Why is there a pressing need to build a cloud computing ecosystem in India

The cloud is a popular topic right now. The phrase and the excitement makes everyone think of the previous ten years, when the Internet was taking on the form it has today. The cloud could drastically alter how we think about and use information technology, just as we can't envision a world without the World Wide Web today.

The rise of cloud computing has opened up a new business and is gaining numerous opportunities among individuals, businesses, and markets. According to a recent Fortune Business Insights report, the global Cloud Computing market is expected to reach USD 791.48 billion by 2028. India too is not indifferent to the rapid changes taking place in this part of the world.

According to international data center, India’s public cloud revenue which includes ( Infrastructure-as-a service ) IaaS , (Software-as-a-Service ) SaaS  , (Platform-as-a-Service ) PaaS,  has been standing tall at $4.6billion in India .The overall Indian public cloud services market is also expected to reach $13.5 billion by 2026. India has also set an ambitious target of becoming a $5 trillion economy where Cloud computing is being considered as the key driver to achieving this goal.   

There is an economic principle that states, ‘When demand grows, business grows and ultimately the job market grows’. Numerous data have revealed that India has the potential to become the second-largest cloud talent pool by 2025. The cloud experts' demands are estimated to exceed 2 million. As of FY21, India has been ranked third with nearly 608,000 cloud experts across all verticals, including technology. Recently reports by Fortune Business Report have further emphasized that “India has the ecosystem in place to capture a significant portion of this market but as to improvise on cloud skill sets with adequate upskilling. 

The post-pandemic scenario has compelled many businesses, whether in banking, education, training, or tourism, to migrate to the cloud. It has demonstrated what cloud tech can deliver to this nation. To achieve the vision of becoming a C tech nation, end-user industries need to have a clear roadmap in place where deliverables are in a time-bound framework. Service providers have to provide fintech support to small and mid-sized businesses. Our academic institutions must play a role in positioning India as a global cloud talent hub by strengthening formal education programs and reskilling the technology workforce. Recently, the Ministry of Education announced a collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to teach cloud computing and machine learning (ML) skills to higher education students in India.

Required proficiency should be there among the young entry level and service level professionals. They are the current and future backbone of this shining industry. 

Businesses can accommodate third-party training offerings, peer-to-peer learning, role-based career development paths, and certifications that contribute immensely to digital transformation.  Earning cloud certifications by getting trained by authorized partners of prominent public cloud providers builds the resource pool of your organization extensively and also enhances employee engagement.

We have been helping the corporate sector to identify the cloud skill gaps in their workforce through our flagship Capability Development Framework (CDF). It is a holistic skill development framework aimed at skilling the modern workforce across all stages with a guaranteed ROI of mentoring and nurturing them to be project ready and billable.     

To summarize, India is ready to hit the peak in cloud computing as far as multiple projections and report estimates suggest the same. To achieve the ultimate goal of India becoming a $5 trillion economy, we need to have a comprehensive cloud ecosystem in place. An upgrade is required in the skilling programs of employees. This will help India in becoming a Cloud Computing Superpower in the years to come. 

The article has been written by Bhavesh Goswami,  CEO & Founder, CloudThat