Any cloud solution engineers in here?
Can I ask what you do?
Seen a few job advertised and thought Id have a go at applying for them.
Am I right in thinking that is a mix of System admin and networking with a little programming thrown in?
From what I am picking up from the application forms they want to migrate projects to the cloud.
So would this be using Azure instead of server 2012 for example. or am I way off the mark?
It doesn't replace Server 2012, in the English language Azure is a bright blue color that resembles the sky on a bright clear day - get it? Microsoft calls it's product Azure to describe it as the platform (sky) that contains/hosts the clouds.
Talking from experience a Cloud Solution Engineer can be a far broader role though, especially if they are highlighting that they want to migrate projects to the cloud. These days organisations consider moving business critical processes to the cloud to prevent risk/downtime and improve availability - think Office 365 migrations, Mimecast, SharePoint Online, ADFS, offsite backup/DR, cloud web proxy...
For me personally, I start with assessing scalability and setting expectations - does the client's fibre line have enough bandwidth, will their terminal services environment cause any problems, do they need a HA firewall, do they really need an office 365 hybrid deployment because if so their on premise server will need updating, will they need to replace their current security solution to support the cloud product... Once all prerequisites have been addressed and the client is happy with the "what ifs" - I can then work on the correct migration path, building the solution, testing, flip over to new solution and sort out any teething issues. It really depends where you work, most MSPs will have presales architectures to deal with some of the prereq mess and a project manager to stage your work properly.
Hope this helps
