Cyber security, cloud computing, IoT, and data science are the next booming sectors

Emerging technologies have been dominating the corporate world, even before the pandemic. But the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus brought about a massive disruption across industries, forcing even those who were far behind in terms of technology to jump on the bandwagon and digitize their operations in order to survive the crisis.

The crisis forced a lot of organisations across industries, including Information Technology, to either reduce their workforce or cut a significant amount from their employees’ paychecks in order to keep costs under control. While some organisations are struggling to stay afloat in these difficult times, domains like IoT, Cyber Security, and more, have continued to see a substantial increase in demand with steady growth. Areas like Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, Internet of Things (IoT), as well as Data Science and Data Analytics have seen a rise in productivity due to their resilient features to a crisis.

Here’s a list of domains that have continued to grow amidst the pandemic, leading to recession-proof jobs now and in the future.

Cybersecurity
The global lockdown, that was enforced in several nations to control the spread of the pandemic, increased our dependency on mobile devices and remote access to core business functions. While remote working became the saviour, it also raised concerns regarding privacy breaches and the loss of essential data from unprotected devices and systems. As per Campaign India, India ranks third in the top 10 most affected countries by cyber attacks. This reliance on digital platforms and services has left several businesses vulnerable to cyber threats and malicious attempts. To prevent such crises in the future, companies require proficient and skilled Cyber Security Experts who can keep their systems secure and monitor suspicious activities.

In terms of growth, the cybersecurity space has seen an exponential increase. As the pandemic pushed companies to work remotely, organisations providing cyber security services and solutions have become investors’ focal point. As per LiveMint, Chennai and US-based cybersecurity startup Securden Inc. raised $1.2 million as seed funding in July 2020. Also, Gartner Forecast says that the global spending on information security is expected to grow by 2.4% to reach $123.8 billion in 2020.

The cybersecurity domain offers a pool of opportunities for skilled professionals. One can build a career in this domain as a Security Analyst, Security Engineer, Security Architect, Security Administrator, Cryptographer, Security Consultant, to name a few. In terms of job vacancies and hiring, cybersecurity constitutes 15.6% of the open jobs pool in emerging technologies, according to a study by Analytics India Magazine (AIM) in partnership with Jigsaw Academy.

Cloud computing
The pandemic has brought opportunities, not only to the cybersecurity domain, but also to Cloud computing. Cloud technologies and services have gained a lot of popularity in recent years. But, remote working has made it imperative for organisations to deploy Cloud-based applications, like SaaS (Software as a Service), to ensure uninterrupted access to data and servers with maximum security protocols. We’re able to continue our digital lives through Zoom Video and Slack because of Cloud services such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. With Cloud computing out of the scenario, we’d struggle to adapt to digital communication and perform our professional functions seamlessly.

As per IDC, the Indian Cloud market will experience an increasing demand for Cloud computing up to 64%, while Cloud-based software will see a surge in need of 56%.  With the acceleration in the adoption of Cloud in existing business models, organisations are facing a shortage of skilled Cloud computing professionals. There are more than 26,000 open jobs for Cloud professionals in India, like Cloud Architect, Cloud Engineer, Cloud Security Experts, to name a few, on job portals like LinkedIn.

Data science
Data had gained significant importance in the IT sector, even before the pandemic. During the pandemic, organisations’ dependency on data has seen an upsurge in areas like data analytics and data science.  With the ongoing crisis, consumer behavior and orientation have skewed towards digitization, resulting in enormous data generation. Data has taken over the corporate world, and organisations are looking for ways to capture, store, and process them to gain business insights. Data empowers businesses to make smart and quick decisions and solve consumer problems.

According to Social Media Today, every day, more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are generated. Hence, companies require a pool of Data Scientists, and Data Analysts to collect, process, and visualise these data sets for the benefit of the business. According to LinkedIn, there are currently 2000+ jobs vacant for the Data Analyst role, and 4000+ for a Data Scientist role, and 7000+ Big Data roles in India.

Internet of Things (IoT)
Internet of Things (IoT) is the umbrella term for devices that can be connected and operated through the Internet. The application of IoT is not limited to the IT industry only. The pandemic has made it imperative for the Manufacturing and Production industries to employ IoT in their operations too. To reduce expenditure, improve the efficiency of processes, and become resilient to future crises, organisations have started to accelerate the adoption of IoT in their activities. According to Markets and Markets, the global IoT market size is expected to grow from $150B in 2019 to $243B by 2021, due to COVID-19.

Many organisations are still trying to survive the crisis caused due to COVID-19. However, as mentioned above, these domains have shown us the brighter side of this situation by remaining resilient to the dip in the economy at present. Jigsaw Academy, a leading training provider across emerging technologies, offers upskilling programs in Data Science, IoT, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing and more, to help learners and aspirants build successful careers in the above-mentioned growing domains of the future.

(The author is COO & Co-founder of Jigsaw Academy)