00:00:00
so you want to become a cloud engineer
00:00:02
in 2025 but you don't know where to
00:00:04
start which certification do you need
00:00:06
what role do you apply for back in 2020
00:00:09
I quit my job and landed a new one as a
00:00:11
cloud engineer in just 3 months but that
00:00:14
was nearly 5 years ago and the cloud
00:00:16
landscape has changed significantly
00:00:19
since then now I run my own cloud
00:00:21
consultancy and I work for myself and if
00:00:23
I was starting this journey again here's
00:00:25
the exact 10-step road map for 2025 that
00:00:28
I would follow starting with number one
00:00:30
learning it fundamentals that every
00:00:33
cloud engineer needs to know here there
00:00:35
are five main areas starting with
00:00:37
operating systems operating system is
00:00:39
the foundation of any computer the
00:00:42
software that manages everything think
00:00:44
of how you use Mac OS or Windows on your
00:00:46
computer that's the operating system at
00:00:49
work in the cloud the Linux operating
00:00:51
system dominates most Cloud servers run
00:00:53
Linux so you need to learn how to use
00:00:55
Linux through typing commands you also
00:00:57
need to be writing small programs which
00:00:59
we call script which lets you ultimate
00:01:01
repetitive tasks that would otherwise
00:01:03
eat up a lot of your time now while
00:01:05
Linux is our main focus knowing Windows
00:01:08
matters too since most companies use
00:01:11
both so understanding them makes you
00:01:13
more valuable then there is networking
00:01:16
how computers communicate with each
00:01:18
other which is crucial because cloud
00:01:19
computing is all about connecting and
00:01:22
sharing resources each computer on a
00:01:24
network has its own address we call it
00:01:27
an IP address similar to how houses have
00:01:30
street addresses now networks need
00:01:32
organizing websites need converting to
00:01:34
IP addresses computers need rules for
00:01:37
sending data between each other you also
00:01:40
need to learn about security too things
00:01:41
like firewalls that control what traffic
00:01:43
enters your network and vpns that create
00:01:46
private and protected connections
00:01:47
programming comes next because
00:01:49
automation is what makes Cloud systems
00:01:51
efficient and scalable now don't worry
00:01:53
you do not need to become a fully
00:01:55
fledged software engineer but
00:01:57
understanding the basics the
00:01:58
fundamentals of code especially in
00:02:00
Python makes your life as a cloud
00:02:03
engineer so much easier so you need to
00:02:05
learn it next up is databases the
00:02:07
backbone of storing and retrieving
00:02:09
information that every modern
00:02:11
application needs you want to start with
00:02:13
SQL which handles data in tables like a
00:02:16
highly capable Excel spreadsheet then
00:02:18
you want to start exploring nosql
00:02:20
databases which is Built For Less
00:02:22
structured information because different
00:02:24
data needs different databases some fits
00:02:27
neatly into rows and columns and some
00:02:29
just simply don't finally there's
00:02:32
virtualization and containers
00:02:34
virtualization creates multiple virtual
00:02:36
computers from one physical machine this
00:02:38
makes cloud computing possible
00:02:40
containers package everything into one
00:02:43
single unit so moving applications
00:02:45
between systems becomes more
00:02:47
straightforward and nothing breaks
00:02:49
understanding these fundamentals makes
00:02:50
learning specific Cloud platforms like
00:02:52
AWS much easier because you'll know
00:02:55
exactly what is happening underneath oh
00:02:58
and by the way I've released my
00:02:59
beginnner to cloud computing it's free
00:03:01
right now and it's linked in the
00:03:02
description below step number two is
00:03:04
choosing your Cloud platform the cloud
00:03:06
computing world is dominated by Free
00:03:08
Major players each running massive
00:03:09
networks of data centers around the
00:03:11
globe you've got Amazon web services AWS
00:03:14
Microsoft Azure and Google cloud gcp
00:03:17
while each of these has its own
00:03:19
strengths I recommend AWS for beginners
00:03:22
and here is why firstly AWS leads the
00:03:24
market by a wide margin this means more
00:03:27
job opportunities and more resources for
