From Developer to Cloud Architect: Journey, Challenges, and Lessons Learned for a Successful Cloud Transformation
In this episode, host Zeshan Randhawa sits down with Tidjani Belmansour, Director of the Azure Center of Excellence at Cofomo and Azure MVP, to explore the journey from developer to cloud architect. They discuss the critical role cloud architects play in modern organizations, the challenges they face, and the key skills required to succeed in this evolving field.
Whether you’re a developer looking to transition into cloud architecture or an experienced professional striving to stay ahead of industry trends, this episode is packed with expert insights, real-world experiences, and practical advice to help you stay ahead of the curve.
Transcript
You’re listening to the Cloud Lounge podcast, a show about business, technology, and all that jazz, brought to you by Softlanding, a leading IT service provider in Canada. Let’s get started. Here’s your host, Zeshan Randhawa. Welcome to the Cloud Lounge podcast. I’m your host, Zeshan. We all know cloud transformation is a strategic move where companies shift their infrastructure, applications and services from on-premise systems to cloud-based platforms. This transformation enables organizations to benefit from things like enhanced flexibility, scalability, and cost efficiency. Statista cloud market forecast estimates that the global cloud computing market is expected to grow to $1 trillion by 2026. And this is driven by factors such as hybrid cloud adoption and digital transformation initiatives. Now, a story that often goes untold is about the skills and roles required to introduce, proliferate, and maintain a cloud-based ecosystem within an organization. The 2023 Global Knowledge IT Skills and salary report revealed that around half of companies out there are struggling to find cloud talent with the necessary skills to manage their cloud initiatives. Ros in cloud transformation aren’t just technical. They involve a mix of IT specialists, business analysts, project managers, security experts, and change management professionals. And with the evolving landscape of cloud technologies comes the importance of continuous learning. And the evolution of one’s career to help support cloud transformation initiatives. To talk about our topic today, we have Tidjani Belmansour, Director of Azure Center of Excellence at Cofomo. Welcome to the podcast, Tidjani. Thank you for having me. It’s a pleasure. Well, Tidjani, a real natural place to start would be just telling the audience a bit about yourself and what’s your first role? What, what was your first role in IT? So my name is Tidjani Belmansour, as you mentioned earlier. I’m currently the director for the Azure Center of Excellence at Cofomo, and I have almost 25 years in uh IT and I started uh as a developer. Actually, I, my journey started developing C applications and Turbo Pascal before that. I don’t know if any of you recall Pascal. That was my first application. I use that language. My first learning actually as a developer, if I may say, was with BASI, the basic language. So those 10 input A, 20, input B, and 30 C equals A + B and this kind of stuff and go to 10. Your memory serves you well. It, it, it was a groundbreaking moment in my life. So yeah, they are printed in my memory forever. And yeah, as I mentioned, I started as a developer actually and uh uh evolved in a software architecture role. And then I moved on to cloud, actually started with Azure, started um developing application with Azure. I had the privilege to oversee the opportunity of the cloud early on. So when Azure became a thing in 2009, it was named the product. Project Red Dog at that time, I started advising CXO executives in different organizations about the power and the opportunity of, of the cloud. Back in 2011, I started my first project, first production project with real customers and over the year, I grew up to a role where I I became a cloud solution architect, then a cloud architect, and now to a director of an Azure Center of Excellence. Excellent. I’m also an Azure MVP since 2019 and I’m, um, I have the great privilege to, uh, host the Azure Quebec community. We are close to 1500 members in that community. We try to have events. Once a month and mostly in virtual since the pandemic. I might say that’s about it for now. Yeah, pretty early on exposure like you said to the cloud platform and basing on that and the fact that you’ve had a few different roles and progressive roles within the cloud platform, according to you, kind of what are the essential technical skills required for a successful cloud transformation? Oh, that’s actually a great question. I see many organizations think that the cloud is just another hosting platform, right? So they think that something like their remote web hosting platform and so on. And actually, I don’t know if you remember that sticker, let’s say the, the cloud is just someone else’s computer. For me, it’s a very limiting narrow vision of what the cloud is. Actually, I like to tell the customers that the cloud is an innovation accelerator. That’s what is, what really is the cloud. Why is that? It’s because it provides with many ready to use tailored services. Yes, of course, you can have virtual machines. You can have uh databases, uh, you can have storage and all of the, if I may say commodity services. But on the other hand, you also have very advanced services. For example, a lot of AI models, machine learning platforms and Analytics platforms and all this kind of stuff that is either very hard to have on premise within your organization or beyond the reach of many organizations and especially smaller organizations because I had the opportunity to work with organizations in different industries and of different sizes from the small 5 to 10 people organization to Organization with 6, 10, 20,000 people. The challenges are different