An Azure Cloud Engineer is a professional who specializes in designing, implementing, and managing cloud-based solutions using Microsoft Azure. They are responsible for ensuring the availability, scalability, and security of cloud infrastructure and services. In this blog post, we will explore the primary responsibilities and the most in-demand hard and soft skills for Azure Cloud Engineers.

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Main Responsibilities of an Azure Cloud Engineer

The following list describes the typical responsibilities of an Azure Cloud Engineer:

Advise

Advise on, and implement, best practices for monitoring, logging and alerting.

Assess

• Assess current business infrastructure and develop migration roadmap for the cloud.

• Assess new cloud services and recommend how to use them.

• Assess the customer environments and prepare roadmap on Azure deployment and migration.

Automate

Automate infrastructure and deployment processes using Azure PowerShell or Azure CLI.

Build

• Build and maintain CI / CD pipelines in Azure targeting all environments.

• Build & Release automation, packages, deployment.

Collaborate with

• Collaborate with Azure engineering teams.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather requirements and provide technical guidance.

Communicate

Communicate progress to senior management.

Conduct

Conduct performance testing and optimization of Azure solutions.

Configure

• Configure and manage Azure App Services, including web apps, API apps, and mobile apps.

• Configure and manage Azure Backup and Disaster Recovery solutions.

• Configure and manage Azure virtual machines, including scaling and load balancing.

• Configure and manage MLP's Virtual Network in Azure.

Contribute to

• Contribute to efforts in automation, continuous deployment, build, and configuration management.

• Contribute to the design of existing and future platforms.

Coordinate

Coordinate with multiple development and ops teams as well as customer support teams.

Create

• Create a strategy for establishing a secure and well-managed enterprise environment in Azure.

• Create conceptual, logical and physical design for Azure cloud-based solutions.

• Create, manage, and support Azure landing zones.

• Create, test, establish, maintain, secure, and automate Azure environments.

Debug

Debug, implement and test various coding issues resolving around then DevOps development group.

Define

Define and instrument support, logging and monitoring best practices.

Design

• Design and build a SIEM program including automation and orchestration of playbooks.

• Design and deploy Azure infrastructure solutions to meet business requirements.

• Design and implement Azure security solutions, including Azure Security Center and Azure Key Vault.

• Design and implement data protection options, including HA and BCP protection in Azure.

Develop

• Develop and maintain Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates for infrastructure as code.

• Develop and maintain PowerShell and automation scripts to support the Azure environment.

• Develop and organize Cloud Systems.

• Develop and present technical solutions and configurations for infrastructure as a service.

• Develop baseline for deliverables to include.

• Develop migration strategy for azure security components and overall application components.

• Develop plans and execute application and data migrations from on-premises data centers to Azure.

• Develop scripts to automate deployment configurations and resources in Azure.

Diagnose

Diagnose and solve codding errors related to development or DevOps.

Document

Document installations, procedures and requirements for systems / services.

Drive

Drive Identity and access and configuration management, and monitoring strategy for Azure.

Ensure

• Ensure compliance with security and regulatory standards in Azure deployments.

• Ensure systems reliability by verifying deployments through monitoring and automated testing.

• Ensure the foundations and associated core services automated and can be operated using automation.

Establish

Establish internal pricing and instance selection model for Azure virtual machines.

Evaluate

• Evaluate and implement technologies to improve efficiency, performance, security and reliability.

• Evaluate new cloud technologies and makes substantiated recommendations for improvement.

Facilitate

Facilitate Configuration and work with Release Management tools.

Focus on

Focus on network security with in-depth knowledge of architecture and various security technologies.

Forecast

Forecast and plan for the infrastructure needs finding ways to improve the efficiency.

Identify

Identify repetitive tasks and build tools and / or processes for automation.

Implement

• Implement and manage Azure Active Directory (AAD) for user authentication and access control.

• Implement and manage Azure DevOps pipelines for continuous integration and deployment.

• Implement and manage Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for containerized applications.

• Implement and manage Azure storage solutions, such as Azure Blob Storage or Azure Files.

• Implement and manage Azure virtual networks and VPN connections.

• Implement and manage virtual networks, subnets, and network security groups.

• Implement production changes during defined maintenance windows and support on call rotation.

Lead

• Lead design process for network connectivity to Azure.

• Lead the integration of Azure within Sanofi ecosystem.

Learn

Learn to identify areas of risk and opportunities to improve efficiencies.

Maintain

• Maintain cloud security while meeting the needs of the business without blocking progress.

• Maintain compliance with our backup policies / strategies and help refine disaster recovery plans.

• Maintain established service agreements to manage customer expectations and quality standards.

Make

Make sure produced code is secure, stable and operating efficiently.

Manage

• Manage and apply security best practices to the cloud environment.

• Manage and coordinate support incidents with external vendors.

• Manage configuration of cloud workload.

• Manage the Azure DevOps portal and artifacts contained within.

Migrate

Migrate, deploy, and provision business applications and databases.

Monitor

• Monitor and optimize Azure resources for performance, availability, and cost-efficiency.

