Microsoft is building a new team of technical trainers to grow its Azure cloud business and compete with Amazon Web Services

• Microsoft is building a new team intended to train users at any technical level on its Azure cloud computing platform.
• Microsoft recently posted a job for an Azure technical trainer manager to join the team of trainers who can "communicate highly technical concepts to audiences at different stages in the Azure journey," including developers, administrators, architects, and partners.
• Hiring a team capable of translating Azure technology to all types of customers will help Microsoft drive adoption of Azure services by casting a wider net of potential customers - which could give it an edge on Amazon Web Services, the market-leading cloud.
• Microsoft is making a big overall investment in making Azure and related products as easy to use as possible, for as many customers as possible.
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Microsoft is building a new team capable of training users at any technical level about its Azure cloud computing business, casting a wider net of potential customers.

Microsoft recently posted a job opportunity for an Azure technical trainer manager to lead a new team of trainers who can "communicate highly technical concepts to audiences at different stages in the Azure journey," including developers, administrators, architects, and partners.

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The new team is significant as Microsoft tries to catch with AWS, which as of 2018 had three times Microsoft's cloud market share. Microsoft declined to comment.

Hiring a team of technical trainers capable of explaining Azure technology and its potential will help Microsoft drive adoption of Azure services by helping developers of all skill levels use the Azure more effectively and efficiently, Daniel Newman, Futurum Research principal analyst and founding partner, said.

"Microsoft is in a high-growth period," Newman said. "Part of its ability to expand depends on making deep connections in the developer space by enabling success and shortening time."

How Microsoft competes

The growth of Microsoft Azure cloud business is accelerating, according to Newman, through recent wins including a $10 billion cloud computing contract with the Pentagon.

But it still has a long way to go. Gartner in a report released over the summer pegged the 2018 market share for AWS at 47.8% and that of Microsoft Azure at 15.5%. Meanwhile, Azure revenue growth continues to slow - but, in fairness, so too does AWS revenue, as the overall cloud computing market matures.

Microsoft's ability to compete with AWS depends on its ability to expand resources available to its customers, Newman said.

The training team is interesting because it focuses on training from end-to-end, from the software level to the hardware level, he said. The job posting mentions "deep knowledge of cloud architectures and virtualization technologies."

The team will be tasked with creating training plans for Azure's "largest" and "most important" customers, including developing technical training content, lab exercises, and presentations.

Low-code, no-code

The job posting comes as Microsoft is rolling out products aimed at less-technical customers. Offering products that require little or no coding - part of the so-called low-code/no-code movement in the developer tech market - increases Microsoft's potential customer base. Microsoft's own Power Platform product line helps business create tools and applications with little to no code.

The new team indicates Microsoft is continuing its big investment in going after customers of all skill levels. In order to help customers make the most of Azure itself, Microsoft is going to need to provide greater resources to train customers and partners, Newman said.

"Microsoft has a very big commitment not just to true software developers, but citizen developers [or non-professional developers," Newman said. "They're trying to drive low-code, no-code adoption where you can do it all without needing to be an experienced coder."

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