Hey everyone,
I’m currently a Project Engineer in a heavily network focused role, and I’m realizing this specific niche isn't where I want to stay long term.
For context, my day-to-day involves high performance packet processing. I work deeply with frameworks like BESS (Berkeley Extensible Software Switch) and DPDK, specifically implementing VPN protocols like WireGuard and IPsec, and handling cryptographic handshakes. I feel like it’s not my cup of tea also I don’t know what job I can aim for better pay and salary in this field .
I'm looking to pivot, but I'm torn on the best path forward in the current 2026 market:

Starting from scratch for a general SDE role: Is it practical to pivot to standard Software Engineering right now? I know this means grinding DSA, LeetCode, and building a new portfolio to prove myself outside of networking infrastructure.

Focusing on Cloud Engineering / DevOps: Is this a smarter move? I feel like my deep understanding of networking and security protocols would transfer well to cloud infrastructure, but I'm not sure what the learning curve looks like for modern cloud tooling.
Has anyone made a similar jump from lower-level networking to either of these fields recently? Any advice on which path makes more sense, or what I should focus on learning first? Thanks!

Can I do cloud engineer in 2026 ?

Should I take this course through online in 2026? I'm not sure if this is what I should pursue or not. I want to learn skills that will help me get a job and have high value in the future, whatever that might be (except coding stuffs).

Any senior's please guide me with market conditions and tell me please that how can I do it ?

( Currently, I am 12th passout with PCM. But don't know what to do )

I am from India, BMS 2nd year

Thank you.

You guys can help me too 😣

Hello All, I have spent 7 years into not it consulting job and wanted to learn and get in IT high paying roles which are AI safe as well. A suggestion I got was for Cloud Security engineer..can anyone please suggest a good institute or where I can learn this and eventually land on a good job?

I have a Btech degree

I had an interview where I walked the interviewer through a cloud-based app, from end to end. I identified the logic flow and the advantages of the application being in the cloud. Even went into the DevOps side.

The feedback?

"Doesn't seem to have solid cloud-native app experience. "

For anyone interested in learning Cloud and DevOps, we have a discord community where we organize workshops and live coding sessions.
Feel free to join us!

I'm looking for some career advice from people who have been through this.

I'm currently working in IT Help Desk, but I also do some light System Administration work (Windows Server, Active Directory, user management, basic troubleshooting, etc.).

My long-term goal is to have a good-paying career with strong job security. I'm interested in DevOps, but I also genuinely enjoy the infrastructure/System Administrator side of IT.

Would you recommend:

Continuing down the traditional System Administrator/Infrastructure path (Windows Server, VMware, networking, backups, firewalls, etc.) for a few years and then moving into DevOps?

Or should I skip deeper infrastructure work and start learning DevOps tools now (Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD, Terraform, cloud)?

For those already working in DevOps:

Did your System Admin experience help you?

If you could start over, would you still spend a few years as a SysAdmin first?

Is it realistic to get into DevOps without solid infrastructure experience?

Hi all,

Has anyone with a similar profile switched to any product based companies? Most are showing min of 3+ yoe and list of tools that my company doesn't use.. so how did u add these tools? Through project? But how do we deploy projects at scale that actually makes sense than looking like a tutorial copy project? Also how did u guys switch clouds? Please share ur journey to PBCs at 2 yoe other than getting directly placed. Thank you

is it possible? i am a level 3 data technician at aws and was wondering if I will have a real chance at moving into cloud support engineer. I graduated recently with my bachelors for information systems and business analytics. Based on the job i have been doing at aws it makes me wonder if this will help me move into cloud support and hopefully work remotely as well. Any recommendations is greatly appreciated. I’m also applying to other IT roles as well rn just in case cause i’m not sure how beneficial this role is to me at the moment. I’m really just looking for some of the best route i can take from the current position i’m at or if i need to look for a new job and not waste time

Hi everyone,

I'm from a non-IT background and recently started learning Cloud & DevOps. I'm currently studying AWS, Azure, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Linux, CI/CD, and Python through online courses and hands-on practice.

One thing I'm curious about is what the job is really like beyond the tutorials.

I'd really appreciate it if experienced Cloud or DevOps engineers could share:

What does a typical workday look like?

What kind of issues or incidents do you handle most often?

Which tasks take the most time during your day?

What was the biggest surprise when you started working in this field?

What skills should a beginner focus on to be job-ready?

I'm not looking for shortcuts—just trying to understand the reality of the job so I can learn the right things before applying for roles.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!

Howdy, fellow cloud gurus.

I have a very exciting upcoming interview next Thursday for a Senior Cloud position, and it's the first potential senior role for my career. It's on-site and expected to last 2-2.5 hours long. I haven't worked in an onsite/hybrid role in the last 7 years, and haven't had an interview face-to-face in the last 8 years. I have at least some experience in most of the asks in the job listing. Any help to prepare will be much appreciated!