and the budgets are different too, obviously. So to me, why I like to say that the cloud is an innovation because it provides those capabilities and those services to every organization no matter. The industry, no matter the size, no matter the financial posture I may say. All of this to say that the technical skills required for successful cloud transformation should cover the broad spectrum of the cloud, not just capability to build solution and to learn the SDK to develop and deploy your application to the Cloud, but also what are the actual opportunities that your organization can benefit from the cloud? From strategic thinking to planning, finance, for example, it’s a key problem that we see in many organizations. The finance process are not uh geared to using the cloud. They are more based on the capex models of capacity expenditures. So they prefer. buying hardware and have that capitalized rather than operational expenditure like the cloud is. So what I’m trying to say here is that many organizations tend to look at the cloud as just another technical challenge while in fact it is an organizational challenge. It has to mobilize and you have to mobilize different department. a different entity within the organization and bring them together in that strategic thinking, strategic planning of your cloud transformation before moving on with the technicalities of actually performing that cloud transformation. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, and definitely having that broad knowledge across the cloud technologies really helps in That strategic planning for an organization as well. Tijani, you had mentioned you started as a developer, eventually moved into a cloud architect role. I’d love to know what kind of skills were critical in this transition from developer to architect and You know, what kind of challenges did you kind of face during this transition period? That’s another great question. And let me tell you. As I as I mentioned, as you mentioned, uh I started in a developer role, developer position. And of course, my first exposure to the cloud was through the platform as a service offering because developers don’t like and don’t have the skills to design an infrastructure with networking and so on. We like to focus on the code. This is our craft, OK. This is where we bring value by designing and. Developing code for application that serve our users. So obviously the past services is a perfect spot for us. OK, so we develop code, we push that code to the cloud and it automatically handles all the infrastructure for us. But that’s just a part of the story. When I started working on real projects with real customers and especially big organization where your application is not standalone. It has to communicate with on-premises systems or on premises resources like databases, file shares, and so on. So now your skill. as a developer are not enough. You need to develop skills from an infrastructure perspective, from a networking perspective, from a security perspective, and so on. And don’t get me wrong here, you don’t have to become an expert in all of these topics. In many organizations, a team will be composed of network specialists, security experts, uh, infrastructure. experts and so on. But as a cloud architect and as a cloud solution architect, you have to know these topics. You have to at least have a broad understanding and be able to understand what those specialists. They are saying and what they are doing. So that was actually challenging for me to have to go out of my comfort zone as a developer and just learning development skills to learning infrastructure skills, security, and so on. Yeah, taking that more kind of well-rounded approach rather than a specific kind of approach to just developing, right? Totally, totally. It’s also rewarding in a sense because It feels like for a developer, it feels like almost impossible to learn these things because it’s not our, it’s not in our DNA. But it’s, the cloud makes those topics pretty approachable. And once you start digging into them, you start to have those aha moment. Because you can relate with what you are doing as a developer. So there are some elements where development, infrastructure, security come together and when you hit those elements, it becomes Easier and more obvious for a developer to learn those skills. Yeah, absolutely. And a big piece of this is all having that passion to continuously learn as well, right? Yeah, exactly, exactly. Not always easy, but believe me, it’s rewarding. Absolutely. So can you explain to us what is the difference between being a solution architect versus a cloud architect? As you have noticed, I mentioned both roles, cloud architect and cloud solution architect, and actually, uh, most of the time they are used interchangeably. It’s easy to confuse a cloud architect with a cloud solution architect. The main difference is at the level of the role. What I mean by that. A cloud solution architect will usually focus on one application or one system. He or she will design and implement that specific solution or that specific application. That address a specific business problem. On the other hand, the cloud architect is, if I may say, a higher level. That person will uh focus on the broader, more high-level design of the cloud infrastructure in general. A cloud architect will mainly work with more strategic roles within the organization, ensuring that The design of the cloud environment, including the infrastructure and so on, aligns with the goals and objectives of the organizations, what the organization wants to achieve with their cloud transformation, whereas the cloud solution architect will focus on one specific solution to address a specific business problem. Understood. So that cloud architect is really at that kind of 10,000 ft level, has a good grasp of all the cloud technologies and able to relate those cloud technologies