What’s the first thought that comes to your mind when you think of cloud migration? Cost? Infrastructure? How about training?

Well, one of the most overlooked aspects of cloud migration is training. In fact, it’s more relevant to small businesses than large enterprises because they’re the ones that operate with limited resources.

According to Maria Roat, an administrator at the U.S Small Business Administration, finding knowledgeable trainers to train workers is one of the biggest challenge faced by small businesses that want to move to the cloud. Since cloud is a relatively new technology, not many people are familiar with how it works and other aspects. In turn, this means, they need trainers.

Due to the same reason, not many people are well-versed with cloud, so they’re unable to train others. This makes it a vicious circle that’s impacting hundreds of businesses, and is sometimes, even acting as a hindrance to a smooth cloud migration.

A research shows that this lack of training is making it difficult for small companies to make the most of the benefits offered by cloud, as they don’t have the confidence for cloud migration.

To help small businesses get around this problems, the SBA is offering to train people in cloud. Ranging from training in-house and getting them familiar to certificates, the SBA has started providing free training in many cities. They even have a combination of formal and informal training programs to help employees learn through formal channels as well as from their peers. All these efforts are being taken to make cloud training more pervasive and accessible to anyone who might benefit from it.

However, the SBA’s budget is not large enough to cover every city and every individual who is interested in learning about cloud. This is why it has been encouraging universities to offer cloud as a course.

Taking cue from these efforts from SBA, some universities like the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) has started offering programs in cloud. This university has started a new Master’s program in cloud architecture and management, and so far, the response has been fairly good, according to university sources.

This program requires six six-credit courses and can be completed within two years when students do part-time. The cost is also fairly nominal, as it is priced at $16,500 for Maryland residents and a little less than $18,000 for employees of the federal government including their spouses and dependents, provided they go through the College Alliance Program.

Let’s hope more universities will soon join the bandwagon and provide more cloud courses at affordable rates, so the economy as a whole can benefit from this knowledge.

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