Informatica on Tuesday is officially unveiling its intelligent data management cloud (IDMC), an AI-powered platform designed to serve a broad base of users working with data in multi-cloud environments. Along with that, the company is announcing a series of partnerships and integrations with Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform.

Informatica has been in the business of data management tools for more than 20 years, and in that span of time, data has become increasingly valuable, Informatica Chief Product Officer Jitesh Ghai told ZDNet.

“We recognize our community of data-led practitioners has grown well beyond technical ETL experts, well beyond data engineers and data scientists,” he said. Now, it includes “non-technical users who want to operate with facts. Gut-based decision making has been laid bare as insufficient moving forward.”

As data becomes more valuable, so does data management, Informatica argues. Its IDMC offers more than 200 intelligent cloud services, powered by Informatica’s AI engine CLAIRE. It applies AI to metadata to give an organization an understanding of its “data estate,” Ghai explained.

The “data estate” tells you about the fragmentation of data — its location and the various domains of data. “And through that insight,” Ghai said, Informatica will “automate the ability to connect to data, to build data pipelines, process data, provision it for analytics… to apply advanced transformations to cleanse that data and trust it… to match, merge and build a single source of truth.”

From there, the platform aims to make data more accessible to business users with features like the “data marketplace.” With the marketplace, users can “shop for data” much as one would shop for consumer goods on the Amazon marketplace, Ghai explained.

The IDMC is micro-services based and API-driven, with elastic and serverless processing. It’s built for hybrid and multi-cloud environments. The platform is already running at scale, processing more than 17 trillion transactions each month. It’s leveraging over 11 petabytes of active metadata, Ghai said, to drive the data management that thousands of organizations are using for everything from customer experience modernization to supply chain management and financial transformations.

Unilever, for example, is using Informatica to get a “360 view” of their customers, Ghai said. The consumer goods conglomerate is leveraging its data to learn how to deeply engage with customers via their resellers. It’s also using data to manage its supply chain.

“More organizations want to be data-led than ever before,” Ghai said. “In the old world, we were focused on Fortune 500. In the new world, we’re focused well beyond the Global 2000.”

To reach as many customers as possible, Informatica is partnering with Microsoft to make the IDMC free on Azure for customers who want a simple testing opportunity. Otherwise, the IDMC is available in a consumption-based pricing model. Informatica is also expanding its Azure global footprint with new IDMC regions in Asia and Europe.

The free service provides 100 compute hours per month at no charge for Cloud Data Integration Services, Cloud Mass Ingestion Services, and out-of-the box connectivity to the most popular on-premise, cloud, and SaaS data sources and applications.

Meanwhile, Informatica is partnering with AWS to launch integrated cloud-native data governance and catalog as-a-service. The solution offers Informatica and Amazon Redshift integration, enabling customers to speed up data onboarding.

On Google Cloud, Informatica is making available Cloud Data Integration (CDI) Elastic, and it’s improving Cloud Mass Ingestion and API Management. Informatica’s partnership with Google Cloud has seen 135 percent year-over-year growth since 2019, the company said.

Cloud computing skills are in high demand among organizations that are looking to operate and maintain thei organization’s cloud solutions. The pandemic and subsequent ‘new normal’ of remote work are furthering demands for these skills. Many are turning to online learning platforms to up their game and acquire the cloud computing skills most likely to help them stand out. And whether you are looking to acquire those skills for work or for play, this collection of Pluralsight cybersecurity courses will help you learn the ropes so you can pilot some of the most widely used tools in no time!

With this in mind, the editors at Solutions Review have compiled this list of top-rated Pluralsight cloud computing courses to consider taking. This platform is perfect for those looking to take multiple courses or acquire skills in multiple different areas, or for those who want the most in-depth experience possible through access to entire course libraries or learning paths. In sum, Pluralsight offers more than 7,000 expert-led video courses.

Note: Our editors assembled this directory by listing top-rated Pluralsight cloud computing courses in a number of different cloud coverage areas, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, cloud migration and transformation, cloud security, and cloud management.