00:03:29
learning secondly AWS offers an
00:03:31
extensive free tier so you can
00:03:33
experiment with real servers real
00:03:35
databases and real storage without
00:03:37
spending a dime you want to build things
00:03:39
and you want to learn by doing now the
00:03:41
skills you learn on AWS do transfer to
00:03:43
other platforms so once you understand
00:03:44
how AWS handle storage or databases
00:03:47
you'll be able to grasp how Azure and
00:03:49
Google Cloud approach similar tasks the
00:03:52
concepts remain the same just different
00:03:54
names and different interfaces step
00:03:55
three is mastering essential Cloud
00:03:57
Concepts now with AWS as your platform
00:04:00
it's time to dive into step three where
00:04:02
we'll break down the five AWS services
00:04:04
that are essential for every cloud
00:04:06
engineer in 20125 now ec2 is your
00:04:09
starting point Amazon's way of providing
00:04:11
virtual computers in the cloud instead
00:04:13
of spending thousands on physical
00:04:15
servers that sit idle you rent computing
00:04:17
power when you need it if you need a
00:04:19
server for a month for an hour for a
00:04:20
year you can just spin it up on AWS you
00:04:23
can turn it off and you can shut it down
00:04:25
when you are done now these virtual
00:04:27
machines can handle everything from
00:04:29
running websit to processing complex
00:04:31
data you'll learn to set them up control
00:04:32
the access through security groups and
00:04:34
even make them automatically scale up or
00:04:36
down based on the demand S3 solves the
00:04:39
storage Problem by giving you
00:04:40
essentially unlimited space in the cloud
00:04:42
you create something called buckets
00:04:44
think of them as superpowered folders
00:04:46
that can store anything from small
00:04:47
documents to massive video libraries a
00:04:50
single bucket can hold more data that
00:04:52
you could fit on thousands of hard
00:04:54
drives now companies like Netflix and
00:04:56
use S3 to store their entire video
00:04:59
library and countless websites use as
00:05:01
free to store their images and files
00:05:03
right there now you can make these files
00:05:05
public or private and access them from
00:05:07
anywhere in the world and therefore you
00:05:09
need to know about IM am identity and
00:05:11
access management it's how you control
00:05:13
who can do what in your AWS account
00:05:16
identity and access management lets you
00:05:17
create users and group them logically
00:05:20
like developers or admins and set
00:05:22
precise permissions if you want the
00:05:24
marketing team to upload files but not
00:05:26
delete them if you need developers to
00:05:27
access test servers and not production
00:05:29
you control all of this via I am
00:05:31
identity and access management it's
00:05:33
crucial because one misconfigured
00:05:34
permission could really expose all
00:05:36
sensitive information vbc gives you your
00:05:39
own private section of Amazon's Cloud
00:05:41
imagine getting your own floor in a
00:05:43
massive office building with complete
00:05:45
control over who comes and who goes you
00:05:48
decide how you structure your network
00:05:49
what can connect to what and how
00:05:51
everything communicates in your network
00:05:53
Banks use vpcs to keep financial data
00:05:56
secure gaming companies use them to keep
00:05:58
player data separate from admin systems
00:06:01
it's basically your private space in the
00:06:03
cloud then we have Amazon Bedrock which
00:06:05
represents the future of cloud computing
00:06:08
it's Amazon's way of making AI
00:06:10
accessible to everyone instead of
00:06:12
needing a team of AI experts a massive
00:06:14
Computing resources you can tap into the
00:06:17
pre-built AI models on Bedrock so if you
00:06:19
want to add a chatbot to your customer
00:06:21
service if you want to analyze thousands
00:06:23
of documents automatically Bedrock lets
00:06:25
you do this by making AI as easy to use
00:06:29
as possible just like any other cloud
00:06:31
service now while the technical details
00:06:33
might seem a little bit overwhelming you
00:06:35
want to focus first understanding why
00:06:37
you would use each service and what for
00:06:39
the how becomes much easier once you
00:06:41
understand the why now let's move on to
00:06:43
