Number three on Indeed’s 2023 list of “best jobs” seems like a pretty fantastical gig by title alone: Cloud engineer.

But the responsibilities of a cloud engineer can get pretty, well, cloudy. Ranging from data experts and coders to platform-specific pros and other specialists, all have a hand in helping a company move their IT systems to hosted infrastructure. That’s why narrowing your expertise could help you stand out in the field, and lead to a shower of cash.

“You’ve got to start somewhere where you can have a narrow focus, and have very deep expertise to be able build your career and help add value to the customer that you work for,” said Dan O’Brien, SVP of technology solutions at the global advisory Presidio.

Cloud-wowed. A 2022 report from market-intelligence firm Gartner predicted that end-user spending on public cloud services would reach nearly $600 billion in 2023.

That’s good news for the cloud engineer, which ranked highly for the career site Indeed in an analysis that factored in flexibility, salary, and job-post frequency.

Companies may use multiple clouds—a report from the authentication provider Okta saw a rise in AWS and GCP pairings—but providers still require specific expertise for their unique tools.

With many platforms, including Azure, Terraform Cloud, and MongoDB Atlas, it may help to not just be a cloud engineer, but a: [insert platform here] cloud engineer.

“Even if you’re an individual that wants to learn multiple skills or multiple cloud providers, most companies out there are probably looking for one or the other,” said Seth Robinson, VP of industry research at the nonprofit trade organization CompTIA.

Read more here.—BH

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Everything’s connected to tech these days—even federal regulations. But with changes to environmental, social, governance (ESG) standards on the way, that may mean extra hours on the job for the IT department, and more tech spending from companies looking to comply with the new regulations.

Thus far, ESG reporting has been voluntary. But the SEC rules will change that, and there may be significant consequences, said Mike Zamis, CPO at Sphera Solutions.

“If the SEC regulations pass, as they’re currently written, that will become a big regulatory obligation,” Zamis said. “Up to and including the CFO going to jail.”

IT professionals are going to be needed to handle data as ESG requirements are added to existing financial reporting. Locating, calculating, and reporting the ESG KPI data is going to become part of the day-to-day for C-suite operations.

Roll up those sleeves. The rules were initially scheduled to be delivered in October 2022, but are now expected by the end of April. And when they do arrive, it’s unclear how they’ll hold up—GOP lawmakers are trying to ban the practice, and Zamis predicts a flurry of lawsuits from businesses.

It’s not hard to see why. The new requirements could mean a sea change in how companies file reports and will involve investing in teams and systems to make those changes—the kind of decision that makes the C-suite, often disinclined toward change in the first place, uneasy.

Keep reading here.—EH

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Today’s top IT reads.

Stat: $1.35 billion. That’s how much T-Mobile paid to acquire mobile phone carrier Mint, part-owned by actor Ryan Reynolds. (PCMag)

Quote: “Because we have the strongest data protection laws in the world, we are confident that the public can continue to use it.”—Michelle Donelan, UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology, on TikTok, just one day before the UK banned the app on all government devices (the New York Times)

Read: While tech occupation employment is way up, tech hiring is effectively back to pre-pandemic levels. (CIO Dive)

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