- Home
- Solutions
- Cloud Migration
- Cloud Migration
Hire Cloud Migration Engineers
Our top 1% of tech talent has already undergone a rigorous vetting process. Get bilingual, nearshore Cloud developers on your team within 2 weeks.
500+ companies rely on our top 1% tech talent.
No time to find the top talent yourself? Skip the hassle of recruitment.
The Ultimate Guide for Hiring Cloud Migration Engineers
Struggling with cloud migration can lead to costly downtime, security risks, and lost productivity. That’s why you should hire the right cloud migration engineers at the top of your “to-do” list. These experts don’t only handle the technical process—they design secure, scalable cloud infrastructures that support your business goals. At BairesDev, we give you access to the top 1% of cloud engineers skilled in platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.
This guide will show you how to hire the best cloud engineers, from identifying key technical skills to finding candidates who can deliver efficient, cost-effective cloud solutions that align with your business needs.
Before You Start Hiring
1. Define Your Project or Team Requirements
Before interviewing cloud migration engineers, outline what your team needs and define the project's scope. Start by identifying which cloud platforms or systems you’ll need and what specific expertise you’ll need to get the job done.
2. Look for Experience in Your Preferred Methodology
Cloud migration solutions can follow various methodologies like Agile or DevOps. Make sure the cloud engineers you're hiring are well-versed in the method your team uses. This helps your new hire ease into the workflow and understand your approach.
3. Evaluate Culture Fit
Hiring the best cloud engineers goes beyond technical skills. You need to consider how well they will fit into your company culture and communication style. A good cultural match means smoother collaborations and more productive teams.
4. Prioritize Modernization Expertise
Without the right modernization strategy, you could be left with a clunky cloud infrastructure that doesn’t fully take advantage of the cloud’s capabilities. Cloud engineers with modernization expertise will upgrade your systems, making them more efficient, scalable, and prepared for future growth.
5. Test for Adaptability
Cloud migration can throw a lot of curveballs, so you need engineers who can adjust quickly. Whether it’s navigating a new cloud platform or tackling unexpected challenges, adaptable cloud engineers will keep your project on track, no matter what obstacles come up.
20 Skills Every Cloud Migration Engineer Should Have
In cloud migration, engineers are the driving force behind a successful move to the cloud. As cloud platforms expand and evolve, so do the skills required for a migration engineer to excel. It's not just about moving data from point A to point B; it’s about setting up a scalable, secure, and ready environment for the future.
Hiring an engineer with these critical skills leads to smoother migrations, less back-and-forth, and optimized cloud environments. They’ll tackle immediate migration tasks and foresee potential challenges, making the transition faster and more efficient in the long run.
We’ve put together the top 20 skills every cloud migration engineer should have to bring technical expertise to your team.
Technical Skills to Look for in Your Ideal Cloud Engineer
1. Cloud Platform Expertise
Cloud platform expertise includes in-depth knowledge of major cloud providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. Each cloud provider offers unique cloud development services, and understanding how to build and manage infrastructure on these platforms helps engineers make critical decisions about which cloud environment is best for your project.
2. Cloud Migration Tools
Cloud migration tools help automate and simplify moving applications, data, and workloads to the cloud. Popular tools include AWS Migration Hub, Azure Migrate, and Google Cloud Migrate. Using the right migration tools reduces downtime, lowers the risk of data loss, and improves the overall migration speed.
3. Networking and Cloud Connectivity
Your engineer should understand how to configure virtual networks (VPCs), VPNs, and peering connections so that your systems communicate securely and reliably in the cloud. With engineers who understand cloud networking, you avoid connectivity bottlenecks, reduce latency, and set up secure communication channels.
4. Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
What’s IaC? It’s managing and provisioning cloud infrastructure using code rather than manual processes. Tools like Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, and Azure Resource Manager automate these tasks. IaC helps cloud engineers create scalable, repeatable infrastructure configurations.
5. Virtualization and Containers
Expertise in virtualization (VMware, Hyper-V) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) allows engineers to deploy and scale cloud applications efficiently. These technologies optimize resource usage and ensure consistent performance across environments.
6. Cloud Security
Moving to the cloud introduces new risks because you handle sensitive data and mission-critical applications in a shared environment. Without strong security measures, your systems become vulnerable to attacks or breaches. Engineers with cloud security expertise defend against these threats and ensure your infrastructure complies with regulations like GDPR or HIPAA.