Architecting for Security on AWS
“AWS security architects need to understand how to build security into every AWS deployment at every level. In this course, Architecting for Security on AWS, you’ll learn how to secure your data and your AWS services and resources at multiple levels using a defense-in-depth approach. First, you’ll learn how to protect your AWS credentials using identity and access management. Next, you’ll see how to capture and analyze logs using CloudTrail, CloudWatch, and Athena. Finally, you’ll learn how to implement network and instance security, encrypt data at rest and in-transit, and set up data backup, replication, and recovery. After finishing this course, you’ll be ready to granularly control access to your AWS resources.”

Cloud Computing: The Big Picture
Description: “You hear a lot about cloud computing these days. Ever wonder what that means, and where it fits into your daily job? That’s what this course is designed to teach you. You’ll explore applications in the cloud (commonly called Software as a Service, or SaaS), an overview of cloud platforms, including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, as well as private clouds (bringing cloud technology on-premise). By the time you’re done, you’ll know what cloud computing is all about and be ready to start exploring specific implementations.”

Cloud-Native Architecture: The Big Picture
Description: “You’re asked to build more changeable, available, scalable, and secure software. While cloud platforms make some of those characteristics easier to achieve, it’s more about how you build software, not where you run it. In this course, Cloud-native Architecture: The Big Picture, you’ll learn what it means to be cloud-native.”

Cloud Security: Introduction to Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP®)
“Many organizations may make the mistake of skipping architecture and going straight to design. This can be avoided by selecting a cloud service provider that fits with your business requirements. In this course, Cloud Security: Introduction to Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP), you will learn foundational knowledge of how to translate business requirements into selection criteria for a cloud service provider. First, you will learn how to identify which cloud architecture best meets your business requirements. Next, you will discover how to use security architecture to develop a secure cloud consumption strategy. Finally, you will explore how to select a cloud service provider and meet regulatory requirements. When you’re finished with this course, you will have the skills and knowledge needed to select and consume cloud services securely.”

Foundations for Cloud Architecture
Description: “First, you’ll explore the differences between public, private, and hybrid cloud computing, the business requirements they fill, and their architectural caveats. Next, you’ll learn about the practical variations in public cloud service offerings. Finally, you’ll take a look into how you and your business can benefit from advanced cloud services.”

Fundamental Cloud Concepts for AWS
“AWS certifications add value for both technical and non-technical resources in today’s digital world. In this course, Fundamental Cloud Concepts for AWS, you will walk through the fundamental cloud concepts which explains one of the four major areas that are covered by the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam. First, you will review the concept of cloud computing and the value it provides to organizations. Next, you will learn the organization of AWS global infrastructure. Next, you will discover the economics of cloud computing. Finally, you will review the tools and services that AWS provides to support infrastructure running on their platform. When you are finished with this course, you will have a clear understanding of the cloud and the fundamentals needed for a portion of the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam.”

Google Cloud Functions Fundamentals
“Developers want to build serverless microservices so they can create new content, reduce maintenance, scale easily, and deliver new features to users faster. In this course, Google Cloud Functions Fundamentals, you will expand your serverless skills to create high-quality Microservices that will enhance the experience of your app or website. First, you will learn to build unique functions that interact with other Google Cloud services such as Cloud Vision and Cloud Datastore. Second, you will discover advanced concepts such as the function’s file system, idempotent function design, and working through memory and timeout issues. Finally, you will explore how to properly log errors and set up monitoring for your functions so you can continue to monitor them once they are in production. When you’re finished with this course, you will have a high-level understanding of Google Cloud Functions that will allow you to create unique experiences for your customers.”

Google Cloud Platform Fundamentals
“Over the last few years, the cloud has proven itself as a successful enabler for organizations of all sizes to improve agility, scale, reliability, and spend management. It has also made available capabilities that have greatly accelerated the adoption of a wide variety of new types of applications – from big data to Internet of Things. This rapidly expanding set of capabilities can be difficult for anyone to keep up with, and that challenge is further compounded when attempting to map capabilities across different public cloud providers. This course, Google Cloud Platform Fundamentals, provides you with an extensive overview of Google Cloud Platform. While the Google Cloud Platform is a more recent offering than some of its competitors, it draws on years of experience running Google’s massive internal infrastructure and exposes a streamlined set of solution-focused capabilities to help you build great systems.”