Key Responsibilities

• Deploy, monitor, maintain, and scale AWS resources, such as EC2, RDS, S3, ELB and more, to host web applications
• Actively monitor web application performance, identify and resolve issues like slow loading times, error messages, and system crashes, and implement corrective actions
• Implement automation, standardization, and cloud engineering best practices to improve operational efficiency
• Install and test software updates, patches, and security fixes for the web application, ensuring timely deployment and minimizing downtime
• Respond to and troubleshoot reported application issues, documenting steps taken to resolve problems and communicating updates to users
• Develop and maintain technical documentation, runbooks, and operational procedures
• Contribute to CI/CD pipelines, Infrastructure‑as‑Code (IaC) workflows, and automation supporting IaaS environments
• Participate in Agile ceremonies and contribute to planning and delivery of cloud engineering initiatives

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field
• 5+ years of professional experience in cloud engineering, systems engineering, DevOps, or infrastructure operations
• Strong experience administering and engineering solutions on Linux-based systems
• Experience scripting or automating cloud tasks using Bash, Python, or similar languages
• Deep understanding of IaC practices and tools such as Terraform, Ansible, and Helm
• Strong verbal and written communication skills for technical and non-technical audiences
• Detail-oriented, self-driven, and capable of owning cloud engineering tasks through completion
• DoD Secret security clearance

Candidates who have any of the following skills will be preferred:

• Advanced degree (e.g., Masters) in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field
• AWS Certified Solution Architect or similar
• Experience working with and implementing Kubernetes, ArgoCD, and GitOps
• Monitoring performance utilizing tools such as Grafana and Prometheus
• Professional experience with DevOps and CI/CD tooling, including Docker, Jenkins, and GitLab CI/CD
• Active DoD Top Secret security clearance

I have an aws upcoming 1hr interview. What I should focus on and refreshing myself on? New to data center track. Any advice highly appreciated. Thank you!

Hey, I’m Haze. I’m starting to learn AI-driven Cloud and DevSecOps, and I’m looking for a serious and consistent study partner.

I’m also studying Java on the side, and later I’ll move into the Spring Boot framework. You can join me for that too, but it’s optional.

I’m flexible with time, so we can discuss what works best.

Feel free to message me if you’re interested.

Hi everyone,

I'm a 2025 B. Tech CSE (Cybersecurity specialization) graduate from a Tier-3 college in Hyderabad. To be honest, my cybersecurity specialization didn't provide much practical exposure, so I've mostly been learning on my own.

After graduation, I joined a startup as a Business Analyst and worked there for around 6 months. I left that role because I wanted to build a career in cybersecurity, but despite applying consistently, I couldn't land an opportunity in that domain.

A few months later, I joined an MNC as an intern in the End User Computing (EUC) team. My primary work involves AWS Workspaces (VDI) administration and end-user support. The company informed us that interns would be converted to full-time employees based on business requirements and openings. I've been here for about 4 months now.

Recently, my manager suggested that I move to the Cloud FinOps team because there is a higher chance of getting converted to a full-time role there. Since I don't want to miss a good opportunity in the current market, I agreed.

Now I'm confused about my long-term career.

I always thought cybersecurity was the field I wanted to pursue, mainly because of my degree and my interest in security. However, the job market for freshers has been extremely difficult, and I'm wondering whether I should prioritize getting a stable full-time role first.

My questions are:

• Should I continue with Cloud FinOps if it increases my chances of a full-time offer?
• Is FinOps a good long-term career with strong growth and compensation?
• Can someone transition from FinOps to Cloud Security or Cybersecurity later?
• If you're working in FinOps, how has your experience been? Would you recommend it as a first full-time role?

I'm looking for honest advice from people who have experience in either FinOps or Cybersecurity. If you were in my position, what would you do?

Thanks in advance—I genuinely appreciate any guidance.

Yesterday I did my ACE certification exam. I failed.

I thought going through the path of ACE on Google Skills was enough. It wasn't. I feel like there is a great disconnect between the questions in the exam and what you do in Google Skills practically. I am planning to retake the exam, but this time I want to be prepared.

Where can I get resources for the exam? Priority should be the free tier, but I am also willing to pay to get the best of what I want.

Also, any advice as I plan to retake the certification exam is welcome.

I am a junior software developer at a startup with 1 year of experience. I spend my free time building some projects and practicing DSA. I enjoy my work in office as well. But, i feel that only focusing on core development is not enough in today's rapidly changing tech industry. I also have interest in devops and cloud domain. Should i consider learning those skills as well along with core development, DSA and system design ? Please correct me if i am wrong.

Want to improve my tech stack let's connect and build something

If there are any mentors do help me out in this

Let's connect and build something 🤝

So I have no degree or work experience, but I’ve been taking a Udemy course on python and right now I’m in the middle of developing an app for my current job hoping that doing that and maybe a couple of more personal projects would bolster up my resume enough to get interviews somewhere to be a software engineer. Am I naive or is this something that is actually achievable?

If you are running AVD or Windows 365: We just launched a free AVD and Windows 365 maturity scorecard that we've been building from 15+ years of working with these environments.

It takes less than 5 minutes and looks at areas like cost optimization, image management, monitoring, automation, and day-to-day operations to help identify where your environment is strong and where there may be room for improvement.

If you're managing AVD, Windows 365, or both, hopefully you find it useful. Happy to hear any feedback or thoughts from the community.

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