What Is a Cloud Engineer? Building and Maintaining the Cloud

A cloud engineer is an IT professional who builds and maintains cloud infrastructure. Cloud engineers can have more specific roles that include cloud architecting (designing cloud solutions for organizations), development (coding for the cloud), and administration (working with cloud networks). 

In this article, we'll go over cloud engineer opportunities, including salary and growth. Afterward, if you're interested in learning more about this in-demand career, consider getting started with the AWS Cloud Technology Consultant Professional Certificate. You'll learn how to gather technical requirements, assess client capabilities and analyze findings to provide appropriate cloud solution recommendations.

What is a cloud engineer?

Cloud technology has become ubiquitous in recent years with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud making up three of the biggest cloud computing platforms. (Learn more about their key differences.)

You probably use cloud-based technology frequently in your everyday life, such as watching TV or listening to music on your favorite streaming services. For a company, it means data can be stored and backed up more easily, software updates can be rolled out on-demand, and customers may be able to access their information from different devices. As a cloud engineer, you’ll work behind the scenes to keep it all running.

Cloud engineers build that infrastructure for businesses, establishing their services on the cloud so that they can scale and accelerate their operations.

Cloud engineer salary and job growth

A cloud engineer makes an average salary of $116,252 in the US as of October 2024, according to Glassdoor [1]. Cloud computing is also expected to grow in the next decade as companies continue to adopt cloud technology. The ability to work with cloud technology is one of the most in-demand skill sets in 2021, along with cybersecurity and database management [2].

What does a cloud engineer do?

A cloud engineer’s role can look fairly different depending on the company they work for. They may need to help plan and design infrastructure for a business to establish itself on a cloud computing platform, or work to maintain a system that's already in place.

A cloud engineer’s day-to-day tasks might include: 

• Helping organizations migrate their computer systems to the cloud

• Configuring cloud infrastructure components like networking and security services

• Creating the applications and databases that perform on the cloud

• Monitoring cloud management and data storage services

How to become a cloud engineer

By getting the right skills, experience, and perhaps a certification, you can prepare to compete for cloud engineering jobs.

1. Develop relevant skills.

IT jobs that can have cloud-related tasks include systems engineer, network engineer, and database administrator. If you’re already in an IT role, keep an eye out for opportunities to grow in these areas. 

• Cloud platforms: It’s generally recommended that you learn one cloud platform well, instead of having minimal knowledge of several. By market share, the four largest cloud infrastructure providers are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and IBM Cloud in 2021. Much of what you learn in one cloud platform may be transferable to another, with slight variations.

• Data storage and security: How to access, store, and protect data are each an important part of a cloud worker.

• Networking: Having knowledge of networking basics and virtual networks will be useful in integrating networks with cloud services.

• Programming: Common languages used in cloud computing include Python, Java, Golang, or Ruby. 

• Operating systems: You should have a strong understanding of operating systems such as Windows and Linux.

2. Build hands-on experience.

There are several ways you can gain hands-on experience working with the cloud. If you’re in an IT role, try approaching your manager to see if there are opportunities for you to shadow coworkers in cloud computing roles, or if you can take on tasks that will help you learn more about cloud principles. You can also sign up for a cloud platform account and begin exploring on your own.

3. Earn a certification.

A certification can be useful in building up technical skills and showing employers that you have a baseline of knowledge in the cloud space. If you’re new to the cloud space, try a foundational certification—like the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals AZ-900. These can help you learn the technology and vocabulary of the field. 

If you have a little knowledge of the cloud, you can consider more technical certifications. These can include an associate-level AWS certification, or credentials in a specialized area of expertise, like the Google Cloud Cybersecurity Professional Certificate.

Read more: 5 Cloud Certifications to Start Your Cloud Career

4. Prepare for interview success.

Practice answering common technical interview questions you might encounter during a live job interview. "I think mock interviews are a fantastic way to get comfortable with the process," advises Miller. "If you can find someone to practice interviewing with, you can flex your technical knowledge and practice being comfortable having a conversation with an interviewer."

"If I ask a candidate to solve a technical problem and they don't know how to go about it, I want someone who can acknowledge that fact quickly, but is still able to have a conversation around how they would map the knowledge and experience that they do have to the problem," continues Miller. "In IT, when you encounter a problem you've never seen before, it's probably just a weekday."

Cloud engineer career path

If you have a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, you may be able to land an entry-level cloud engineering position. That’s not the only path you can take. 

Many cloud professionals get their start in IT positions that include concepts used in cloud work. These can be jobs like systems engineer, network engineer, DevOps engineer, and database administrator. From there, you might become a cloud engineer or cloud administrator. Cloud engineers can go on to more specialized roles, like cloud architect.

Related cloud salaries

If you’re curious, this is how much various cloud professionals make in the US. All data comes from Glassdoor as of October 2024.

• Cloud administrator: $105,312

• Cloud network engineer: $111,486

• Cloud systems engineer: $126,562

• AWS cloud engineer: $106,875

• Azure cloud engineer: $123,062

• Cloud DevOps engineer: $106,592

• Google Cloud engineer: $116,252

• Cloud data engineer: $101,802

• Cloud architect: $145,338

Build your cloud computing skills on Coursera

If you're interested in working toward a career as a cloud engineer, get started with the AWS Cloud Technology Consultant Professional Certificate. Over nine courses, you'll create the conceptual, logical and physical design for cloud-based solutions for infrastructure and platforms.

Or build on your skill set with the Google Cloud Database Engineer Specialization. This 13-course series is designed for learners who have general programming skills and database experience using SQL, and covers how to plan, execute, test, and monitor enterprise database migrations to Google Cloud.