to kind of strategic goals and vision of an organization. Exactly. What I see often is, you know, software architects will have a tendency to move to a role of cloud solution architect, whereas integration architects will have tendency to move to a role of cloud architect. Got it, got it. To Johnny, we we talked briefly about the passion to learn. I’d love to hear from you, how do you ensure the continuous learning and staying up to date with these rapid changes, especially in the cloud technology world? And how do you stay on top of that? What’s your kind of secret if you will? Yeah, sure. Well, the secret is no secret at all. It takes time and effort. Sorry to say that way, there is no magic shortcuts. No, no shortcut. We don’t yet have a USB port into our neck that you can put a USB key and just download the learning quarter. Yeah, oh, OK. Can I pre-order For now, at least, it takes time and effort. I have always been the kind of person who likes learning, so I spent countless evenings and nights, and I set aside the time on the weekend to learn new things. That’s how I stay up to date. And especially in the IT world where things move very fast. I think faster than in any other area or any other industry. Yeah. And you know when you have a technical role like a developer or an IT administrator or anything like that. It might be easier to stay up to date because you have to learn those new skills to apply them to your day job. Yeah, you have to be in that world. Yeah, sure. But when you move to a more manage role in management like I do, I’m currently more of a manager than a Developer, unfortunately, so I try, I try to stay a developer by working on pet project. When you are in this position, it’s harder actually to keep up with the pace of evolution, exactly. So my advice, my recommendation is to set aside time in during your day or during your evening. But instead of thinking that you will spend 2 days each month keeping up with the new things, you better set aside 30 minutes or 1 hour every day. It’s not in the duration, it’s in regularity that the secret. Yeah, the frequency, exactly. So what I do, I block in my calendar. At least 30 minutes every day to learn something new. Oh, excellent. That means I put myself off on Teams. I am not available for that 30 minutes no matter what. Excellent. 30 minutes, of course, depends if I have a customer meeting. I can move on that slot, that 30 minute slot, but I sure that it happens, absolutely, and I think that’s often at times what people kind of overlook is setting aside that time rather than just think you’ll stumble on extra time and be able to learn things, but making it a part of your job almost. Since you’ve already made that transition in your career path of becoming or or starting from developer, moving into that kind of cloud architect role eventually. I’d love to kind of share with our listeners what some of the advice would be for people looking to do something similar as well. Yeah, sure. As I mentioned, if you intend to uh become a cloud architect, you have to learn other skills like security infrastructures, for example, I’m mentioning, especially those two, it’s because these two are the most critical for a cloud architect. And they are actually the most in demand for customers. When a customer approaches a cloud transformation. Their first concern will be security, the first one. How secure is the cloud? How can I design a secure cloud infrastructure? That will be the first thing. They don’t want to know about if they can migrate their application, if they can build the application on the cloud, they know it’s possible. They are concerned about first, the security of the cloud. Next, can I extend my on-premise data center to the cloud and how can I manage latency? In other words, when I, I will extend my on-premise infrastructure to the cloud, will it still be efficient and performed? Those are the two questions a customer wants to answer for before moving to a cloud transformation and before building new cloud solutions. So if you are a developer, I advise that you learn those skills and there are actually a lot of Trainings, uh, even on YouTube, there are great videos that explain those concepts in very simple words and really from the basics. But if you are more on Azure or AWS, there are certifications that are dedicated to These to these key areas. Now, I’m not telling you that you should pursue certification. It will be great, sure, to be certified. It adds up a great advantage to your resume. At least follow that course, learn those skills. OK, that’s my recommendation. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely, make sure you’re skilled up and eventually potentially get certified in those areas as well. Tajani talked about a few different types of roles in the cloud kind of world, and I know a lot of organizations are part of different industries, have different budgets, or different sizes. I’d love to hear from you kind of what you think are some essential roles for the cloud. That organizations should fill whether they’re doubling up roles and obviously having dedicated resources for each and every role, but what are some of those essential kind of cloud roles that organizations should fill in order to have a successful cloud environment. As I mentioned, of course, there are the uh cloud architect and cloud solution architect rules that are obviously needed in a successful cloud transformation, but the role of a network engineer, this role is important. It will Design efficient networking that expands the cloud and on-premise data centers. You will also need a security architect that will help design a secure environment. As we mentioned earlier, security is a big concern when it comes to cloud. Actually, many customers think that because their application and their data are not sitting. Next to them in the same building, they are not secure. We both know that