How to Become a Cloud Engineer: Top Skills to Learn

Global data creation is projected to potentially exceed 394 zettabytes daily by 2028, suggests Statista. With the massive amount of data being generated every day, the demand for cloud services will remain high and continue to grow. Both businesses and individuals turn to cloud-based solutions for their data management and storage needs. To manage such high demands, cloud computing companies need skilled cloud engineers, so if you are interested in this growing domain and want to know how to become a cloud engineer? Check out our article!

What is a Cloud Engineer?

Cloud Engineers are IT professionals responsible for designing and implementing cloud computing systems for companies. They ensure that the cloud systems run efficiently and are secure. Cloud engineers monitor and troubleshoot any issues that could arise in the cloud environment. They collaborate with IT team members to ensure that cloud applications and services are suitably integrated with the rest of the company's tech infrastructure.

What is the Role of a Cloud Engineer?

Cloud Engineer roles and responsibilities include -

• To maintain and support cloud systems and services
• To manage, plan, design and develop applications or infrastructure on the cloud
• To keep a strong focus on information security and ensure data security
• To manage resources, networking, and storage in cloud
• To keep updated with the latest cloud technologies and industry trends
• To understand and utilise organisational assets such as data structures, algorithms, and cloud architecture while designing solutions
• To develop metrics for monitoring, performance tracking, and cost optimisation on the cloud
• To design, deploy, and maintain cloud databases and storage systems
• To automate cloud operations processes

How to Become a Cloud Engineer

To help you become a cloud engineer, we are listing a clear and crisp roadmap:

Learn Computer Science Basics

Learning the basics of computer science and related topics is necessary, and before learning about cloud, first you would need to develop a solid foundation in:

• Networking concepts such as IP, DNS, HTTP & VPN
• Operating systems, primarily Linux, Unix, and Windows
• Databases, including SQL, PostgreSQL, and NoSQL
• Computer and Network Security
• Programming languages such as Java, C++, and Python
• Tech tools and platforms, such as SQL, Kubernetes, Spark, Hadoop, Scala, Kafka, and Redshift

Experts highly recommend pursuing a bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related stream. You can also consider taking specialised Cloud Computing courses.

Specialise in A Cloud Platform

The next step is to learn about the various cloud platforms. Start with one of these three public cloud platforms:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Microsoft Azure

We recommend starting with AWS due to its extensive documentation and high demand for its workforce.

Learn Infrastructure As Code

IaC is essential for automating deployments. You can learn to work on tools that can help you write code that automatically creates cloud resources. Some of the popular ones include:

• Terraform
• AWS CloudFormation
• Pulumi
• Configuration management tools like Puppet, Chef, Salt or Ansible

Master Automation and CI/CD Tools

Learn to work with popular tools such as:

• Jenkins
• GitHub Actions
• Docker
• Kubernetes (for container orchestration)

These skills will prepare you to work in DevOps environments.

Get Certified

Certifications are key to demonstrating your skills. Some widely accepted certifications are:

• AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
• Google Associate Cloud Engineer
• Cloud+ (CompTIA)

By completing these certifications, you not just earn a certificate, but also upskill yourself in a specialised topic or subject.

Work on Real Projects

Learning the concepts is a basic requirement for becoming a cloud engineer, but to truly understand how these concepts work, you need to apply your learning to hands-on cloud computing projects. Here is how:

• Try creating your own web app and publishing it to the cloud
• Automate the creation of servers and databases
• Upload your code to GitHub and document your processes
• Learn practical implementation of Storage and Database Services, Networks or VPN, Load Balancing and Scaling, Cloud Monitoring and Application Migration, etc.

Cloud Engineer Salary in India

The average salary of a cloud engineer in India is INR 8 LPA, with the available salary range of INR 3 - 15 LPA.

Salary Source: AmbitionBox (September 2025)

Explore the salaries of cloud engineers across different cities in India.