Why Amazon is opening an in-person cloud skills center to train workers for other companies
Entering the new Amazon Web Services Skills Center is a bit like walking into a high-tech museum. Among its exhibits are a rotating, globe-shaped screen that displays images of planets or weather patterns, an interactive "smart home" model and a table full of small robot vehicles trained by machine learning.
The space is designed to introduce visitors to practical applications of cloud computing — an increasingly popular set-up in which companies' technical operations are run in data centers managed by Amazon or other cloud companies, rather than in costly on-site servers. AWS hopes the center will interest some visitors in the possibility of a career in the industry.
The Skills Center, which is located on Amazon's corporate headquarters campus in Seattle, Washington, and opens to the public November 22, is the first of its kind for the company. It's part of a larger commitment to train 29 million people globally in cloud computing by 2025 that AWS made last year.
It's also one of the first major announcements that new AWS chief executive Adam Selipsky has made since taking over from Andy Jassy, who was elevated to Amazon CEO when Jeff Bezos left the post in July.
The Skills Center is "going to be a free, accessible space for anybody who wants to learn more about cloud computing, what it is, what the applications are ... everything that illustrates the true breadth of the cloud, and importantly, there's going to be a lot of skills training here," Selipsky told CNN Business in an exclusive interview ahead of the center's opening.
"There's a dramatic need for digital skills overall, and for cloud skills in particular, and this is part of a very broad effort," he said. "We're going to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to bring that training to tens of millions of people worldwide."
Although the company declined to disclose an exact amount, it's a big investment into free training for people who will mostly become employees of other companies. But it's crucial to AWS's business because of a significant talent gap that threatens to hamper potential customers' adoption of cloud technology.
"I have that conversation with executives of companies all the time," said Maureen Lonergan, vice president of AWS Training and Certification. "So we work not only on training new people to cloud but working with customers to transform their traditional IT staff to cloud-fluent individuals."
The talent gap comes as demand for cloud computing has surged during the pandemic. But AWS, long the cloud industry leader, is facing steep competition from rivals like Microsoft (MSFT) Azure and Google (GOOGLGOOGLE) Cloud, something Selipsky will have to address as the unit's new leader.
Though Amazon (AMZN) is best known for e-commerce, its cloud unit has long been its biggest money maker. In the most recent quarter, AWS contributed nearly 56% of the company's overall net income, and it now has a revenue run rate of around $64 billion.
"The cloud is actually one of the most transformative technological changes of our generation," said Selipsky, who started at AWS in the division's early days and spent 11 years with the company before leaving to run data visualization firm Tableau for five years. "I know that sounds like a big statement but if you think about, when is the last time you went to rent a DVD or incurred late fees? Netflix changed all of that by streaming and that happens on AWS ... No matter what sector you look at, no matter what application you look at, it's now more and more not running in data centers that companies build and operate and put capital into and stress out about, it operates through a place like AWS."
At the Skills Center, Amazon plans to invite anyone from the Seattle community — students, unemployed workers or others looking for a career change — to get a better sense of what cloud computing is and why it matters; for example, it makes real-time, mobile gaming over the internet possible. From there, visitors interested in career opportunities in the field will have access to free tech and cloud basics courses at the center, and may be directed to AWS's other 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 said it will add around 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 an entry level job in cloud computing, from 25 cities in 12 countries in 2020 to more than 95 cities in 38 countries by the end of 2021. The company expects to open more Skills Centers around the world starting next year, according to Lonergan.
The company also hopes to reach people who have had a harder time accessing roles in tech. The Skills Center and the training programs are free and target people who don't have prior experience in tech. The company also plans to partner with local workforce development agencies in Seattle to bring people from diverse backgrounds into the facility. That effort could help increase diversity in the cloud computing field, which, like the larger tech world, still skews white and male. Amazon's own global corporate staff was comprised of nearly 69% men and 47% white employees in 2020, according to its most recent workforce data report.
"Our customers are so incredibly diverse and who they are, and their use cases and their industries, and the companies in which they operate are so diverse, it's hard to imagine that we could really deliver what they need from us if we are not equally diverse," Selipsky said.
