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How to start a cloud consulting business?
Main Post:
Hey Reddit, I have a question for guys who do cloud/DevOps consulting jobs - how did you start your path?
I know I need a site, maybe a couple more landing pages. Then I need to find clients - and that’s what I struggle with all the time. Should I use Upwork and LinkedIn? Or maybe a Facebook targeting? Please share some of your precious experiences on this.
A bit about me:
I was doing full-stack development for 6 years (typescript, serverless, graphql etc.) - and then I switched to a full-time Cloud Engineer/DevOps position and doing this for over 4 years now.
I was mostly working on Upwork and remote - so I’m pretty sure I have good skills to communicate with the clients.
So I was doing a full cycle of digital transformation for like 8 clients now and want to use this experience in consulting now. But I’m very stuck with the process itself.
So as you see, Reddit - any help will be appreciated. I’m up for criticism, advice, mentorship, any type of cooperation - you name it.
Thanks a lot!
Top Comment: 21 votes, 20 comments. Hey Reddit, I have a question for guys who do cloud/DevOps consulting jobs - how did you start your path? I know I need a...
how can a consulting firm be a google cloud certified partner
Main Post:
Hello all.
We are not a tech company. Just a consulting firm providing consultants to clients in USA for the client projects.
But we would want to become a google cloud certified partner.
Is it possible for a consulting firm to become a google cloud certified partner?
I mean..to the best of my understanding..is it possible if we can show some of our consultants that they have done certifications and are certified passing the GCP exams, is it sufficient in becoming google cloud certified partner and be possible for getting some in-house projects for our consultants??
or is the google cloud certified partner really only for companies into tech and who are wanting to migrate to cloud?
can a consulting firm like us become google certified partner?
Top Comment:
Yes, you can become a partner. You need to have N number of certified engineers and some number of GCP clients you've worked on.
Oracle HCM Cloud exit strategy
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I’ve been working with Oracle HCM Cloud for a few years now with my expertise lying mostly with recruiting and onboarding. ORC has been hot since it came out and I get tons of messages on LinkedIn for implementation roles but the longer I stay in implementation the more I come to dislike it. I specifically have come to really dislike Oracle. The tool requires so many workarounds and personalizations, it’s been very frustrating.
I’ve thought of making the switch and trying workday for example to test another technology and see how I feel about it but it’s been tough because the companies I work for don’t want to let me go to workday since I have the Oracle experience and it’s been in high demand.
Do you guys have any advice on other roles this experience could translate to? If you’ve done oracle implementations, what roles did you transfer to?
Top Comment:
My advice in general is not to become technology specific. If you’re looking for a good exit or a different type of project you more or less have to become a generalist tech consultant.
Considering Cloud Consulting - Looking for Info About Life As a Consultant
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I've recently had a lot more interest in switching my focus from standard IT sysadmin to something more devops and cloud oriented. I've been in IT about 2.5 years, with the first two years at MSP's, and now in the DOD contracting space. In that time, I've gone from no professional IT experience($30k/yr) to a pretty good generalized sysadmin($85k/yr). I've also knocked out a degree, got a bunch of certs, etc. I've learned a ton about VMware, networking, Windows, and have a decent foundation on Linux(Jr. Admin level).
I've recently started talking to someone in the cloud consulting space, and it's really piqued my interest. My plan was to start transitioning into DevOps in the next year or two anyway, but I wasn't really looking at the cloud consulting space until now.
I was hoping to get general advice about those types of positions. Things like what companies to focus on and watch out for, what the lifestyle tends to be like for various job types(pre-sales vs delivery). I'm really looking for info about benching vs being on contract, financial stability while benched, what do you do while benched, what's a normal amount of time to be benched vs on a contract, etc.
What is the job security and income stability like in the cloud consulting world? Do companies often throw people in over their head on contracts and screw them over? Are contracts often a team event, or are most consultants working on a contract on their own?
ETA: I'm not currently planning on going out on my own, looking more into being a consultant at a company that does this. I'm not in a good position right now to take the risk of self-employment.
