Cloud is relatively new to IT and therefore is developing at a much faster rate than other areas.  It is predicted that half of IT infrastructure and software investments will be cloud based by 2018.
When contracting in the IT sector it is important to understand how this evolution in IT technology will impact IT contracting jobs.
Currently the impact is very positive indeed.  Even a rudimentary job search brings up hundreds of jobs in a variety of areas including project leaders, consultants, engineers, infrastructure managers, architects and analysts.  Certified Cloud Security Professional is one of the top IT certifications tipped for 2016 in the contracting field.  There is speculation though that a number of IT jobs will decrease as many systems will be replaced by cloud based applications reducing the need for internal IT staff.
The list of companies adopting cloud is extensive and includes everything from one man bands sat at home working from their computers to Homeland Security in the States.
The press for cloud is not all praise though with parties speaking out regarding data protection and security risks emphasising that when adopting cloud companies should be very clear on what they pay for.
So in conclusion for the foreseeable future it is predicted that there will be a high demand in this area for business analysts, project managers, data integration specialists, infrastructure specialists and security specialists.  It is also expected that programmers will see a shift from working for IT organisations to cloud based software vendors as more and more companies opt to use cloud based applications.  It is also speculated that demand for internal specialists in other areas of IT might see decreases as many systems are replaced.