step number four it's time to build
00:06:45
Hands-On projects so you get really
00:06:47
comfortable with AWS first you want to
00:06:50
build a portfolio website this is a
00:06:52
great starting project because you
00:06:53
actually end up with something useful
00:06:55
your own website to show off your work
00:06:57
you'll use S3 to host it or just simpler
00:07:00
than you might think you'll create your
00:07:01
website files your HTML your CSS and
00:07:04
your JavaScript and put them in an S3
00:07:06
bucket and tell S3 to serve these files
00:07:09
as a website now along the way you can
00:07:11
learn how to handle files in S3 you can
00:07:13
set up permissions so people can view
00:07:14
your site and even set up versioning so
00:07:16
you can keep track of the changes that
00:07:18
you make the second project is a little
00:07:19
bit more tricky a system for tracking
00:07:21
tasks you can use easy2 to run your
00:07:23
application which can be built in either
00:07:25
python or node.js or whatever language
00:07:27
you're comfortable with and then you can
00:07:28
connect it to your your database using
00:07:30
Amazon RDS this is very valuable because
00:07:33
it teaches you how different ads
00:07:35
Services talk to each other you'll learn
00:07:37
how to set up a server connected to a
00:07:39
database and how to root the connection
00:07:40
between them to make sure everything
00:07:42
stays running smoothly the third project
00:07:44
brings Security in the picture an app
00:07:46
for sharing images you can store the
00:07:47
images in S3 but the interesting part
00:07:49
here is controlling who can do what with
00:07:52
them using IM you can set up rules so
00:07:54
that only certain users can upload or
00:07:57
delete images While others might only be
00:07:59
able to view them this teaches you real
00:08:01
world security practices something
00:08:02
that's crucial in any Cloud role now the
00:08:05
great thing about these projects is that
00:08:06
each one teaches you different skills
00:08:08
but they're all manageable for beginners
00:08:11
remember it's totally normal to hit
00:08:12
roblocks while building these projects
00:08:15
and I've had loads of these roadblocks
00:08:16
myself that's actually a good thing
00:08:18
because solving those problems is where
00:08:20
the real learning happens now if you
00:08:22
feel like securing your code takes too
00:08:23
much time there's a better way with
00:08:25
sneak securing your code and projects is
00:08:27
simple saving you valuable time just
00:08:30
connect sneak to your environment and
00:08:31
it'll automatically scan for
00:08:33
vulnerabilities in real time whether
00:08:35
you're working in your IDE CLI or GitHub
00:08:37
repos you get instant feedback on any
00:08:40
issues and suggestions to help you patch
00:08:42
things up right where you are coding and
00:08:44
if you are new to security sneak has
00:08:46
great resources to help you get up to
00:08:48
speed like sneak learn it's completely
00:08:50
free and it has lessons designed to
00:08:52
teach you security Concepts you can even
00:08:54
learn based on issues in your code so
00:08:56
you understand exactly how to fix and
00:08:59
avoid void vulnerabilities in the future
00:09:01
you can try sneak in your own apps for
00:09:03
free by going to
00:09:11
snak.io as your next logical step which
00:09:14
is Step number five and by the way a
00:09:16
common mistake that beginners make is
00:09:18
thinking that certifications alone will
00:09:20
land you a job that is not the case
00:09:22
employers aren't really looking for
00:09:24
certifications on your resume instead I
00:09:26
want you to view Cloud certifications as
00:09:28
consolidating your learning and helping
00:09:30
you understand the theory so you want to
00:09:32
start with the cloud practitioner where
00:09:34
you'll learn how cloud services actually
00:09:36
work together the next one is the
00:09:38
solution architect associate into how
00:09:39
these Services work together to build
00:09:41
Solutions now don't think about
00:09:43
memorizing each service and each feature
00:09:45
Focus instead on understanding why you
00:09:48
would choose one service over another
00:09:50
and there's plenty of practice questions
00:09:52
and exams online so be sure to use them
00:09:55
to help you prepare for the main exams
