How to Choose a Cloud Focus
Moving to the cloud is the way forward in technology, no matter which choice you make. Companies typically pick a particular cloud company based on their business needs and then decide on the type of cloud service they want, like Platform as a Service, Software as a Service, or Infrastructure as a Service. There are lots of cloud service options out there, and customers have plenty to choose from. The decision of which cloud provider a company goes with depends on things like:
- How much it costs
- The type of service model
- Whether the cloud provider is available in their specific area
- Any rules or regulations that need to be followed
- What applications they require
Some of the major cloud providers available today include:
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS is the biggest in cloud computing. It's the leader and has the biggest piece of the market. AWS is always coming up with cool stuff in Artificial Intelligence, Serverless, and Machine Learning to stay ahead, and it's the go-to for new cloud services.
If you choose a career with Amazon Web Services, you’re in luck. Most cloud customers use AWS, so your skills will be super valuable for a long time. They also offer some neat security certifications. AWS has a bunch of services that can handle almost any kind of job you throw at it.
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft is doing well in Cloud Computing and is a strong second after AWS. It’s got a big piece of the market, just behind Amazon. The cool thing is, that it’s easier for people to learn because lots of customers already know about Microsoft’s Azure products.
Azure is smart because it uses its advantage in services like Microsoft 365, which tons of companies use. This helps it take some market share from AWS. Microsoft also jumped into the security game and now competes with AWS in that too. When it comes to the cloud, these two are the big players fighting for the top spot.
Google Cloud Platform
Google is like the surprise player in the cloud wars. They're not slow when it comes to trying new things and are the only ones with enough power to take on Microsoft and AWS. Even though Google Cloud joined the cloud game later, it's catching up fast with Microsoft. It stands out by offering special services and a different way of doing things. Plus, it has a huge amount of data from Google search and other stuff.
These three providers have significantly more market share than any of the smaller ones. But for the sake of mention here are some of the bigger smaller Cloud Service Providers:
Alibaba Cloud
Alibaba is a great choice for companies in China wanting to start using the cloud, although not as well-known in the West. Even though they're thinking about expanding globally, they're already known as one of the top cloud providers in Asia.
IBM Cloud
IBM is also in the cloud competition, offering a bunch of services. One special thing they have is called "bare metal." It gives customers their own private access to a cloud server, perfect for those who don’t want to share with others in a public cloud. IBM also lets you tweak their services a lot, giving you even more flexibility than the other big cloud players!
Oracle Cloud
Oracle Cloud is well-known for its databases and is a strong platform for big businesses. They're really good at handling a lot of work in the cloud and have a bunch of big customers who trust them enough to move their Oracle work from in-house to the cloud.
How Companies Choose a Cloud Service Provider
As a cybersecurity professional, you might want to understand what direction to specialize in. The truth is over 90% of companies choose a multi-cloud approach. Meaning they usually operate in two or more of the big three. So to figure out where to start you have to understand why a company chooses a cloud provider. You must consider their business needs, budget, application requirements, regulatory guidelines, etc.
Some of the key factors which you can use are:
Support
Does the cloud service provider support their workload strategy? If you are planning your applications to run on a particular platform or database and those versions are not present in a provider, then it would not make sense to choose that option. These things need to be carefully considered as a company heavily reliant on Microsoft products might look at Azure as an option instead of completely changing its entire tech stack!
Service Levels
In terms of availability and support, customers will take a close view of the service level agreements (SLA) to find out what level of reliability is present. Do they need support in the form of a dedicated account person, or a simple call center contact will suffice? The contract must be reviewed to ensure it is legally enforceable and contains clauses for the security of data that will be stored in the cloud. This contract is what will get enforced if some issue happens in the cloud at the cloud service provider’s end. The level of support a company needs isn’t always due to their size. A large tech company might need more tech support because their cloud footprint is even bigger than their staff, and they can afford it! On the other hand a small flower shop might need tech support because they don’t have the resources to pay someone with specific cloud skills.
Costs
Like it or not, cost does play a huge factor when choosing a cloud service. Cloud Service providers have differing cost models such as pay-as-you-go, reserved, volume discounts, etc. which must be carefully reviewed and considered. Pricing can get a bit complicated in the cloud and most providers provide free tools for estimating ballpark costs.
Security
Easily the biggest factor when companies choose a cloud service provider, security and compliance can become the biggest hurdle before a cloud migration is given the green light. Cybersecurity teams need to understand the Shared Responsibility Model of the Cloud and see where their job ends, and the cloud service provider begins. Some cloud-native security services might be offered free of cost while others might require retrofitting or re-engineering in the cloud. Additionally, the team might need to upskill to understand how the new cloud security model works.
Compliance
If their organization needs to be compliant with standards like PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, SOC2, etc. then they find out whether the cloud provider is compliant with the same and what extra effort will be required on your part to be compliant. Do not make the mistake of assuming that migrating to the cloud automatically makes them compliant as this usually differs depending on the platform and model which the customer chooses in the cloud.
Data Residency
A lot of companies have data residency requirements that limit the geographical areas in which they can store data. The cloud makes it very easy to move data between regions and customers can inadvertently find themselves outside of compliance with regulations like GDPR if they are not aware.
Summary
So begin thinking what your ideal place of employment might be and what type of cloud they would choose. A few examples are startups might be lured into GCP because it’s considered more visionary in the AI domain and that might be appealing to you for the fast pace and equity. GCP certifications are some of the most in demand highest paying certifications because a GCP specialty is difficult to find. Whereas financial services and banking might appeal to you for the high salaries and job security but they might be luered more into Microsoft. Microsoft might cost a little more but the integration and focus on cybersecurity is important to them and the backing and support of Microsoft is assuring. But as a last word of reminder. You can never go wrong with AWS. There is a lot of knowledge overlap between Azure and AWS and AWS is by far the leader in Cloud Service Providers. They have the largest share of the market but there are also more AWS certified professionals than anything else but more jobs that want them. Find out which cloud provider best meets your immediate and long-term goals, but most importantly don’t be a victim of analysis paralysis and just start! Its better you have any focus today than none tomorrow.
More articles in this series:
Tyler Wall is the founder of Cyber NOW Education. He holds bills for a Master of Science from Purdue University, and also CISSP, CCSK, CFSR, CEH, Sec+, Net+, A+ certifications. He mastered the SOC after having held every position from analyst to architect and is the author of three books, 100+ professional articles, four online courses, and regularly holds webinars for new cybersecurity talent.
You can connect with him on LinkedIn.
Get 20% off all courses in our On-Demand catalog with coupon code “Welcome20”
Download the Azure Security Labs eBook from the Secure Style Store. These labs walk you through several hands-on fun labs in Microsoft Azure, leaving you with the know-how to create a gig in Fiverr or Upwork to start your cybersecurity freelancing.
Also available in the Secure Style Store, download the Job Hunting Application Tracker for FREE to keep track of all your job applications.
Check out my latest book Jump-start Your SOC Analyst Career: A Roadmap to Cybersecurity Success published June 1st, 2024 and winner of the 2024 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards.
