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With demand for cloud skills growing exponentially, salaries for jobs with that expertise are going up, too.
One reason cloud experts are so sought-after — and highly paid — is that there’s a “mismatch” between the demand for cloud skills and the number of people with those capabilities, said Michael Yoo, general manager of the technology and developer customer market at training company Skillsoft.
“When nearly every company on the planet has discovered that cloud is central to their growth, you can see why the demand for cloud skills is so high,” Yoo told Insider.
Some of the most in-demand cloud certifications are those offered by the Big Three cloud giants — Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, and Google Cloud — which have a collective stronghold over the cloud market. Over the past year, there were 652,162 job openings that listed knowledge of AWS as a skill, and 487,759 listed Microsoft Azure, according to data provided to Insider by Dice.com and Burning Glass.
And those certification-based cloud jobs command the highest salaries among IT roles, according to Skillsoft’s most recent annual survey of IT professionals. The average salary for IT pros working in cloud computing was $144,533. Broken down by certification, IT pros with an AWS certification earn on average $140,156, those with Google Cloud certifications earn $146,765, and workers with any Microsoft certification earn $111,586.
IT workers who pursued other new skills or certifications got paid more, too, according to Skillsoft’s 2020 survey. Respondents who skilled up earned an extra $12,000 to $13,000, and certified professionals were paid as much as 8% more than their noncertified peers.
Using Skillsoft’s 2021 and 2020 data, Insider broke down the highest-paying cloud certifications from AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud, and other tech giants. Of note, Skillsoft required at least 68 responses for a certification to show up on this list, so some cloud certifications, while highly paid, didn’t reach that threshold. Our roundup also includes only cloud-based certifications and not those in other skill areas, which led to some gaps in the ranking.
Citrix’s associate-level certification in virtualization is Skillsoft’s 14th-highest-paid credential in the IT industry, with an average salary of $115,308.
The certification requires passing a 65-question exam with multiple-choice questions. A minimum score of 62% is required to pass, according to Citrix, and must be taken in person. It costs $200.
The exam includes topics like managing users, cybersecurity, migrating from data centers to the Citrix cloud, and the architecture of virtual machines and cloud. Citrix recommends test-takers have at least six months of hands-on experience with its software, plus familiarity with Microsoft Windows Server.
IT workers with this credential usually oversee their companies’ data centers and cloud infrastructure using Citrix technologies. The software giant was recently bought by private-equity firms Elliott Management and Vista Equity Partners.
Microsoft’s associate-level Azure administration certification is Skillsoft’s 12th-highest-paid credential in the IT industry, with an average salary of $121,420. IT pros with this credential typically manage their companies’ Azure cloud platform on a day-to-day basis.
The certification requires passing a 40- to 60-question exam with multiple-choice, case study, and other questions. A score of 700 out of 1,000 points is required to pass, according to Microsoft. It must be taken in person, though some providers offer an online option, and it costs $165.
The exam includes topics like how to manage users, compute, and storage in Azure. Microsoft recommends test-takers have at least six months of hands-on experience with its Azure cloud, plus familiarity with the scripting language PowerShell.
Cloud software giant VMware’s professional-level data center virtualization certification is Skillsoft’s ninth-highest-paid credential in the IT industry, with an average salary of $132,947.
IT pros with this credential typically help their companies transition from data centers to the cloud using VMware’s virtual machine management platform. VMware previously told Insider that its data center virtualization training has historically been its most popular.
The VMware professional-level virtualization certification requires passing an 70-question exam with single and multiple-choice questions. A score of 300 out of 500 is required to pass, according to VMware, and it can be taken online. It costs $250.
The test includes topics like the architecture and setup of virtual servers. VMware recommends test-takers have at least six months of experience working with its virtualization software, plus knowledge of concepts like networking and security.
Cloud company Nutanix’s professional-level certification in multi-cloud infrastructure is Skillsoft’s eighth-highest-paid credential in the IT industry, with an average salary of $142,810.
IT pros with this Nutanix certification often manage their companies’ cloud infrastructure, which may include private data centers and cloud platforms, using Nutanix’s software.
The certification requires passing an 75-question exam with multiple-choice and multiple-response questions. A score of 3,000 out of 6,000 points is required to pass, according to Nutanix, and it must be taken via online proctoring. It costs $199.
The test typically covers topics like deploying and securing hybrid cloud infrastructure and virtualization. Nutanix recommends test-takers have at least three months of experience working with its operating system Acropolis, and a year of relevant work experience.
Amazon’s associate-level solutions architect certification is Skillsoft’s third-highest-paid credential in the IT industry, with an average salary of $159,033. Solutions architects often work with their companies’ sales team to help them design and implement cloud solutions for customers who use AWS.
The certification requires passing an 65-question exam with multiple-choice and multiple-response questions. A minimum score of 720 out of 1,000 is required to pass, according to AWS, and it can be taken online or in person. It costs $150.
The test typically covers topics like cloud cost management, cloud security, serverless design, and migrating from data centers to the cloud. AWS recommends test-takers have a minimum of one year of hands-on experience with its technologies.
Google Cloud’s professional cloud architect certification is Skillsoft’s second-highest-paid credential in the IT industry, with an average salary of $169,029.
The certification is part of Google Cloud’s path to becoming an expert in cloud architecture. Cloud architects typically design and manage the technical and business aspects of their companies’ cloud environments.
The certification requires passing a two-hour exam with case-study questions, which might describe a business problem like optimizing cloud costs, or a technical challenge like security and network configuration. It can be taken in person or online, and costs $200.
Google recommends at least three years of industry work experience, plus over one year of hands-on experience with its cloud.
Google Cloud’s professional data engineer certification topped Skillsoft’s survey as the highest-paid credential in the IT industry, with an average salary of $171,749.
The certification is part of Google Cloud’s path to becoming an expert in data engineering and includes in-demand skills like machine learning. Data engineers typically oversee their companies’ data systems, which involves designing, building, maintaining, and securing databases and other related technologies.
Google’s certification requires passing a two-hour exam with multiple-choice and multiple-response questions. It costs $200 and can be taken online or in-person.
Google recommends test-takers have at least three years of industry experience, and at least one year using Google Cloud. The test includes topics like designing data systems, modeling with machine learning, and data security.
Skillsoft’s survey also looked at how much more IT professionals can make when they earn a new certification.
Both cloud and cybersecurity are considered the hardest skill areas to hire for, so it’s no surprise that cloud-certified professionals said they got a salary bump after obtaining a new cybersecurity credential.
AWS-certified professionals, who earn some of the highest IT paychecks in the world, were paid an average salary of $97,781 according to Skillsoft’s 2020 survey. They saw their pay increase to $103,936, or by 6%, when they earned a cybersecurity certification.
Microsoft-certified professionals were paid an average salary of $78,557, according to Skillsoft’s 2020 survey. They saw their pay increase to $84,011, or by 7%, when they also earned a cybersecurity certification.
Getting more training is also a way to move into the hot cybersecurity industry, which is growing at a breakneck pace, experts say. The area of cloud security in particular is growing quickly, especially among data, programming, and infrastructure professionals seeking to beef up their skills, according to Michael Yoo, general manager at Skillsoft.
With a dramatic increase in major cyberattacks and a rise in insider threats, or those that come from inside of companies, it’s no surprise that cybersecurity skills are in demand. That has led to nearly 600,000 open cyber roles in the US, many of which pay at least six figures.
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