 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.