• Monitor, maintain and manage High Availability applications in a production environment on the cloud.

Negotiate

Negotiate technical terms with vendors and ensure SLA compliance.

Own

Own the availability, resilience and scalability of your solutions.

Participate in

• Participate in the design, roadmap and support of applications in cloud environments.

• Participate in the design, road map and support of applications in the cloud namely with Azure.

Perform

• Perform development duties for specific .NET framework and middleware components.

• Perform regular backups, updates, and maintenance tasks for Azure environments.

Post

Post analysis and continual improvement of cloud resources utilization to provide optimization plans.

Provide

• Provide best practices, standards, and general support for the cloud environment.

• Provide cloud services with high level of automation for reuse and scalability.

• Provide guidance and troubleshooting for engineering teams migrating to Azure.

• Provide guidance on strategies for monitoring, tracing and profiling applications.

• Provide leadership to proper cloud-native operations management.

• Provide platform automation scripting and tooling.

• Provide Tier 3 support for infrastructure / system issues.

Research

Research and maintain up-to-date knowledge of current technology trends and best practices.

Respond to

Respond to technical issues in a detail oriented and timely manner.

Setup

Setup / manage automated infrastructure creation / deployment in Azure.

Share

Share support insights and recommendations.

Stay up to date with

• Stay updated with the latest Azure services, features, and best practices.

• Stay up to date with current trends of cloud technology to ensure maximum performance.

Support

• Support ad-hoc proof-of-concept using the cloud by quickly and securely provisioning cloud services.

• Support application teams to help interact with Landing zone.

• Support database workloads in Azure Cloud and SQL expertise as a shared resource to Agile projects.

• Support deployments in all environments through production.

• Support development of Low-Level Design Architecture document together with cloud Architect.

• Support our top Azure customers.

• Support preliminary cost assessment and business case for moving workload to cloud.

• Support the development of business / technology proposals by evaluating implementation options.

Take

Take ownership of our continuous delivery pipelines.

Test

• Test unit and integration of components for integration into larger subsystems.

• Test various implemented designs to ensure maximum functionality.

Troubleshoot

Troubleshoot and resolve issues related to Azure infrastructure and services.

Understand

• Understand key networking fundamentals.

• Understand Microservices architecture on Azure Service Fabric.

• Understand the underlying data and flow of data.

Utilize

Utilize native Azure services to meet the firm.

Work with

• Work closely with various internal teams to spec and plan new product and feature implementations.

• Work collaboratively and effectively in virtual teams across locations and organizational boundaries.

• Work in a 24x7x365 support model.

• Work productively even under pressure.

• Work with DevOps SMEs to leverage DevOps platform capabilities.

• Work with security and quality to ensure compliancy.

• Work with SMEs (Network, AD, Security, Server, Storage..).

Write

Write and maintain documentation of relevant operating procedures and processes.

Most In-demand Hard Skills

The following list describes the most required technical skills of an Azure Cloud Engineer:

1. Proficiency in Microsoft Azure services, including virtual machines, storage, networking, and databases.

2. Experience with infrastructure as code tools, such as Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates or Terraform.

3. Knowledge of Azure networking concepts, including virtual networks, subnets, and network security groups.

4. Familiarity with containerization technologies like Docker and orchestration tools like Kubernetes.

5. Understanding of Azure Active Directory (AAD) for identity and access management.

6. Proficiency in scripting languages such as PowerShell or Azure CLI for automation.

7. Experience with Azure DevOps for continuous integration and deployment.

8. Knowledge of Azure monitoring and management tools, such as Azure Monitor and Azure Log Analytics.

9. Understanding of Azure security features and best practices for securing cloud environments.

10. Familiarity with Azure Backup and Disaster Recovery solutions.

Most In-demand Soft Skills

The following list describes the most required soft skills of an Azure Cloud Engineer:

1. Strong problem-solving skills to identify and resolve issues in Azure deployments.

2. Effective communication and collaboration with cross-functional teams and stakeholders.

3. Analytical thinking to evaluate complex requirements and design optimal Azure solutions.

4. Adaptability to handle changing project requirements and technology updates.

5. Attention to detail in designing and implementing Azure infrastructure.

6. Project management skills to prioritize tasks and meet project deadlines.

7. Continuous learning mindset to stay updated with evolving Azure technologies and services.

8. Teamwork and collaboration to work effectively in a team-oriented environment.

9. Time management to effectively balance multiple projects and tasks.

10. Customer service orientation to understand and address client needs.

Conclusion

Becoming a skilled Azure Cloud Engineer requires a combination of technical expertise and essential soft skills. As outlined in this blog post, the primary responsibilities of an Azure Cloud Engineer encompass designing, deploying, and managing Azure infrastructure, implementing security measures, optimizing performance, and ensuring compliance. The most in-demand hard skills include proficiency in Azure services, infrastructure as code, networking, containerization, and scripting languages. Additionally, soft skills such as problem-solving, communication, adaptability, and continuous learning are crucial for success in this role.