Security, certification, and Cloud Computing

[richb-RBmg6HWzfGThzJAekONQAQ at public.gmane.org (Rich Braun)]

I wrote:
>> Cloud Computing is going to ultimately amount to
>> exactly as much opportunity (zero) for the Little Guy as fiber-optics turned
>> out to be 10 years ago.

> From: "Grant M." <gmongardi-cGmSLFmkI3Y at public.gmane.org>
> I disagree. I think Cloud services ... like
> Google-Apps and Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services offer a decent
> return. At a price of $50/year for Google Apps, which figures to
> $1000/year for a company of 20, it sure beats buying a server, Exchange
> (or some other supported clone), paying the electric bill, buying 20
> copies of MS Office

We don't disagree at all, you just made my point.  Cloud Computing, as a
service, is going to turn a profit for the likes of Google and Microsoft. 
Maybe a couple of local firms will get big fast and compete in that space. 
But this is definitely not a garage-startup type of business.

> My
> suspicion is that it will all be automated, where servers die and are
> disabled automatically, then flagged for repair by a depot. As a
> technician, you'd likely become more of burger-flipper than anything of
> any use to someone else. Think McDonald's. Years ago, even at Howard
> Johnson's you'd need to know something about being a cook. Now, it's
> just an assembly line - you're skills become nothing more than being
> awake, and your pay becomes commensurate.

Well said.

The real challenge for building a career (or for me as a hiring manager in
search of those who have solid career potential) is the ability to solve
problems.  First you have to know the basics and get really good at deploying
a technology.  Then you have to be able to diagnose problems, research
solutions, and craft designs which anticipate future problems.

Those skills sound like something most techno-geeks should already possess. 
But given the resumes I've seen, America has fallen sorely behind its heyday
of the '80s and '90s.  Most really are the tech equivalent of burger flipper;
few jobs have been providing effective opportunity for independent thought. 
If you can develop high-level design and diagnostic skills in an area useful
to future employers, you will have little difficulty keeping a roof over your
head in any job market.

Easier said than done, particularly with the direction our industry has taken
during the past 10 years (basically, many people with the most advanced
problem-solving aptitude have turned to other careers, e.g. science and
business).  If you're already working, you're probably overwhelmed with
busy-work that doesn't provide the experience you're really wanting to get; if
you're not already working, you may actually have an advantage if you can find
a way to acquire this problem-solving expertise and use your free time to
implement some solutions that demonstrate it.  Some of the high-profile
examples of people who have gone this route are those behind the websites of
major politicians and non-profit orgs.  I'm sure there are other ways to
accomplish this.

-rich
P.S.  Still hiring: Linux sysadmins and MySQL DBAs.  Kendall Square.