Microsoft Azure Cloud Concepts
“Over 90% of the Fortune 500 companies use at least one Microsoft cloud service. In this day and age, it’s important for any IT or Business Professional to know what Microsoft offers from a cloud computing perspective. In this course, Microsoft Azure Cloud Concepts, you will focus on the basics of cloud computing by defining at a more general level what the cloud is, why it’s useful, and examine how Microsoft fits in each type of cloud offering. First, you will learn about what the cloud is and why it is important. Next, you will discover the different types of cloud computing. Finally, you will explore the different cloud computing deployment models. When you are finished with this course, you will gain an understanding of why the cloud is so important to today’s businesses and know the differences between, public, private, and community clouds.”

Microsoft Azure: The Big Picture
“Microsoft Azure is a huge collection of services for building applications in the cloud and can often be overwhelming. In this course, Microsoft Azure: The Big Picture, you will learn foundational knowledge to begin planning solutions using Microsoft Azure. First, you will learn about cloud computing and the different ways to run your application code. Next, you will discover the data storage, processing, and analysis capabilities in Auzre. Finally, you will explore how to create networks; integrate, manage, and secure your applications; and develop for Azure. When you’re finished with this course, you will have the skills and knowledge of Microsoft Azure needed to begin working on your cloud solutions.”

Patterns of Cloud Integration
Description: “This course looks at how developers and architectures can use remote procedures calls, asynchronous messaging, shared databases, and file transfers in cloud scenarios. We discuss pitfalls and benefits of each pattern and how the cloud introduces new design aspects. We look at a wide range of technologies from AWS, Microsoft, Salesforce.com, Mulesoft, Informatica, and more.”

Databricks has partnered with Google Cloud to deliver its platform to businesses around the world.

Under the partnership, organisations can now use Databricks to create a lakehouse capable of data engineering, data science, machine learning, and analytics on Google Cloud’s global, scalable, secure and elastic network.

Databricks on Google Cloud will integrate with Google BigQuery’s open platform and will leverage Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), therefore enabling customers to deploy Databricks in a fully containerised cloud environment for the first time.

According to Databricks, increasingly, Kubernetes and containers are the de facto orchestration system for enterprise workloads and applications running in the cloud.

Databricks on Google Cloud is built on GKE, Google Clouds secure, managed Kubernetes service, to support containerised deployments of Databricks in the cloud.

By adopting GKE as an operating environment, Databricks is able to leverage managed services for security, network policy, and compute and as a result, provide customers with increasing business value through Databricks analytics, AI, and ML capabilities.

Additionally, with GKE, Databricks increases its agility and the ability to accelerate the release of new features, quickly, at scale, and at lower cost.

Furthermore, Databricks states, with this integration businesses can extend their existing Databricks lakehouse capabilities, now running on Google Cloud, and can cross-leverage Google BigQuery for analytics, ultimately simplifying their data investments, increasing usage, and creating new, data-driven business models and opportunities.

According to the company, tight integration of Databricks with Google Clouds analytics solutions gives customers the ability to extend AI-driven insights across data lakes, data warehouses, and multiple business intelligence tools.

Furthermore, pre-built connectors integrate Databricks with BigQuery, Google Cloud Storage, Looker and Pub/Sub to unlock AI-driven insights, enable intelligent decision-making, and ultimately accelerate digital transformations through data-driven applications.

Under this new partnership, the two companies will continue to support the open source community, encourage open innovation and collaboration, making it easier for joint customers to build on open-source technologies.

Members of the joint ecosystem of partners have already committed to ensure integrations with Databricks on Google Cloud, including Accenture, Cognizant, Collibra, Confluent, Deloitte, Fishtown Analytics, Fivetran, Immuta, Informatica, Infoworks, Insight, MongoDB, Privacera, Qlik, SADA, SoftServe, Slalom, Tableau, TCS and Trifacta, among others.

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian says, “Businesses with a strong foundation of data and analytics are well-positioned to grow and thrive in the next decade. We’re delighted to deliver Databricks lakehouse for AI and ML-driven analytics on Google Cloud.

“By combining Databricks capabilities in data engineering and analytics with Google Cloud’s global, secure network and our expertise in analytics and delivering containerised applications we can help companies transform their businesses through the power of data.”

Databricks CEO and cofounder Ali Ghodsi says, “This is a pivotal milestone that underscores our commitment to enable customer flexibility and choice with a seamless experience across cloud platforms.

“We are thrilled to partner with Google Cloud and deliver on our shared vision of a simplified, open, and unified data platform that supports all analytics and AI use-cases that will empower our customers to innovate even faster.”