Clouds of Change for IT Pros: Cloud Admin's the new Sys Admin

By Mary Beth Hamilton | Thursday, April 12th, 2012

On most days if you asked what I was doing on that exact day two years prior I wouldn’t be able to tell you, but today is different.

Today is the second birthday for Hedge IT, our sweet, informative blog. So I know exactly what I was doing two years ago – I was writing and posting our first Hedge IT article, aptly titled “Welcome to Hedge IT.”

Sticking with the theme of ‘welcome to…’ and giving a nod to our upcoming Hedge Fund Cloud Summit, today’s post is a welcome to the changing world of IT – now that the business world is going to the cloud.

Paradigm shifts are commonplace in the IT world. When talking to an IT veteran about cloud, he/she will likely reflect on the move from centralized computing (mainframes/mini-computers) to decentralized computing (Windows NT/Novell) and now back to centralized computing with the cloud.

The prevalence of the cloud means IT will shift from hands-on work with hardware and installations to resource management, integration, capacity planning, and technical architecture. IT roles will evolve from “Systems Admins” and “Systems Architects” to “Cloud Admins” and “Cloud Architects.” This evolution is exciting and likely scary all at once. The well-known book, “Who Moved My Cheese?,” provides the following insights for coping with and preparing for change:

Change Happens. They Keep Moving the Cheese.
Anticipate Change. Get Ready For The Cheese To Move.
Monitor Change. Smell the Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old.
Adapt To Change Quickly. The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, the Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese.
Change. Move with the Cheese.
Enjoy Change! Savor The Adventure And Enjoy the Taste Of New Cheese!
Be Ready To Change Quickly and Enjoy It Again. They Keep Moving The Cheese.

To support your expedition to enjoy the big cheese in the sky, here is a snapshot of the technical and non-technical skills that make a knowledgeable Cloud Admin or Cloud Architect.

Technical Must-Have Skills

Virtualization	Capacity Planning	Enterprise Storage
Enterprise Security	Mobility	Application Management
Resource Management	Networking	Telecommunications
Application Integration	Technical Project Management	Data Center Management