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Collaborating with Coursera to address the cloud skills gap

By Louise Byrne, Head of Cloud Training Delivery, Google Cloud

As more and more companies wish to take advantage of what #cloud computing, data analytics and machine learning can do for their businesses, the gap between the knowledge needed to move to the cloud and the demand for such skills has grown enormously. Lack of expertise and cloud skills is often cited as the top challenge for companies wishing to migrate their business to the cloud.

To address this need, we’re collaborating with Coursera, a leading online education platform, to launch a series of on-demand Google Cloud Platform training offerings. Developed and taught by Google experts, these courses range in skills levels from beginner to advanced and include topics like cloud fundamentals, operations, security, data analytics and machine learning. Now with just a few clicks anyone in the world can get trained on Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

This collaboration is part of our ongoing effort, including our recent acquisition of training platform Qwiklabs, to provide learning experiences to customers in the ways that work best for them, be that the classroom, on-demand or a blended version of the two. In addition to Coursera, we are also working with a global network of instructor-led classroom training providers.

Visit the Coursera/Google catalogue to start learning today and watch for more courses and specializations this year. We’re working with Coursera to add to the course catalogue in the coming months.

Quelle: Google Cloud Platform

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Reach for the cloud with financing

Not too long ago, cloud was touted primarily as a cost-cutting tool and means of improving agility through easy access to low cost infrastructure. It’s now gaining visibility in the minds of leaders for its potential to change the dynamics of digital globalization and competition.
One way to drive the new experiences clients are after is to bring together the value of existing investments in data and applications with new methods of engagement — in the form of modern, hybrid mobile apps that can extend the reach of businesses into the hand of the consumer and augment the data you have today with social, weather, Internet of Things and other data that enrich the clients experience and interactions.
As we move to cloud for more strategic applications, we uncover opportunities to reimagine business processes and entire industry models. Cognitive capabilities can learn from individual client interactions over time, and adapt automatically to accommodate changing preferences, buying patterns, and even understand tone of voice to tailor the interactions to the person’s state. But that is only the beginning: the ability to interconnect the latest capabilities on cloud, no matter the vendor or source with speed and without lock-in can make the difference between lagging and leading.
The extent to which leaders will look into the horizon — and consider the strategic implications of the cloud — will have a significant impact on their long term growth. Is your strategy centered solely on scalable infrastructure? Is it adaptable to your business model and investments? Does it deliver the higher value business applications and industry functions that you need to enable game-changing business models, processes and customer experiences?
Current budgets may restrict acting now or even this year, but the cost of waiting is high, given the urgency to digitally transform your business ahead of the competition.  We can help affordably finance the complete IT life cycle for your cloud infrastructure solution – including services, software, and hardware products.
Visit Financing IBM Cloud to learn about our financing options. And join us, the biggest companies, the most innovative new startups, and the world’s foremost technical experts at IBM InterConnect 2017.
A version of this article appeared on the IBM Global Financing blog.
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Quelle: Thoughts on Cloud