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Illinois College Teams with Amazon on Web Services Training

In the complex area of cloud computing Amazon Web Services is a behemoth, and Moraine Valley Community College is partnering with the Amazon subsidiary to offer specialized training programs.

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(TNS) — Pro football fans are familiar with Amazon Web Services’ Next Gen Stats and its hyper-detailed breakdown of player performance, but AWS might draw a puzzled look from people who connect Amazon only with online shopping.

In the area of cloud computing, however, AWS is a behemoth, and Moraine Valley Community College is partnering with the Amazon subsidiary to offer specialized training programs.

The Palos Hills school said that, for now, it is the only community college in Illinois offering the AWS classes taught by Amazon instructors.

Because they are noncredit courses, the three- and four-day sessions are open to the general public, not just residents of the college district.

Sessions cover topics such as the fundamentals of building an information technology infrastructure on the AWS platform, developing cloud computing applications and cloud-based data warehousing, according to the school.

Moraine and AWS began discussing the potential partnership last year, according to Steve Pappageorge, executive director of corporate, community and continuing education at Moraine.

“We have done some work on training opportunities for employees related to Amazon distribution, so they knew of us,” he said.

For now, the classes are being held at the school’s main campus, but Pappageorge said it is possible they could be expanded to Moraine’s satellite locations in Blue Island and Tinley Park.

“After we get past this initial rollout we will look to see if it makes sense,” he said.

In the final three months of last year, AWS generated just under $10 billion in revenue, and counts among its customers firms such as Comcast, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson and T-Mobile. In December, the National Football League said it would use data collected by Next Gen Stats as part of a larger effort to improve player safety.

“Most people don’t even know (AWS) exists, but IT developers and administrators with Amazon skills are very much in demand,” Pappageorge said.

The courses cost about $2,000 for the three-day sessions and $2,400 for the four-day class.

Noting job opportunities within AWS as well as at firms that use its platform, Pappageorge said the eight different sessions offered are suited for people already in the IT field who might need additional training or for those who want to prepare themselves to become AWS certified.

“Anybody who wants to get into cloud computing and pick up the Amazon skill set has the opportunity to improve their desirability from a workforce perspective,” he said.

Pappageorge said Moraine officials hope the partnership could lead to other dealings with the company.

“We are excited that if we can demonstrate success it could open the door to further training opportunities with Amazon,” he said.

©2020 The Daily Southtown (Tinley Park, Ill.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.