What a cloud engineer actually does
Provisioning infrastructure as code, CI/CD pipelines, containers and orchestration, monitoring, cost and access control. On-call is part of most roles.
How to become one — the qualification route
Usually reached from development, IT support or system administration. Cloud provider certifications are widely used as a hiring filter.
Regulated professions have statutory entry requirements. Always confirm current rules with the relevant council or university before enrolling anywhere.
Skills the role runs on
LinuxAWS / Azure / GCPDocker & KubernetesCI/CDInfrastructure as code
Which online courses actually help
Linux and networking fundamentals, then one cloud provider deeply, then containers, Kubernetes and IaC. Breadth across three clouds early is a common mistake.
Courses for cloud engineers
See all cloud engineers courses →| Course | Provider | Rating | Price | Why pick this one |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultimate AWS Certified Developer Associate 2026 DVA-C02 | Udemy | 4.7★ | Free | Free — and still gives a certificate |
| IBM: Introduction to Cloud Computing | edX | 4.6★ | Free | Free — certificate included |
| Cloud Computing Basics (Cloud 101) | Coursera | 4.5★ | Free | Quickest to finish (8h 13m) |
| Exam Prep AZ-400: Microsoft DevOps Engineer Expert | Coursera | 0.0★ | Free | Beginner-friendly · 5 months |