00:09:57
step number six is essential cloud tools
00:09:59
and there are two that are so important
00:10:01
for you to learn first up is
00:10:03
infrastructure as code IAC specifically
00:10:06
with terraform Cloud Engineers use
00:10:08
terraform to build and manage AWS
00:10:10
resources through code instead of
00:10:12
clicking buttons via the console do not
00:10:14
get used to using the AWS console to
00:10:16
spin up infrastructure whoever teaches
00:10:19
you to use the AWS console to build
00:10:21
infrastructure manually is not someone
00:10:24
you want to learn from you want to build
00:10:26
everything through code because that's
00:10:28
what happens in the real world it's yes
00:10:30
it's important to learn about the AWS
00:10:32
console and how to navigate it and how
00:10:34
to track things and how to monitor
00:10:36
things and how to make sure your
00:10:37
infrastructure that you've deployed via
00:10:39
code is actually there I use the AWS
00:10:41
console for validating I do not use the
00:10:44
console to spin up any sort of project
00:10:46
or any sort of infrastructure so please
00:10:48
please please please please do not use
00:10:50
the console to learn how to build
00:10:52
projects use it to get familiar with the
00:10:54
services what parameters that they need
00:10:56
but really you need to use IAC any
00:10:58
project that teaches you how to use a
00:11:00
console it's a red flag now with IAC you
00:11:03
want to write a few lines of code and
00:11:05
your whole infrastructure just spins up
00:11:06
the same way every time so your
00:11:08
databases servers networks are
00:11:10
consistent and repeatable and when
00:11:11
something breaks you can track down
00:11:13
exactly what changed and fixed it
00:11:15
through versioning next is understanding
00:11:17
CI and CD pipelines the pipeline that
00:11:20
moves your code from development to
00:11:22
production your code lives in GitHub
00:11:24
where every change is tracked when you
00:11:26
push new code changes you can add GitHub
00:11:28
actions to kicking automatically picture
00:11:30
it as a conveyor Bel your code starts at
00:11:33
one end gets built into an application
00:11:34
and runs through automatic test Security
00:11:36
checks and if everything passes it
00:11:39
deploys to production to AWS you can
00:11:41
start with the basics getting automated
00:11:43
builds and tests working properly and
00:11:45
then as you're learning you can add more
00:11:47
complexity these tools work hand inand
00:11:50
IAC will handle your infrastructure
00:11:52
while cicd moves your code between
00:11:54
environments step number seven is
00:11:56
Advanced AWS Services now you're ready
00:11:58
to tackle four Advanced AWS services and
00:12:00
the first one is AWS Lambda which
00:12:03
completely changes how we run code in
00:12:05
the cloud there are no servers to manage
00:12:06
no infrastructure to maintain and you
00:12:08
simply write the code and AWS will
00:12:11
handle everything else for you so if you
00:12:13
need something to happen when a file
00:12:14
uploads then Lambda does this
00:12:16
automatically the cost model is what's
00:12:18
beautiful about serverless functions
00:12:20
it's so simple you only pay for the
00:12:22
exact millisecond that your code runs
00:12:24
then we have API Gateway think of it as
00:12:26
a smart receptionist who knows precisely
00:12:28
how to to root every message between
00:12:30
different parts of your system then we
00:12:32
have Dynamo DB which brings flexibility
00:12:34
to data storage which is a nosql
00:12:36
database now unlike traditional
00:12:38
databases that demand riged structure
00:12:40
Dynamo DB will adapt to your data it
00:12:42
handles massive amounts of requests
00:12:44
simultaneously whilst maintaining
00:12:46
lightning fast speed with Dynam DB
00:12:48
you're Master storing data creating
00:12:50
efficient search patterns and ensuring
00:12:51
your application can access information
00:12:54
instantly the next service focuses on AI
00:12:56
infrastructure now you've already got
00:12:57
some experience with bedrock this point
00:12:59
so you also need to learn Sage maker
00:13:01
Sage maker basically just manages your
00:13:03
AI models you'll learn to set up GPU
00:13:05
powered computers deploy your AI models
00:13:07
and manage different versions it's a
