Cloud computing is everywhere in 2020. It even won the 2017 Preakness Stakes. No, really, that's true. The Preakness Stakes is a horse racing event — the middle leg of horse racing's sequential Triple Crown — and three years ago the winner of the race was a horse named, you guessed it, Cloud Computing. Where were we? Ah, yes: ubiquity.

The cloud as a symbol of networked computers has been around since the 1970s, but it wasn't until the mid-2000s that "cloud computing" began to gain in popularity as a viable means of data storage and displaced workloads. Pop culture gravitated toward the concept of things being "in the cloud" as the calendar turned over into the 2010s, and now we have Cloud Computing the horse.

The point is not that cloud technology has anything to do with racing, although of course it does — computers are in charge of everything from betting to photo finishes at the racetrack. The point is that cloud technology has become so commonplace that it has filtered down through the language to the level of seeming like a cute sports nickname.

Cloud computing is currently in a phase of explosive growth that shows no signs of slowing down. Certification is an excellent on ramp for anyone looking to steer her or his professional career into this lane of the information superhighway.

If you're in that lane already, then you've come to the right place. We want to find out all about your cloud certification experience. Cloud computing isn't quite as thick with certification offerings as some IT realms, but that's changing fast. How are certification providers doing at keeping up with the times (and technology)?

We also want to get inside the cloud computing world just a bit and get a snapshot of what the men and women on the inside see there each day. That is why the time has come for another survey: Welcome to our Cloud Computing Certification Survey.

As we always do, we've added a dash of incentive to participate. If you take the survey all the way to the end, we'll thank you with either (or both!) of two rewards. You can get a free digital copy of the next issue of Certification Magazine. Or get a one-year print subscription at 40 percent off the normal cost. (Hate making decisions? Get em both! We don't mind.)

BIG THANKS to everyone who participated in our Cloud Computing Certification Survey! Watch for the results to appear the forthcoming 2020 Fall Edition of Certification Magazine.