Google Cloud set a new goal on Thursday of training over 40 million people in skills for its cloud – addressing a skills shortage that some of Google Cloud's top partners say is slowing down their own business and the platform itself.
Google's announcement comes amid a talent shortage that's impacting all the major cloud platforms: There literally aren't enough people certified in the skills that are required to operate and maintain IT infrastructure provided by cloud platforms like Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, or Amazon Web Services.
"This is about winning the trust of our customers and our partners," Rochana Golani, director of Google Cloud learning and enablement, told Insider. "We believe that skills should never be a barrier to cloud adoption."
The training program itself will see Google Cloud launch a site that has over 700 programs to earn certifications in skills like AI, machine learning, data analytics, security, application development, and cloud architecture. People who sign up early can also receive a free month of access to the program. It's also partnering with Coursera to support Google Cloud content on its site.
These cloud skills can pay well too – the two IT certifications that qualify holders for the highest-paying jobs are from Google Cloud, according to Global Knowledge.
As the pandemic drives cloud adoption to new heights, some Google Cloud partners — who resell the tech titan's cloud platform to their own clients — simply don't have the manpower to keep up. That, in turn, presents a threat to Google Cloud's big growth push against the market-leading AWS and Microsoft.
"I think there's a broad constraint on talent supply right now for sure," Tony Safoian, CEO of Google Cloud partner SADA Systems, told Insider. "Google's feeling it, partners are feeling it. It's an element of remarkable demand."
It's hard to find Google-certified talent
A recent survey by A Cloud Guru of over 26,000 cloud learners like IT leaders, engineers and developers found that only 30% of respondents were trained to use Google Cloud, compared to over 80% trained on AWS and 35% on Microsoft Azure. Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian shared earlier this year that more than 2.5 million developers were trained or certified on Google Cloud.
That matches the experience of partners like LucidPoint, which partners with both Google Cloud and AWS. LucidPoint Mike Fontaine says that while it's been able to plug the gap somewhat by training some of its AWS specialists in Google Cloud, it would prefer to have a deeper bench of Google-specific talent.
Still, the current remote work boom means that consultants don't need to be on-site with their customers, which Fontaine says has given LucidPoint more latitude to find and hire Google Cloud-certified engineers wherever they may live.
"We've been able to pick up very talented engineers in different locations and people who might not want to travel, but they're very remote," Fontaine told Insider.
Jason Ruge, partner at Maven Wave, an Atos company, says that training more talent is a welcome move to alleviate the shortage as it looks to grow.
"Certainly, they have a vested interest to make sure there's enough talent out there across the ecosystem," Ruge told Insider. "It's a war for talent right now. Anybody who has any number of cloud certifications on any of the hyperscalers is highly sought after."
That talent war is a barrier for growth, even as cloud demand leads partners like SADA Systems to set an ambitious hiring goal to double its headcount over the next 18 months. That's also why Maven Wave has taken new tactics like hiring more recruiters and bringing on recent college graduates to train them up quickly.
"The biggest challenge that most partners have these days is just attracting talent and hiring fast enough, so the demand is there and that's a great problem for everybody to have," Ruge said.
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