Demand surges for cloud specialists in Middle East
Microsoft enables professionals to broaden their horizons
Microsoft has called for IT professionals across the UAE and the wider Middle East to prepare themselves for a cloud future.
“Microsoft’s cloud trainings allow IT professionals to broaden their horizons by gaining practical, instantly applicable cloud skills,” said Necip Ozyucel, cloud and enterprise business solutions lead, Microsoft Gulf. “Whether beginner or expert, we have the course to help them level up in their cloud career.”
A recent worldwide survey conducted by Microsoft showed a marked increase in the salaries of cloud professionals, as companies recruit for their digital transformation journeys. The survey also noted that 37 per cent of respondents in the Middle East and Africa region cited a skills gap as the main barrier to cloud adoption.
“In the GCC, governments have initiated bold economic development visions centred on technology,” said Ozyucel. “Much of the activity in the private and public sectors around these programmes — especially given the emerging constraints of the petrochemical price dip — is about doing more with less. In the context of digital transformation, that means cloud, so the surge in demand for cloud specialists is to be expected.”
An IDC forecast from 2015 projects that by 2020, more than one in three IT positions worldwide will be cloud-related and that the cloud readiness of professionals will start to have a significant impact on operations. The report also suggested IT employment worldwide will grow by around four per cent every year up to 2020, and that all growth will occur in cloud-related positions.
“Acquiring cloud skills has become a critical component in organisational success. Our certifications will enable IT experts to reimagine their firm’s IT infrastructure, preparing them for a competitive digital future”, added Ozyucel.
An IDC white paper sponsored by Microsoft shows global demand for “cloud-ready” IT workers will grow by 26 per cent annually through 2015 and onwards, with as many as seven million cloudrelated jobs available worldwide. According to the study, IT hiring managers report that the biggest reason they failed to fill 1.7 million open cloud-related positions in 2012 was because job seekers lacked the training and certification needed to work in a cloudenabled world.
“Training is one of the best investments you can make in your career,” said Ozyucel. “Azure certifications can be the first step in your journey towards cloud expertise. Then you will be in a better position to add value to your employer’s business or to help your customers with their own journeys to digital transformation.”
— business@khaleejtimes.com