Top 10 Cloud Courses for IT Professionals in 2022

More companies are looking to the cloud to cut costs, reduce security risk, and improve efficiency across the enterprise. Research shows these transformations have been happening in greater number in recent years as the nature work has changed for many.

"Companies are ramping up their cybersecurity defenses and their adoption of cloud technologies, which can create a more flexible infrastructure, speed up technology deployment, and get digital products to market more quickly," the authors of a recent McKinsey report wrote. "Thirty-six percent of respondents say their companies have accelerated the migration to cloud technologies during the pandemic, and 86 percent of them expect this acceleration to persist post-pandemic."

This upward trend in cloud migrations and adoption of cloud services has increased demand for skills in cloud computing — a trend Skillsoft has seen manifest in its learning experience platform, Percipio.

Technical issues are the number one challenge to cloud migrations , reports McKinsey. Having the tech skills to address these issues is imperative. However, talent with these skills isn't always easy to come by.

Skillsoft research has found that cloud professionals are among the hardest to hire, along with those in cybersecurity, data science and DevOps. For many IT leaders, this means it’s time to look inward at people who may have the potential to upskill.

Diving further into the data, Skillsoft identified several top cloud courses that benefit IT professionals as they architect cloud infrastructure, manage services and work with others to meet business objectives.

The courses below rise to the top for several reasons, including demand and utilization, but also sustained popularity. They are also a blend of virtual live courses and self-paced on-demand training.

As any IT leader looks at the scope of a transformation of core business services or architecture, it's important to ensure the team that will propel these projects forward is prepared at every step. For many, these courses are an essential step toward realizing those objectives.

Read Next: The 15 Highest-Paying Cloud Computing Certifications 

Trends in Skillsoft's learning experience platform, Percipio, show some of the highest spikes in training content utilization for AWS — and for good reason. As one of the leading cloud providers, AWS offers organizations hundreds of services to scale their operations, reduce costs and do far more.

This live three-day, hands-on course teaches architects, engineers and developers how to build resilient, secure and highly available solutions on the AWS cloud.

It is an intermediate-level course, so it's best if learners have knowledge of distributed systems and are familiar with networking, IP addressing, multi-tier architectures and more. A good course to consider prior to this one is the AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials.

Those who take this course will have the chance to practice building solutions in AWS to help reinforce the concepts they learn.

• See Live Course Schedule
• See On-demand Course

Architecting on AWS has maintained its popularity in Skillsoft's cloud library, but an excellent precursor for that course is this one on AWS essentials.

This course teaches AWS cloud concepts, services, security, architecture and more. It's a foundational course that aims to build more general cloud awareness and knowledge, but it also prepares IT professionals to take the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam.

Participants in this course will learn about AWS’s core offerings and key benefits and gain a thorough understanding of the AWS Well-Architected Framework.

• See the On-demand Bootcamp
• See Live Course Schedule

From 2020 to 2021, training focused on the Google Cloud Platform grew by more than 30 percent according to Percipio data. As of August 2022, usage volume has already surpassed that of 2021.

Much like AWS, Azure and other major cloud providers, the Google Cloud Platform attracts many cloud professionals for its breadth of services, ease of use and cost savings. Those benefits are why Developing Applications with Google Cloud Platform is a top choice for IT professionals. This course teaches application developers to design and deploy apps within Google Cloud Platform through hands-on labs, demonstrations and more.

Helpful prerequisites for this course include Google Cloud Fundamentals: Core Infrastructure.

• See Live Course Schedule

This five-day intensive course teaches system admins and engineers how to install, configure and manage VMware's server virtualization software, vSphere. Participants will learn how to configure ESXi hosts and the vCenter Server Appliance, manage data stores, create virtual machines, and more.

The course aims to help admins manage vSphere infrastructure for a range of organizations and serves as foundational training for several other VMware products. Before taking this class, it’s important to have experience with Windows and Linux operating systems, and it helps to be familiar with networking and storage concepts.

Past participants particularly appreciated the course’s balance of lab work, lectures and instructor-led discussions.

"The instructor provided a very thorough presentation of the concepts and took the time to ensure that the knowledge shared was understood by all participants," said Tadd Hoffman, who shared his experience in a post-course survey.

Complementing this course is VMware vSphere: Fast Track [V7], which offers admins and engineers a rapid novice-to-master path for managing vSphere infrastructure, helping them build more advanced skills to maintain highly available virtual environments.

