6 ways to tackle the cloud engineering skills shortage

As the battle for tech talent intensifies, organisations can benefit from a new approach to upskilling and developing software engineering professionals

Writing code to create cloudbased products and applications isn’t just for software companies anymore—today, it’s a part of doing business for organisations of all shapes and sizes. Rather than relying on third-party vendors to generate custom digital software and products for them, many tech-forward businesses are increasingly building their own stable of software engineers and cloud architects.

That’s a huge shift for most companies, and the ongoing dearth of skilled cloud developers, engineers, architects, and strategists isn’t making it easy. Meanwhile, by accelerating the need for cloud-based, secure remote-work platforms and automation solutions, COVID-19 has only added to the challenge. Consider the numbers: Cloud job postings soared 94% between 2017 and 2020 and have accelerated during the pandemic. More than 90% of IT leaders plan to expand their modern software engineering and cloud environments, yet 80% say inadequate employee skills are holding them back.

Across industries, six fundamental actions can help companies address this ongoing challenge.

• Build more builders. Rather

than hiring and training more project managers, the path out of the talent crunch requires building more builders—developers who are no longer focused on application maintenance and support but instead on driving business innovation and outcomes. Toward that end, companies should empower developers by giving them autonomy bounded by some minimal guardrails and a few absolute rules, allowing them to experiment with new technology choices, architectural decisions, and more innovative ways to solve business and technology problems. That way, instead of configuring existing packaged software, developers can be given a clean sheet of paper on which to build new solutions in the cloud.

• Upskill and train. Upskilling and reskilling can help to update knowledge and create a collaborative culture of engineering-led thinking. Companies can canvass staff to identify employees with technology skills and interests, such as Java, and upskill them in cloud-native development. What matters most is a keen interest and basic aptitude in technology, not where workers sit within the organisation.

Businesses should also provide in-depth training for new hires at the front end, before they begin their jobs. For instance, at Deloitte, many core cloud new hires receive four to eight weeks of dedicated training that is aligned to personas and roles. New workers are also paired with an experienced cloud learning coach. The training is a combination of skills-based and simulation training, so the emphasis is on applied engineering and applying that learning to real-world use cases and challenges.

• Design curricula around personas. Traditional learning methods are siloed and tend to be vertically focused on a particular group or function. A more effective approach is built horizontally across the organisation. The first step is to identify key roles and personas that are critical and common to building a culture of software engineering across functional areas. These roles can include cloud strategists, developers, engineers, architects, and data analysts. Training curricula can then be shared across related roles and groups, providing enterprisewide consistency in skills and knowledge.

• Go beyond certification. Many companies overplay certifications in cloud and other technologies. A cloud learning curriculum is about ensuring each professional has the full set of skills to do the work required and is deployment-ready. It should encompass curated e-learning, vendor-led boot camps, cloud certification workshops, and experiential hands-on practicums. Yes, a cloud certification is an important credential. But training should go beyond specific cloud service provider skills to include new ways of working as well as foster engineeringled thinking and culture across the enterprise. Mixed-mode applied learning can be effective. Part of the curriculum can include a truly hands-on component, where professionals can spin up containers or create Kubernetes clusters in a lab environment, for example. In some learning pathways, professionals have a chance to work in small pod teams to develop a new cloud-based app and demonstrate it in a capstone review.

• Bridge the gap with academia. As many companies grapple with shifting their organisational output to software, they require software engineers who are equally well-versed in technology and business strategy. Yet in general, higher ed has not been able to keep up with the skills now in demand. A potential solution is stronger partnerships among universities, businesses, and cloud providers to help develop up-to-the-minute learning that combines deep technical training with a singular business strategy. “We’ve learned the curriculum must be experiential and include hands-on learning that is cohort-based,” says Mahadev Satyanarayanan, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University and Deloitte Cloud Institute Fellow. “This builds a common experience that students go through together. And that creates community and engagement.”

• Drive a mindset shift. Finally, this new emphasis on cloud education will require a culture of experimentation in which smaller teams are rewarded for creative coding without penalty for failure. Code will become a creative path toward open-ended problem-solving. Instruction should be provided on modern delivery processes and tools such as DevOps, Agile methodologies, and design thinking. Employees who attain these skills should be recognised. At Deloitte, workers are awarded digital “badges” they can display on their internal profile pages to call attention to cloud skills and completed learning programs, boot camps, and certifications. As the battle for talent intensifies, there is no silver bullet to address staffing challenges. But not having a plan today could lead to disastrous consequences tomorrow as software continues to eat the world. The most sustainable approach involves some combination of building, buying, and renting software-engineering talent based on the company’s longterm strategy.