Technology is constantly developing with multiple branches and fields. Therefore, it’s getting harder to differentiate between the job titles.
Many people have asked me: What are the differences between a DevOps and cloud engineer. In this post, I will discuss their core features to give you the answer.
What is a DevOps Engineer?
Most DevOps engineers work for big organizations. Their goal is to create an automatic and efficient operation. So, the responsibility of this profession is very diverse.
This profession leans towards the IT field. A DevOps engineer should have diverse knowledge in both operations and development. Plus, you must know how to control data and manage infrastructure.
For example, you can help monitor the system of a company. Your job is to identify the errors and come up with suitable solutions. You can also increase the security of that system.
Besides these tasks, you must be able to communicate with the people within the system. The targets range from units to people and resources.
What is a Cloud Engineer?
As its name suggests, this profession deals with cloud engineering and all of its related fields. A complete cloud system includes basic components like:
- Network
- Software
- Security
- System
- Architect
However, an engineer is rarely responsible for all the aspects of a cloud system. Instead, the organization will divide the managing team into many small parts.
Each small team will manage a specific part of the system. For instance, you may join a cloud security team to protect the cloud system from attacks and errors.
All of these roles require excellent computing skills. Besides, engineers must learn how to code and manage data.
Key Differences
The two professions are parts of the IT industry. Therefore, they share many common traits in duties and skills. Yet, there are many noticeable differences in their nature. This comparison table summarizes the two jobs’ core differences.
| Features | DevOps Engineer | Cloud Engineer |
|---|---|---|
| Learning Curves | More diverse and harder | More centralized |
| Duties | Managing and improving operations | Managing and developing cloud systems |
| Tools | Monitoring tools Managing platforms Tools for automation | Cloud platforms and software |
| Salaries | $141,878 | $112,992 |
| Work Environment | Collaborative | Isolated |
1. Learning Curves
Both professions require excellent computing and managing capacity. DevOps Engineers should have a solid background in the development of software.
Meanwhile, cloud engineers focus more on cloud systems. You have to master the basic platforms like AWS or GCP. The skills required for this job are more centralized than its counterpart.
Meanwhile, DevOps engineers should be able to use various monitoring tools. In addition, you should develop your collaboration skills. It allows you to communicate with the operations team better.
2. Duties
DevOps engineers’ duties are to monitor and test the effectiveness of an operation. You must constantly check all the system’s components and find solutions to improve them.
- Here are some popular responsibilities of this role.
- Find new methods to enhance operations.
- Maintain the functions of a website.
- Communicate with the other teams within the system.
- Deliver feedback and solutions to the people in charge of the system.
- Deploy new solutions to improve the system’s effectiveness.
Meanwhile, the duties of cloud engineers revolve around cloud systems. Your job is to manage the cloud platforms and develop them. Thus, these systems can become more effective and safer for users.
Plus, you must listen to users’ feedback and find ways to improve the system. Here are some common tasks of this role.
- Manage the data of the clouds.
- Ensure the system can run stably.
- Prevent errors and data attacks.
- Develop creative solutions and designs for cloud systems.
- Manage the cloud’s components and test its performance.
3. Tools
The popular automation tools for DevOps engineers are Ansible and Python. Plus, they use the control systems like Git to monitor operations.
Cloud engineers interact mainly with cloud platforms (GCP and Azure). The tools like IAC and Terraform will assist them in developing the cloud systems.
4. Salaries
Our reports indicates that DevOps engineers earn between $115,000 to $175,000 annually. The number can go up to $200,000 if you work for a big company. Meanwhile, cloud engineers’ average income is $126,282.
5. Job Outlooks
The two professions bring promising career prospects. The demand for these job titles has increased significantly in recent years. A report indicates that job demands for DevOps engineers have risen by 443% from 2015 to 2019.
The number of cloud engineers is no less promising. The growing popularity of cloud technology will bring you various job opportunities in the future.
6. Work Environments
DevOps engineers commonly join big organizations. It enables them to monitor all the resources of the firm’s operation. Plus, you can also communicate with the other teams within the system.
Meanwhile, cloud engineers can choose to work remotely at home. You also don’t have to interact with a lot of coworkers. The main duty of this job is dealing with the cloud systems on the computer screens.
Which Should You Choose?
In summary, the role of DevOps engineers is very extensive. You must manage a huge system and the smaller units inside it. It focuses on a much bigger picture than dealing with cloud systems.
Besides technical aspects, you have to manage people and resources. Your ultimate goal is to put everything together and improve the system’s operation. Therefore, this job is suitable for people with good management skills.
Besides, you should be good at working in teams. You have to socialize and exchange work with multiple branches.
Meanwhile, cloud engineering focuses more on technical skills. The tasks involved in this job are repetitive.
If you love spending hours working with systems and data, this profession is a suitable choice. It helps you make the most of your computing skills.
Final Verdict
You can imagine DevOps engineers as the manager of systems. The experts in this field help monitor various systems through the database. Thus, they can solve the existing errors and improve their capacity.
Meanwhile, cloud engineers have to spend many hours dealing with data and codes. Yet, most of the tasks are limited to cloud systems.
So, which profession is more suitable for your skills and interests? Feel free to let me know in the comment section. Thank you for reading!