Also related, I do have some business background. A couple years ago I started a painting company and sold over $100k in 7 months; company failed for other reasons, but I do love business.
Top Comment: I've been a consultant working at a consulting company for the past 4 years ish. Previously I was internal IT as a sysadmin & VMware admin at a couple companies before I jumped into data center consulting and then more recently AWS & Terraform consulting. Short version, I don't see myself ever going back to a internal IT job. I enjoy the consulting career lifestyle way too much. I work from home, with some travel, but nothing like the old style of consulting where you are onsite every week from Monday to Thursday. Depending on the projects and load I could be on 1 to 7 projects at time (which is wayyy too many) but my new company I'm on 3 at most and usually just 1 to 2. I set my schedule, and can step out, take care of stuff during that day, and stay up late if I'm in the coding zone building some new Terraform. The main thing is to get my work done each week. I have to "bill" my hours to the project I'm working on each week, which is a pain to track at first, but it is how you show your "billable rate" which is usually used to track how profitable / busy you are. You do have to be careful not to take on too much work and not get burnt out. You also want to pick a good company that actually treats their employees right, not one that just says they do. Gotta be self motivated, and get work done, without someone to hold your hand. I have a great boss at my current job, that I talk to for 30 minutes every two weeks. Unless we happen to be staffed on the same project, we don't talk much other than a team meeting or if we happen to be working on something together. In a lot of ways, every new project is like starting a new job. That is a blessing as a curse, as a project with a not so great client will end at some point, but a project with a really good client will end as well at some point. (Unless you are doing staff augs, which really suck imho) Probably the best part imho is I don't do tickets or support. I just build new solutions & deployments and help with migrations. I also get to focus all my time into learning more AWS & Terraform and DevOps stuff as well, and not learning the ins and outs of some terrible app or legacy infrastructure. The pay and benefits is a lot better than internal IT as well. The nicest benefit that I didn't know I would get, before going into consulting, is I'm not longer seen as a cost to be managed, but as a revenue generator for my company. Huge change in atmosphere being thought of in that capacity.
Has anyone here worked for an AWS (or other "cloud") consultancy? What's it like?
Main Post: Has anyone here worked for an AWS (or other "cloud") consultancy? What's it like?
Top Comment:
I am part of company that's AWS Advanced Consulting Partner.
- The company doesn't take projects which are easy and small. It generally takes projects which are atleast 128hrs of efforts. So, the kind of projects we get are some high level one's. Projects include bootstrapping client softwares to container orchestration architectures, CI/CD. Clients also come for solely cost optimization, or implementation of AWS best practises for security etc. Migration projects, DR, etc.
- Clients that we work with range from very small companies to large multicorp too.
- Yes, there isn't much work life balance, sometimes the projects I am involved with are a lot, and it just increases stress bcoz of the deliverables. I don't like my job when my stress increases. Other than that, I am still learning, I enjoy this job.
Stay in software or move to cloud consulting?
Main Post:
Hi,
I'm currently a senior software engineer, and i'm in the software industry for about 8 years
I want to leave my current role, and at the moment I have 2 job offers. One is for a very successful startup (considered a unicorn in terms of valuation) - for a senior software engineer in the infra group, and one is from a successful startup as a senior cloud consultant to external companies (help companies transition to the cloud, help solve difficult cloud issues and scale, reduce costs ex. )
What matters to me in my work:
- ability to learn new things constantly
- autonomy to do my job and tech lead without micromanagement
- deal with infra (I think the challenges there are the most interesting)
- work life balance
- economic "resiliency" in times of COVID
Compensation wise, they are similar. The software position compensation is a bit higher.
Accepting the software position is the easy option. My comfort zone. Although I'm sure I will learn quite a bit, I think the consulting position has more potential for learning (different clients use case ex.).
Accepting the consulting position is out of my comfort zone. Although I'm encouraged to automate things and write some code, I may pass prolong periods of time where I will not write code. But changing jobs can be a time of change and I may really enjoy it. In the last years I found myself enjoying more of designing architecture and dealing with DevOps than actually writing code.
I am confused though. I'm wondering if someone who was in this path can spill some insights.
