Cloud Academy Team

How L&D Helps Meet Public Cloud Migration Goals

Recruiting tech talent

Advancing your organization towards cloud maturity requires more than just an investment in infrastructure and software. A successful cloud transformation really starts with a well-defined learning and development (L&D) strategy that ensures you have the right people, with the right skills, in place as your company grows, evolves, and innovates.

According to Gartner, more than 90 percent of businesses are engaged in some form of digital initiative, which means that tech leadership and their teams will become heavily reliant on the L&D function to help them develop skills that were not previously needed pre-transformation. 

If you are a professional services firm interested in landing in the cloud, here are some key considerations to help you meet your public cloud migration goals:

What is the public cloud?

Public cloud is a type of computing where resources are offered by a third-party provider via the public internet and shared by organizations and individuals who want to use or purchase them via subscription or pay-per-usage pricing models.

Deloitte estimates that roughly 85% of today’s businesses are using two or more cloud platforms, while 25% are using as many as five. 

Why public cloud migration is important, and how L&D can help

Cloud has become an integral part of modern IT infrastructure. With more than 40% of global tech and business leaders looking to increase cloud usage, L&D will play an important role in not only implementing cloud training initiatives that help close skill gaps as they emerge, but also in managing shifting operational dynamics.

Look, cloud migration is no easy feat, and with it may come a host of challenges that must be considered, such as:

  • Security breaches and loss of data
  • Varying infrastructure between systems
  • Ever-changing application landscapes with varied architectures, and more.

Ongoing cloud training can help to manage these issues, which can help to minimize risk and create cost-efficient growth tactics.

At Cloud Academy, we offer objective-driven learning that combines theory with technical knowledge and hands-on practice. We help teams master cloud skills using industry-leading technologies and major cloud platforms. And our certification learning paths are closely aligned to top cloud provider certification exams.

To learn more about how we help companies go beyond training to onboard, upskill, reskill, and retain proven tech talent through our platform, contact us.

Assessing company needs and goals

Understanding the needs of your organization, and what the business hopes to gain from the cloud is key. For instance, is the objective to migrate only certain services or data, or is the organization heading towards a total cloud transformation? Security, and change management will also be key considerations. How can you mitigate risk and minimize disruption to the business during digitalization? 

By having a clear understanding of the organization’s goals, L&D can better determine which skills are most needed to achieve them.

Know your team

Understanding the varying skill sets within a tech team is crucial when transitioning to cloud services. While cloud transformation comes with a host of benefits, including cost savings, increased agility, and improved scalability, these benefits can only be fully realized if the tech team has a solid understanding of the necessary skills and competencies required for managing cloud services.

While it may be tempting to seek out new employees to compensate for a lack of understanding in cloud infrastructure among your existing team, this strategy could prove problematic and costly. Instead, consider the advantages of training your existing team to ensure that your whole company has the same level of expertise.

Outlining these details will help to define the scope, timeline, budget, and success criteria for your migration training initiative.

Why developing a training and support plan is key

There are numerous benefits to creating a strong training and support plan when transitioning to cloud services. One of the key benefits is the reduction of downtime. By ensuring employees are properly trained, they can easily identify and resolve any issues that may arise. This reduces the amount of time spent waiting for technical support and allows the organization to remain operational, increasing overall productivity.

Focus on application

Let’s face it: technical jargon might sound good, but it won’t help your team navigate through the dynamic cloud ecosystem. It’s about understanding how to use cloud services to develop, deploy, and maintain applications effectively.

To ensure the training is impactful, consider incorporating real-life scenarios or challenges your tech team will face daily into your training. Simulations, interactive labs, and sandbox environments are fantastic tools for imparting hands-on skills. The beauty of this approach? It will enhance your team’s problem-solving skills, fostering a more agile, innovation-forward culture.

Create best practices

Creating a blueprint for your migration to the cloud can be a great way to scale, save time, and money. Your roadmap should clearly outline learning objectives, how to implement a training and support plan, track progress, and most importantly, align with your organization’s security and operational strategies.

With Cloud Academy, you can get the skills you want to fill the roles you need. Learn how our customers are using the Cloud Academy platform to build tech skills training programs that scale.

Embrace Continuous Learning

Many corporate executives acknowledge that learning is now crucial to implementing business strategy, which is a great thing considering that studies show that more than 90% of employees would stay at a company longer if the business invested in their career development.

The cloud technology landscape is not static—it evolves at breakneck speed. Therefore, the upskill or reskill journey should not be a one-and-done affair but a continuous process.

Organizations can do this by providing training, encouraging learning through collaboration and knowledge sharing, fostering a growth mindset, and establishing regular check-ins to assess the progress of employees. Additionally, Certification programs, such as those offered by Cloud Academy, can offer valuable resources for your tech team’s continued cloud education journey.

The Conclusion

The journey to the cloud is much more than a tech implementation; it’s a transformational process that requires tech teams to evolve their mindsets and knowledge base.

Professional services firms that prioritize these areas, and use thoughtful, strategic approaches to training, will be well-positioned to reap the full benefits of public cloud services. As the tech industry continues to evolve, continuous learning will be the cornerstone of success.

Wherever you are in your cloud transformation journey, Cloud Academy can help. Find out what skills you need to focus on with our insider’s guide: How to Succeed with Cloud Transformation.

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