“There are too many tools” is the most common reason beginners freeze when starting in cloud and DevOps. At a Parul University session, an infrastructure engineer from a global bank cut through it with one line of advice.
You should start with the basics first. Clear your basics.
– Shivlal Sharma, CNCF Ambassador and Docker Captain
The order matters as much as the content. The progression recommended to beginners was clear and sequential:
- Git and GitHub: version control, the natural starting point.
- Operating systems, especially Linux: get comfortable with Linux (for example Ubuntu and Red Hat-based systems).
- Networking: many real-world cloud problems trace back to the network, so concepts like the OSI model are genuinely useful.
- Containers: you should also focus on learning Docker and containers, the practical gateway to cloud native.
- CI/CD: learn how to automate the building, testing and releasing.
One should be aware that they should not directly jump to Kubernetes. Fundamentals first make everything after them far easier.
DevOps vs SRE vs Platform Engineering
“DevOps” is not one single career. Three related but distinct paths are worth knowing:
- DevOps engineers work mainly with infrastructure, deployment, and troubleshooting.
- Site Reliability Engineers (SRE) focus on automation and reliability, automating repetitive tasks and resolving production issues.
- Platform engineers build the internal tools and platforms that support an organisation’s own teams and products.
Knowing the difference helps you aim once you have built a foundation, rather than treating “cloud” as one undifferentiated goal.
Do Certifications Matter?
Certifications help, but the experts stressed that the ability actually to perform a task matters more than holding a certificate. Notably, CNCF certifications are strongly practical: candidates typically work in live environments and complete real tasks, such as deploying an application or fixing a broken one, rather than answering multiple-choice questions. For deeper, real-world experience, programmes like the Linux Foundation’s LFX Mentorship let students work with mentors on genuine open-source projects.
Check out: The cloud computing certifications provided by Parul University.
Learn With a Community
A theme running through the whole session was that community participation is part of technical growth, not separate from it. Local communities (such as Cloud Native Community Groups), student groups like the AWS Student Builder Group at Parul University, conferences like KubeCon and Kubernetes Community Days, and open-source contribution are all accessible ways to learn from working professionals before you enter the industry. It is a philosophy Parul University supports through its Tinkering Hub and hands-on, experiential learning culture, and it is often where the friendships and first opportunities begin.