7. Data Migration Techniques
A solid grasp of data migration techniques allows for safe and efficient data transfer to the cloud without loss or corruption. Hire cloud developers who can manage complex data structures and large-scale migrations with this knowledge, reducing downtime and minimizing risk. This expertise leads to a smoother transition and maintains data integrity throughout migration.
8. Cloud Storage Solutions
Engineers who understand cloud storage solutions know which options best suit your company’s data needs—block, object, or file storage. Find someone who can select the right solution to improve data accessibility, performance, and scalability. This way, you’ll see reduced retrieval times and improved storage costs.
9. Monitoring and Cloud Performance Optimization
The cloud migration engineer you hire will monitor your cloud performance in real time and resolve issues as they arise. Their expertise in fine-tuning systems keeps everything running smoothly—even during high-demand periods.
10. DevOps and Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)
DevOps and CI/CD practices bridge the gap between development and operations, enabling faster software releases with minimal errors. Engineers who implement CI/CD pipelines automate testing, deployment, and updates. This makes it easier to deliver frequent improvements without interrupting service.
11. Serverless Architecture
Engineers skilled in serverless architecture build and deploy applications without worrying about managing servers or infrastructure. This helps them focus on the code and business logic, speeding up development. With less operational overhead, your team can prioritize innovation, all while cutting maintenance costs.
12. Cloud Cost Management
Keeping cloud costs in check means making every dollar work smarter, not harder. Engineers who know cloud cost management's ins and outs track usage and make sure you're never paying for more than you need. With them on board, your project stays on budget, and you’ll have extra cash to fuel new ideas and future growth.
13. Multi-Cloud and Hybrid Cloud Architecture
Engineers proficient in multi-cloud and hybrid cloud architecture distribute resources across multiple cloud platforms. This helps balance workloads, provides better disaster recovery options, and avoids dependence on a single vendor. As a result, your project remains adaptable and resilient to change.
14. Cloud Automation and Orchestration
Engineers skilled in automation and orchestration make sure everything runs smoothly without needing constant manual intervention. This speeds up your project so your team can focus on big-picture strategies instead of mundane tasks.
15. Disaster Recovery and High Availability
Disaster recovery and high availability strategies safeguard your project against unexpected outages and data loss. Experts design backup and failover systems to keep critical services running smoothly during emergencies to protect your data and user experience.
16. Cloud Governance and Compliance
Engineers skilled in cloud governance and compliance create policies that govern the proper use and management of cloud resources. They make sure your project meets regulatory requirements, secures sensitive data, and avoids potential fines.
Soft Skills to Look for in Your Ideal Cloud Migration Engineer
17. Attention to Detail
In cloud migration, small errors can lead to big problems, from security gaps to service interruptions. Engineers who pay close attention to detail catch these issues early, keeping the architecture tight and avoiding costly disruptions.
18. Resilience
Cloud migrations are full of unexpected challenges. Engineers who show resilience adapt quickly, troubleshooting performance issues or configuration snags without losing focus. This helps keep the project moving forward despite setbacks.
19. Emotional Intelligence
Engineers with emotional intelligence easily navigate team dynamics, creating a collaborative environment where everyone values each other’s input. They can also explain complex technical issues in a way that non-technical stakeholders understand.
20. Professionalism
During a cloud migration process, professionalism is everything. The full migration process runs smoother when engineers meet deadlines, communicate clearly, and own their responsibilities. It also sets the tone for the rest of the team, helping everyone stay focused and aligned.
8 Questions to Identify Top Cloud Migration Engineers
When interviewing Cloud migration engineers, it's important to ask questions that first assess the candidates' technical skills and knowledge. Employers will also usually conduct a coding test to further assess specific on-the-job knowledge.
The following set of questions aims to uncover not only the migration engineers's technical knowledge but also their problem-solving abilities, teamwork, communication skills, and adaptability—all crucial traits for success in a collaborative environment.
Here are a few examples of technical interview questions:
1. What are the key steps in lift-and-shift cloud migration, and what tools would you use to execute it?
To understand its architecture and requirements, I assess the current on-premise environment in lift-and-shift cloud migration. I then replicate the existing environment in the cloud without redesigning the architecture. After configuring the cloud infrastructure to match the on-premise setup, I move the data. To streamline this process, I use tools like AWS Migration Hub, Microsoft Azure Migrate, and Google Cloud's Migrate for Compute Engine.
