Take Charge – Career Snippets

Digital transformation is sweeping through every area of our existence – that much we’re sure of! Standard Bank’s cloud engineer, Veliswa Boya, talks about why this change is significant, especially for businesses

What is cloud-based technology? In the past, businesses used to buy equipment to host server applications and systems, but that’s no longer necessary with cloud technology. They simply access their data from the internet hosted by a third party — in this case being major cloud providers such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft. What does your job as a cloud engineer entail? The engineers usually specialise in either Google, Microsoft or Amazon cloud systems and need to know how to go about recommending the best solutions for businesses. You can either be a software, security or networks engineer. I’m more of a cloud architect — I design what the software engineer is going to build and work closely with other stakeholders. Briefly share your career history. I have almost 20 years’ experience in IT. I was a software developer for over 10 years, served in various business analysis roles and was also a solutions architect. While moving across these different roles, cloud became a much talked-about strategy for South African businesses. This technology ensures that businesses no longer have to waste time and money on buying equipment and building solutions — with cloud technology, the solutions already exist and yours is just to consume them. You also only pay for what you have used. How did you get into this? I chose to specialise in Amazon because I love how efficient their services are. I read up a lot on how their services worked. All cloud service providers have their own certification processes, which prove one’s proficiency in certain skills. After playing around for some time, I decided to validate what I already knew. Amazon, for instance, has 11 certifications — I’ve done two and going for my third. I then decided to delve into job opportunities where I would use this new skillset — and that’s how I ended up at Standard Bank. How important is this for the 4IR? Cloud service providers innovate rapidly. As a business — unless you have an army of employees waiting to develop your software — it makes sense to sign up because the major providers offer services that are already keeping up with the 4IR. What contribution are you hoping to make? My key focus areas are mapping out cloud migration strategies and designing the architecture. I’ve started mentoring 10 women who want to pursue this career path. What helped you get to the top? One thing I learnt very early on is that nothing ever stays the same. You have to be prepared for change and always look for opportunities because what’s relevant today could be obsolete tomorrow. I refer to myself as an eternal student — I’ve never felt ‘senior’ or important enough to not want to learn.