The Cloud Industry Forum (CIF), the industry body whose aim is to raise standards and improve transparency in the Cloud sector, is launching a host of new initiatives to support the continued growth of its Individual Membership Programme.
The scheme itself targets IT and business professionals alike and since its launch it has seen a rapid uptake in membership from those interested in understanding cloud computing. The scheme aims to not only provide industry professionals with on-going resources pertinent to Cloud computing, but also provide a market-recognised and respected certification programme.
Individual members now have direct access to a range of assets including the latest market research on trends and issues affecting the Cloud computing industry, as well as an extensive online cloud resources library. The library - called the CIF Knowledge Hub - has over 300 papers and cloud resources available to its members. The CIF has also developed a “Cloud Adoption Roadmap” as a framework to help its members identify key stages and steps associated with cloud adoption. Through this framework, CIF plans to help businesses accelerate and de-risk the cloud adoption journey
The Certification programme is being designed for those who work in IT operations, IT management and IT Directors, as well as line of business personnel such as legal and procurement professionals. The programme will include a foundation exam as well as more specialised certification areas. The certifications will help professionals validate their cloud knowledge and understanding in this complex arena.
The Certification programme is due to be launched soon, and a new e-learning programme, that supports the certifications, is due to be launched in the next few weeks.
Alex Hilton, CEO of CIF, stated: “We decided to extend our membership programme to encompass individuals working in the field, and not just the vendor community back in late 2015. To date we have seen huge interest in the Programme with hundreds of professionals signing up. Now is the time to launch the new Knowledge Hub, populated with vendor neutral materials ranging from White Papers, Guides, Research and other educational resources designed to take busy professionals and IT experts on their journey to the Cloud.”
“With Cloud computing seeing a huge increase in adoption since 2010 – by some 61.5 per cent according to our own research – what is clear is that not only is Cloud here to stay, but it is now permeating throughout the overwhelming majority of organisations, regardless of whether or not they have the skills in place to manage it,” he added.
“With this membership programme – aimed at both the individual or even as a corporate package – we aim to provide a one-stop-industry-shop for IT professionals, business leaders and those involved in the Cloud procurement process.”