Top Comment:
Raises hand....
After spending a decade in “expert beginner” mode. This is exactly the path I took since 2008.
As far as career progression each change took some job hopping. Before 2008, I was a C bit twiddler.
entry level enterprise developer -> mid level -> senior engineer -> dev lead (on prem implementations) -> senior software engineer/de facto “cloud architect” -> consultant in professional services at AWS.
I think it was a great path. I still spend plenty of time developing. I work remotely from a relatively low cost of living area. The cherry on the top - $BigTech money without having to do any coding interviews. Just answer a bunch of “tell me about a time when...” questions.
r/aws on Reddit: Does it pay off to be an AWS consultant/expert ?
Main Post: r/aws on Reddit: Does it pay off to be an AWS consultant/expert ?
Shifting from Enterprise to Cloud Consulting
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My first job out of university is working for one of the top Banks (4yrs). I pivoted from being a mere level data analyst into a AWS Solution Architect / DevOps Engineer. I'd consider my software dev skills on the low beginner end. I've truly enjoyed enterprise and a opportunity has came up where I can work for a Amazon Partner Network (premier level niche firm) where i'd consult on all things AWS, GCP and Azure. The opportunity seems like a no brainer as it comes with a a high base salary increase. My main concern is the ability to perform. I do have the tenacity to work hard, love learning new technologies, and hit the ground running. A lot of my earlier roles were out of my scope and I was able to impress and develop complex architecture solutions at the enterprise level.
I've read consulting > industry is very common, however, vice-versa can be difficult. Enterprise makes us complacent and comfortable, not everyone is used to the fast pace environment consulting provides. Has anyone made the opposite switch and how did it work out? I should also preface, this isn't Big4 consulting where hours are insane, this would be a relatively low end consulting role with 45-50hrs max.
Top Comment:
Do it and fake it til you make it. You grow fastest when you’re forced to.
New to aws, and I want to build a niche cloud consulting company. I am willing to put in the work. What things I can do that will make me closer to my goal?
Main Post:
I just recently stumbled upon aws and it's has been interesting this far. I think that it'll get bigger and bigger as time goes by and I want to jump into the train.
I am now learning aws through course (acloud guru) and doing some small side projects. My current short term goal is to take some side gigs to get more experience about aws and cloud computing in general. I currently don't have plan to get certified as an SA associate because I personally think that experience and skill trumps certs (please let me know if you have different view than mine, I would like to hear your thoughts).
My long term goal is to create a machine learning cloud consulting company (apn parter).
Here are my situation right now:
- If I were given a gig right now, I can probably create a badly design and faulty infrastructure. My VPC & cloudformation skill isn't polished yet.
- I know how machine learning works. I'm not an expert but can create machine learning model given the data. I don't have experience putting models into production. All of them are side projects.
- I currently don't have a partner to join me in this venture.
- I don't have a clear understanding how serverless works (I think it's an interesting way to do things). I am currently trying to learn this serverless thing through aws sam by creating simple things.
- I am young, have a lot of time in my hands and I am willing to put in the work.
What action that I can take and things that I should learn to make me closer to my long term goal? I would like to hear your thoughts.
Top Comment:
I have to say I disagree with most of the advice posted. I wouldn’t try to go for independent consulting myself with 4 certs, 2 decades of software development experience, Devops experience and project management and team lead experience seeing that I only have a little over a year’s worth of real hands on AWS experience doing netops, Devops, and development.
I have consulting companies wanting to hire me now based on my paper experience but I think I need at least two more years and a few bruises before I would feel comfortable as a decently paid consultant.
Go work for a company for a few years and do some side projects.
Google Cloud consulting?
Main Post:
Looking to hire someone part time (as many hours as needed) who knows the Google Cloud ecosystem well and can consult with me some on the proper tools to use and the optimum setup for my use case. I have a little bit of experience with some of the tools but not 100% sure I'm using them properly. Respond here or feel free to PM me.
Top Comment:
Hi there. We are a GCP partner company. We can certainly help you with your use case. Email us at [email protected] and we can discuss over call.