The pathway
How you actually get there, here
How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.
- 1
IT Support Specialist / Helpdesk Engineer
1-3 years in the role before moving to Cloud OperationsSkills to master
- Strong troubleshooting fundamentals, customer service, understanding of IT systems (networks, servers, applications), incident logging and escalation procedures. Basically, you've learned how to fix things for people.
You're ready to move on when
- You're solving complex tickets independently, not just resetting passwords.
- You've shown an interest in the underlying infrastructure, not just the user-facing issue.
- You've taken initiative to learn about cloud platforms in your own time.
- Your colleagues and managers trust you to handle critical issues calmly.
- 2
Network Operations Centre (NOC) Engineer
2-4 years in the role before moving to Cloud OperationsSkills to master
- Monitoring tools, alert triage, incident response, basic networking concepts, understanding of system health metrics, following strict operational procedures. You're used to the 24/7 nature of operations.
You're ready to move on when
- You're a go-to person for diagnosing network or system outages.
- You've started automating some of your routine NOC tasks with scripts.
- You're actively contributing to improving monitoring and alerting thresholds.
- You've demonstrated a desire to understand the 'why' behind alerts, not just acknowledge them.
- 3
Junior Systems Administrator
2-4 years in the role before moving to Cloud OperationsSkills to master
- Linux/Windows server administration, scripting (Bash/PowerShell), patching, backups, basic security practices, understanding of virtualisation. You've managed physical or virtual servers.
You're ready to move on when
- You're comfortable with command-line troubleshooting and configuration.
- You've started migrating on-prem workloads to the cloud, even small ones.
- You're actively researching cloud-native alternatives to traditional server management.
- You've shown an aptitude for automating repetitive administrative tasks.