the cloud is very secure and has many mechanisms for security that spans wider than just technology. Absolutely. From the people that work on the on these data centers to the buildings themselves to the infrastructure they are using. To the machines and CPUs, you know, there are encryptions at the CPU level, at the memory level, and so on. So the cloud is very secure and in most cases, more secure than on-premise infrastructure from of many customers. And one key role that’s often missed is the synops role, financial operation. I see many customers who adopt the cloud. You know, the cloud is cool. There’s all of this feature that you can enable in a single click, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months pass by and you receive your cloud bills and you are in shock why it, uh, it’s so expensive. Yeah, you cannot see me here, but I’m doing an air quote. Uh, expensive. And the thing is, yeah, it’s expensive, it’s as expensive as the feature that you enable when we discuss with customers. Many of these questions arise because customers actually didn’t have these features on premise infrastructure and they turned them on in your, in their cloud infrastructure. So obviously they are not comparing apples with apples, they’re comparing apples with oranges. One key role that helps with this kind of concern is the Pinops rule. So Pinops team will help the organization. Assess and plan their financial budgeting for their cloud operations and they also help organization to spot cost optimization opportunities and work with the uh project and project. Teams to implement those. In other words, a Finops team will help the organization keep finances and cloud costs under control. This is often an overlooked role in many organizations, although we see a rise in this area lately, which is great. So if you look at, for example, at the Pinops Foundation and all the events and the webinars they are doing, there is a lot of work and a lot of awareness in this area. Yeah, that’s uh probably a role that a lot of organizations have definitely not considered. That’s very insightful. So Johnny, finally, just closing here. I’d love to kind of switch on the softer side of things and and just hear from you kind of what do you find rewarding about your role that you’re currently in? Oh, yeah, sure. As we mentioned, I moved from a technical role to more of a management role. This shift has been carefully thought of. So it wasn’t just an easy decision. I didn’t move to that role because I didn’t like being on the technical side, which I still do, but it gives me a different opportunity. The opportunity to help others grow and to be a mentor for others. Part of my role is mentoring our people and also mentoring our customers. I often work closely with the uh customers teams, help them learn new things, grow their practices, and actually I have a different view on things, including the cloud. OK, so that’s very rewarding for me. The other thing that I find really rewarding is the ability to meet with strategic and decision making roles at different organizations. And help them in their journey and then their strategic thinking about adopting technology. And I like that moment when you see that shift in their eyes that they finally understood that these new technologies, the cloud, the IUT, AI, and so on. They are not just technical consideration. They are business. Exactly. It’s not just a new version of a framework or a new version of that software that you are using, OK? Not just, it’s not the, the same as just upgrading your version of Windows or version of Office. It’s really a key differentiator for your organization. When I have this conversation with those people, I always try to shift that conversation from what can the cloud do to what can we do with the cloud? What benefits? Our business can get from adopting the cloud, from adopting AI, from adopting IoT and this kind of stuff. So that’s very rewarding actually. Absolutely. You’ve got the best of both worlds, helping people and also helping people and organizations actually adopt technology as well. Exactly. You, you stated it perfectly. I couldn’t do better. Well, Thai. I, I really do appreciate you spending this time with myself and my listeners, kind of sharing your, your insights into the different roles and your kind of career journey as well. It was a true pleasure. I’m so grateful to you for uh reaching out to me. Thank you for this opportunity. As we navigate the evolving landscape of cloud technologies, it’s clear that continuous learning and adaptability are the key to staying ahead. Now, remember, cloud transformation is not just about technology, it’s about the people, processes, and the willingness to embrace change. And by fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration, we can unlock the full potential of cloud solutions and drive organizations towards a more agile and efficient future. We hope you’ve found today’s discussion insightful and inspiring, and we are grateful to our guest, Tidjani, for sharing his journey with us. Thank you for tuning in, and if you enjoy this episode, make sure to subscribe to the Cloud Lounge on your favorite podcast platform, so you never miss an update. Until next time, this has been the Cloud Lounge podcast. Take care.
Subscribe
Click the links below to subscribe in your favourite podcast app
Written By:
softlanding
Softlanding is a long-established IT services provider of transformation, professional services and managed IT services that helps organizations boost innovation and drive business value. We are a multi-award-winning Microsoft Gold Partner with 13 Gold Competencies and we use our experience and expertise to be a trusted advisor to our clients. Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, we have staff and offices in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary to serve clients across Canada.
More By This Author
