Why Amazon is opening an in-person cloud skills center to train workers at other companies

“There is a dramatic need for digital skills in general, and cloud skills in particular, and this is part of a very large effort,” he said. “We are going to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to bring this training to tens of millions of people around the world.”

“I have this conversation with business executives all the time,” said Maureen Lonergan, vice president of AWS Training and Certification. “So we’re working not only to train new people in the cloud, but also to work with customers to transform their traditional IT staff into people who are cloud-savvy. ”

“The cloud is actually one of the most transformative technological changes of our generation,” said Selipsky, who started at AWS at the start of the division and spent 11 years in the business before leaving to lead the company. Tableau data visualization for five years. “I know that sounds like a big statement, but if you think about it, when was the last time you went to rent a DVD or incurred late fees?” Netflix changed all of that to streaming and it’s happening on AWS … No matter what industry you watch, no matter what app you watch, it’s now increasingly only running in data centers. companies build and operate and invest capital in it and stress out, it operates through a place like AWS. ”

At the Skills Center, Amazon plans to invite anyone in the Seattle community – college students, the unemployed, or others looking for a career change – to get a better idea of ​​what cloud computing is and why it is. important; for example, it makes real-time mobile gaming on the Internet possible. From there, visitors interested in career opportunities in the field will have access to free core technology and cloud courses at the center, and can be directed to other AWS training resources. The company hopes tens of thousands of people will visit the center to explore or take classes each year.

As part of Thursday’s announcement, the company also announced that it will add approximately 60 free digital cloud computing training and certification courses to Amazon.com. It is also expanding access to its Re / Start program, a free 12-week training course that prepares people for entry-level cloud computing jobs, from 25 cities in 12 countries in 2020 to more than 95 cities in 38 countries by the end. by 2021. The company plans to open more competence centers around the world starting next year, according to Lonergan.

“Our customers are so incredibly diverse and who they are, and their use cases and their industries, and the companies they operate in are so diverse, it’s hard to imagine that we could truly deliver what they need. us if we’re not equally diverse, ”Selipsky said.