It was late 2011 and Steven Donovan was comfortable working at SHI International Corporation, a growing information technology firm, as a personal computer break/fix technician. His company had been growing quickly from a $1 million "software-only" regional re-seller into eventually becoming a $6 billion global provider of information technology products and services.

At that time, cloud computing was just starting to explode onto the information technology scene. Although Amazon Web Services had been offering its Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) since 2006, browser-based enterprise applications from companies like Google had only been around since 2009. Steven wanted to somehow elevate himself professionally so after hearing good things about the National Cloud Technologist Association's CloudMASTER® certification, which was available at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, he enrolled. After a short, but intense, online curriculum Steven earned NCTA CloudMASTER® Certificate 11002.

Shortly after earning his certification, Steven’s company recognized his newly learned expertise by reassigning him to serve as a Tier 1 Cloud Administrator.  Quickly honing and sharpening his skills, he soon found himself promoted to a Tier 2 Cloud Administration.  These new skills not only elevated Steven at work, but the experience also unleashed an entrepreneurial drive, leading him to start his own business developing applications for android smartphones.

“The CloudMASTER Certification is great for learning cloud computing basics.  It really helps you to pick your professional direction in the cloud computing industry. You can either support the cloud or develop for the cloud.  The money, however, is in development!”

Salary information credit: Indeed.com

Steven is now a Service Consultant with Flexera Software. Flexera helps application producers and enterprises increase application usage and security, enhancing the value they derive from their software. At Flexera, Steven specializes in implementing and configuring the company’s FlexNet Manager Platform/Suite (FNMP/S). Part of his job consists of building business adapters to connect and import external data into FNMP/S. He also configures FlexNet Discovery and Inventory, including inventory beacons, agents, and connections to Oracle, Microsoft, Citrix, and VMware.

As more companies take advantage of cloud service benefits, the need for IT professionals to be skillful in the use and implementation of a wide range of cloud services becomes even more acute. This form of training also serves as a layer of protection against well-known cloud transition missteps like cloud service vendor lock-in and inadequate cloud service provider due diligence.

If you’re looking for a way to elevate yourself like Steven, the National Cloud Technologist Association (NCTA) and Logical Operations NCTA CloudMASTER® Certification Training Program is for you. This is the first time that NCTA content will be delivered outside of the association’s higher education partners. Through Logical Operations, NCTA content will be delivered through a broad channel that will provide outstanding delivery options to a wide spectrum of professionals interested in cloud computing.

For more information on this exciting program please visit https://goo.gl/0vPP3l

(This content is being syndicated through multiple channels. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of GovCloud Network, GovCloud Network Partners or any other corporation or organization.)

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