为什么亚马逊要开设一个面对面的云技能中心来为其他公司培训员工
进入新的亚马逊网络服务技能中心，有点像走进高科技博物馆。它的展品包括一个旋转的球形屏幕，显示行星或天气模式的图像，一个交互式“智能家居”模型和一个摆满机器学习训练的小型机器人车辆的桌子。
该空间旨在向参观者介绍云计算的实际应用——一种越来越流行的设置，公司的技术运营在由亚马逊或其他云公司管理的数据中心运行，而不是在昂贵的现场服务器中运行。 AWS 希望该中心能让一些参观者对在该行业工作的可能性感兴趣。
技能中心位于亚马逊位于华盛顿州西雅图的公司总部园区内，于 11 月 22 日向公众开放，是该公司的首个此类中心。这是 AWS 去年做出的到 2025 年在全球培训 2900 万人云计算方面更大承诺的一部分。
这也是 AWS 新任首席执行官亚当·塞利普斯基 (Adam Selipsky) 接替安迪·贾西 (Andy Jassy) 后发布的首批重大公告之一，后者在杰夫·贝佐斯 (Jeff Bezos) 7 月离职时被提升为亚马逊首席执行官。
技能中心“将成为一个免费的、可访问的空间，供任何想要了解更多关于云计算、它是什么、应用程序是什么的人......一切都说明了云的真正广度，重要的是，在这里接受大量技能培训，”塞利普斯基在中心开放前接受美国有线电视新闻网商业频道的独家采访时说。
“总体而言，对数字技能的需求非常大，尤其是对云技能的需求，这是一项非常广泛的努力的一部分，”他说。 “我们将投资数亿美元，将这种培训带给全球数以千万计的人。”
尽管该公司拒绝透露具体金额，但这是一项对大部分将成为其他公司员工的人员的免费培训的重大投资。但这对 AWS 的业务至关重要，因为人才缺口巨大，可能会阻碍潜在客户采用云技术。
“我一直在与公司高管进行这种对话，”AWS 培训和认证副总裁 Maureen Lonergan 说。 “因此，我们不仅致力于培训新人使用云，而且还与客户合作，将他们的传统 IT 员工转变为精通云的个人。”
人才缺口出现之际，大流行期间对云计算的需求激增。但是，长期以来一直是云行业领导者的 AWS 正面临来自微软 (MSFT) Azure 和谷歌 (GOOGLGOOGLE) Cloud 等竞争对手的激烈竞争，Selipsky 作为该部门的新领导者必须解决这一问题。
尽管亚马逊 (AMZN) 以电子商务而闻名，但其云部门长期以来一直是其最大的赚钱机构。在最近一个季度，AWS 贡献了公司整体净收入的近 56%，现在它的收入运行率约为 640 亿美元。
“云实际上是我们这一代最具变革性的技术变革之一，”Selipsky 说，他在该部门的早期开始在 AWS 工作，并在该公司工作了 11 年，然后离开运营数据可视化公司 Tableau 五年。 “我知道这听起来很重要，但如果你想一想，你最后一次租 DVD 或产生滞纳金是什么时候？Netflix 通过流媒体改变了这一切，而这发生在 AWS 上......无论哪个行业你看，无论你看什么应用程序，它现在越来越多地不在公司建立和运营的数据中心运行，并投入资金和压力，它通过像 AWS 这样的地方运行。”
在技能中心，亚马逊计划邀请西雅图社区的任何人——学生、失业工人或其他正在寻求职业转变的人——以更好地了解云计算是什么以及它为什么重要；例如，它使通过互联网进行实时移动游戏成为可能。从那里，对该领域的职业机会感兴趣的访问者将可以访问该中心的免费技术和云基础课程，并且可能会被定向到 AWS 的其他培训资源。该公司希望每年有数万人到中心参观或上课。
作为周四公告的一部分，该公司还表示将向 Amazon.com 增加大约 60 个免费的数字云计算培训和认证课程。它还扩大了对 Re/Start 计划的访问，这是一个为期 12 周的免费培训课程，为人们准备云计算的入门级工作，从 2020 年的 12 个国家的 25 个城市到年底的 38 个国家/地区的 95 个以上城市2021 年。 据 Lonergan 称，该公司预计从明年开始在全球开设更多技能中心。
该公司还希望能够接触到那些在技术领域难以获得职位的人。 技能中心和培训计划是免费的，面向没有技术经验的人。 该公司还计划与西雅图当地的劳动力发展机构合作，将来自不同背景的人员带入该设施。 这项努力可能有助于增加云计算领域的多样性，与更大的科技世界一样，云计算领域仍然偏向于白人和男性。 根据其最新的劳动力数据报告，到 2020 年，亚马逊自己的全球企业员工由近 69% 的男性和 47% 的白人员工组成。
“我们的客户非常多样化，他们是谁，他们的用例和行业，以及他们经营的公司如此多样化，很难想象如果我们不平等，我们可以真正满足他们的需求 多样化，”塞利普斯基说。