2. How would you implement data replication during a cloud migration to minimize downtime and data loss?
To minimize downtime and data loss during a cloud migration, I use data replication to copy data continuously from on-premise systems to the cloud. Depending on the database, I might use block-level or native database replication features, such as those in MySQL or PostgreSQL. I rely on tools like AWS Database Migration Service or Azure Data Sync for real-time data transfer, which allows me to keep systems operational throughout the migration.
3. What are the differences between stateless and stateful applications in a cloud environment, and how does that impact the migration process?
Stateless applications don’t retain client data between sessions, making it easier to scale and migrate. For these, I typically use containerization or a straightforward lift-and-shift approach. On the other hand, stateful applications store session or transaction data, making the migration process more complex. For stateful apps, I implement strategies such as sticky sessions, load balancing, and data replication to ensure data consistency and continuity during migration.
4. What are the primary security considerations during a cloud migration, and how would you address them at the network and application levels?
Security during cloud migration is a top priority for me. I address it at the network level by using VPNs or dedicated connections for secure data transfer and employing network segmentation with Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs). For application-level security, I secure APIs, apply multi-factor authentication (MFA), and continuously monitor for vulnerabilities. I also encrypt data in transit and at rest and conduct regular security audits to maintain compliance and protect sensitive information after migration.
5. Describe a cloud migration project you’ve led or been a key part of? What challenges did you encounter, and how did you address them?
This tells you how experienced the candidate is with real-world cloud migrations. It also shows their problem-solving approach, adaptability, and ability to overcome technical or project-related challenges.
6. Tell me about when you had to optimize cloud infrastructure after a migration. What steps did you take to improve performance and cost-efficiency?
This question helps you learn more about the candidate’s ability to analyze and improve existing cloud infrastructure. It demonstrates their understanding of cost management, performance optimization, and their strategic thinking in ongoing cloud projects.
7. Have you ever managed a multi-cloud or hybrid cloud migration? How did you handle the complexities of integrating different cloud platforms?
This question will tell you about the candidate’s experience with more complex cloud environments, including their ability to navigate and integrate multiple cloud platforms. It also highlights their ability to handle the added challenges of multi-cloud architectures.
8. Can you share an example of how you implemented security measures during a cloud migration? What key risks did you mitigate, and what tools or strategies did you use?
This reveals the candidate’s depth of knowledge in cloud security and their ability to handle high-stakes situations. It shows their approach to mitigating risks, applying security best practices, and understanding of compliance requirements during migration projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What technical skills should I prioritize when hiring cloud migration engineers?
When hiring cloud engineers, prioritize expertise in cloud platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure and experience with cloud migration tools such as AWS Migration Hub and Azure Migrate. Skills in cloud security, networking, and infrastructure automation (IaC) are also crucial for success.
2. How long does a typical cloud migration project take, and how does this affect hiring?
The duration of a cloud migration depends on your cloud environment's complexity and the project's size. Smaller migrations may take a few weeks, while larger, multi-cloud setups could extend to months. Hiring cloud developers with proven experience in projects of similar scale can reduce downtime and speed up the migration process.
3. How do I determine whether I need multi-cloud or hybrid-cloud expertise for my migration?
Your business objectives and existing infrastructure will guide this decision. Multi-cloud or hybrid cloud setups may be ideal if you need redundancy failover capabilities or want to avoid vendor lock-in. In these cases, hiring cloud engineers with experience in multi-cloud or hybrid architectures is essential to handle the added complexity.
4. How do I know when to hire cloud developers for migration?
If your current IT team lacks experience with cloud migration services or managing multi-cloud and hybrid setups, it’s time to hire cloud developers. Migrating to the cloud can be complex, and developers experienced in cloud technology are crucial to minimizing downtime, maintaining data integrity, and achieving optimal performance.
5. Can I hire remote cloud engineers to manage my cloud migration?
Yes, remote cloud engineers can be a great option for cloud migration projects. With tools like cloud monitoring and virtual collaboration platforms, cloud migration engineers can effectively manage your project from anywhere. This can be a cost-effective solution that gives you access to the best cloud engineers for your needs.
6. How can I determine whether a cloud migration engineer is skilled in multiple platforms?
When hiring cloud engineers, ask about their experience with cloud platforms like Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft Azure. Engineers who have worked across multiple platforms should be able to explain the differences, challenges, and best practices for each, demonstrating flexibility and expertise in handling various cloud solutions.
- Hire Cloud Migration Engineers
How Businesses Can Overcome the Software Development Shortage
BairesDev Ranked as one of the Fastest-Growing Companies in the US by Inc. 5000