00:13:09
servess way of managing your AI
00:13:11
infrastructure step number eight is
00:13:13
complex project building and project
00:13:15
number one is an event driven
00:13:16
notification system think of this as
00:13:18
building your own alert system like
00:13:20
getting a text when your food delivery
00:13:22
is close here you'll combine Lambda
00:13:24
Dynam DB and SNS to create something
00:13:26
users actually need when important
00:13:28
information changes your system will
00:13:30
tell the right people immediately so you
00:13:32
want to start setting up your
00:13:33
infrastructure with terraform then build
00:13:35
the core pieces and services one at a
00:13:37
time firstly you want to create a Lambda
00:13:39
function that watches for changes in
00:13:41
your database next you want to set up
00:13:43
SNS to send notifications and finally
00:13:45
connect them together now you obviously
00:13:47
want to test as you go to make your life
00:13:48
easier and you will start simple maybe
00:13:50
send a notification when someone adds
00:13:52
something new to your database once
00:13:54
that's working you can add more features
00:13:55
like updates and deletions project
00:13:57
number two is a book recommendation
00:13:59
engine this project shows you how to add
00:14:01
AI to real applications you're
00:14:03
essentially building a simplified
00:14:05
versions of Amazon's readers also bought
00:14:08
feature for books this system is
00:14:10
straightforward it watches what books
00:14:12
people read what they rate highly and
00:14:14
how long they spend reading now all of
00:14:16
this information will go into dynb so
00:14:18
when someone wants a recommendation the
00:14:20
Lambda function will package up its
00:14:22
reading history and ask Bedrock for
00:14:24
queries and suggestions Amazon Bedrock
00:14:26
will then analyze the patterns and
00:14:28
suggest books with similar writing
00:14:30
styles themes and complexity levels and
00:14:33
of course you want to make this project
00:14:34
better over time for example you want to
00:14:36
analyze book descriptions to find
00:14:38
similar Styles generate custom summaries
00:14:40
for readers or look at reviews to
00:14:43
understand what people like about
00:14:44
different books now each new feature
00:14:46
makes the recommendations more useful
00:14:48
now both of these projects will give you
00:14:50
hands-on experience with services that
00:14:52
companies actually use exactly the kind
00:14:54
of experience that will get you hired in
00:14:56
2025 and if you like the sound of these
00:14:58
projects but you don't know how to start
00:15:00
building them then check out my cloud
00:15:01
engineer Academy you'll get plenty of
00:15:03
hands-on experience from day one you'll
00:15:05
be building projects and access to a
00:15:07
private Discord with over 300 Cloud
00:15:09
students worldwide I also run monthly
00:15:12
live workshops as part of the package
00:15:14
for example recently we had an AI models
00:15:16
workshop and how to deploy these to AWS
00:15:18
and by the way all of these calls are
00:15:20
recorded so you can revisit them
00:15:21
whenever you like and if you're
00:15:22
interested go check out the link in the
00:15:24
description the next step is building
00:15:26
your online presence you should actually
00:15:27
start this step right at the beginning
00:15:29
of your journey number one your LinkedIn
00:15:31
profile setup first you want to craft
00:15:32
that headline but know it will evolve
00:15:34
start with something simple like
00:15:36
aspiring AWS Cloud engineer and then
00:15:38
watch you grow into an AWS certified
00:15:41
Cloud engineer building scalable Cloud
00:15:42
Solutions as you start to develop your
00:15:44
skills your headline should tell your
00:15:46
current Story number two writing your
00:15:48
summary this is where you share your
00:15:50
complete Journey tell people what pulled
00:15:52
you into learning cloud engineering and
00:15:54
how you're putting things into practice
00:15:56
be specific about the certifications and
00:15:58
the projects that you're learning and
00:15:59
building but also be real about the
00:16:01
learning process share those moments
00:16:03
when things break and how you figured
00:16:04
out to fix them next you want to
00:16:06
showcase your projects and document