• See Live Course Schedule

This hands-on course teaches administrators about the advantages of microservices over monolith applications, the evolution of Kubernetes, how to create and manage deployments and more. As participants progress through the course, they'll learn how to install all-in-one Kubernetes using containers, use kubectl to manage deployments to run applications in clusters, and create services and expose them to external IP addresses.

Over the past several years, this course has climbed in popularity, likely due to growing interest in and adoption of Kubernetes by developers. Plus, the course also counts toward a broader certification track, the Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA).

Since this is an intermediate course, it may be helpful to take one of Skillsoft's popular beginner courses, like Kubernetes Introduction, beforehand.

• See On-demand Course

Meant for advanced cloud professionals, the Data Center Design course teaches participants about what it takes to design a secure cloud service, covering core concepts like tenant isolation, access controls and physical considerations like location and buildings.

This course is a part of a 14-class curriculum for the Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) track. The certification validates a professional's ability to design, manage and secure cloud environments.

Courses like this have increased in popularity in the past several years as more organizations expand their cloud offerings and undergo digital transformation. From 2019 to 2021, cloud security training has risen 47 percent according to Percipio utilization data.

• See On-demand Course

This live course is best suited for systems administrators who will manage their organization’s Azure instance. In addition to providing holistic instruction on the administration of Azure, this course also helps admins prepare for the AZ-104 certification test. (Plus, the course offers a free test voucher!)

Before taking this course, learners should understand on-premises virtualization technologies and be familiar with networking configurations, Active Directory and disaster recovery.

Online, there are several free resources that complement this course (see a list here), and Skillsoft offers an Azure bootcamp that has remained popular with learners. Click the link below to view recordings of a previous bootcamp session.

Microsoft Azure Bootcamp

See Live Course Schedule

Gain access to more courses like this one in Skillsoft's Elite Total Access Collection for Microsoft.

This on-demand course covers the benefits of infrastructure as code (IaC) and explores several common tools used to implement IaC. Participants will learn how IaC can improve efficiency by provisioning resources automatically and help maintain consistency among environments.

The instructor will demonstrate how to install Chef and write cookbooks that can be used to manage provisioning of resources, how to differentiate between IaaS and IaC and how to implement IaC with CloudFormation.

This course is one of many that belong to Skillsoft's CloudOps channel, and it is also part of the DevOps Engineer to Cloud Architect Aspire Journey. This Aspire Journey compiles 39 courses (43+ hours of training) to help DevOps engineers shift their careers and become cloud architects. In the past several years, this course has grown into one of the most popular in Skillsoft's cloud library.

• See On-demand Course

In the past year, the number of people who've taken this course has risen sharply, fueled by growing interest in Docker.

"There have now been a total of 318 billion all-time pulls on Docker Hub, an increase of 145 percent year-over-year," according to the 2021 Docker Index. "In addition, there were nearly 30 billion Docker Hub pulls in our fourth quarter.”

This on-demand course covers the role Docker plays in DevOps, the essentials of managing containers, the best practices for developing with Dockerfile and more.

• See On-demand Course

In 2022, the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) released an updated version of the Cloud+ certification. This live course prepares IT professionals pass the new exam.

Having this credential proves a system admin or cloud engineer knows how to deploy highly available, secure cloud environments. Like other CompTIA certifications, Cloud+ is vendor neutral. That means IT professionals who earn this certification can apply their knowledge to several service providers.

That versatility makes a certification like this an ideal starting place for those who wish to land a specialized role in cloud. The Cloud+ certification is also DoD 8570.01-M compliant, meaning it is recognized as a valid credential for employees or contractors of the U.S. Department of Defense.

• See Live Course Schedule

To take advantage of the many benefits associated with cloud computing, organizations must prepare themselves for the intricacies of migration, integration and alteration of cloud services. (This 22-minute course on Percipio shares stories of successful cloud migrations at companies like Netflix, Spotify and others. It also shares some cloud migration fails and how to avoid them.)

Having clear goals and objectives will help cloud projects succeed, but those who drive these initiatives must be equipped for the journey ahead. Behind any successful project are the architects, administrators, developers and others who deliver these solutions.

Skillsoft offers cloud professionals a dynamic solution to become proficient in cloud management and operations, prepare for migrations and specialize in platforms like Google Cloud, AWS, Azure and others. By offering instructional variety, Skillsoft can help cloud professionals build new skills and apply them on the job quickly.

Solutions like Skillsoft's Cloud Career Journey bring together all the tools an architect or admin needs to support their organization's transformation, including unlimited live and on-demand training, labs, practice test, mentoring and more.

Learn more about Skillsoft's Cloud Career Journey here.