00:16:08
everything that you're building the
00:16:10
first static website in S3 write about
00:16:12
it when you're creating complex systems
00:16:13
of Lambda and DB you want to share those
00:16:16
as well break down your thought process
00:16:18
explain which aw Services you picked and
00:16:22
why you picked them now most importantly
00:16:23
share what went wrong and how you fixed
00:16:26
it you also need to use the projects
00:16:28
section think of this as your living
00:16:30
portfolio start with those projects
00:16:32
early and show how they become more
00:16:34
sophisticated and finally get those
00:16:36
recommendations this becomes much easier
00:16:38
when you've been sharing your journey
00:16:39
openly connect with people who watch
00:16:41
your current progress people that know
00:16:43
you well and are active on LinkedIn
00:16:45
their recommendations can carry a lot
00:16:47
more weight than you think because they
00:16:48
would have seen your growth firsthand
00:16:50
because you've been building in public
00:16:51
the trick here is starting early don't
00:16:53
wait until you are ready share your
00:16:55
learning process from the very beginning
00:16:57
now let me talk to you through the final
00:16:59
step Landing your first Cloud job after
00:17:02
all of this learning and building you
00:17:04
are ready to start applying firstly you
00:17:06
want to Target the right entry level
00:17:08
roles start looking for positions like
00:17:09
Cloud engineer Junior Cloud engineer
00:17:11
Cloud support associate or even
00:17:13
technical support engineer or any Cloud
00:17:15
adjacent roles like help desk or devops
00:17:17
or platform engineer these roles want
00:17:19
someone who understand the fundamentals
00:17:21
of it setting up servers managing
00:17:23
permissions monitoring resources they
00:17:24
are perfect starting points because you
00:17:26
apply what you are learning what you
00:17:28
have learned learned and while you're
00:17:30
growing your skills and here is
00:17:31
something for 2025 as you get
00:17:33
comfortable with Cloud infrastructure
00:17:34
and AI Services new roles are emerging
00:17:37
Cloud AI infrastructure engineer mlops
00:17:39
engineer AI platform engineer Cloud AI
00:17:42
engineer we're going to see more AI
00:17:44
based titles in these Tech roles
00:17:45
starting with traditional Cloud roles
00:17:47
will give you a solid foundation to move
00:17:49
later on into AI Focus roles also your
00:17:52
resume needs to tell a clear story don't
00:17:54
just list Technologies show how you've
00:17:57
used them to solve problems start study
00:17:59
job descriptions carefully look at what
00:18:01
they need and create different versions
00:18:03
of your resume for different types of
00:18:04
roles make sure you connect with people
00:18:06
in the industry join communities go to
00:18:08
networking events these connections you
00:18:10
make can lead to roles later on you
00:18:12
should even message recruiters because
00:18:14
you have nothing to lose now with
00:18:15
interviews they require specific
00:18:17
preparation you want to come with
00:18:18
detailed examples from the projects that
00:18:20
you've built when they ask you about I
00:18:21
am don't just describe what it is
00:18:23
describe the permissions that you've
00:18:25
used and the systems that you've built
00:18:27
and secured walk through your problem
00:18:28
solving process because people care more
00:18:30
about how you solve problems than
00:18:32
exactly the technologies that you know
00:18:34
most importantly make sure you connect
00:18:35
your technical knowledge to business
00:18:37
value remember Landing your first Cloud
00:18:39
roll will take time and persistence Rome
00:18:42
wasn't built in a day each application
00:18:44
will make you better at explaining your
00:18:46
skills each interview teaches you
00:18:48
something new keep refining your
00:18:50
approach based on your feedback because
00:18:51
everyone in cloud computing started
00:18:53
exactly where you are right now and just
00:18:55
remember you become what you think about
00:18:57
and if you want to follow the same path
00:18:59
that I took after completing this road
00:19:01
map then check out this video right here
00:19:02
where I show you the exact Cloud care
00:19:04
path that will make you filthy rich
