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Lots of great information comes out of Global Knowledge’s annual IT Skills and Salary Report. Not least of which are the reported salaries for those who have earned Microsoft certifications—the ultimate barometer for a Microsoft professional’s market rate.
Microsoft is constantly evaluating their certifications and Microsoft Official Courses (MOC) for necessary updates. The salaries listed below were collected from Global Knowledge 2019 IT Skills and Salary Report respondents. A certification must have had at least 40 North American respondents to make this list.
- MCSA: Cloud Platform – $122,032
- MCSE: Server Infrastructure – $116,829
- MCSE: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure – $116,653
- MCSA: SQL Server 2012/2014 – $107,862
- MCSA: Windows Server 2008 – $104,937
- MCSA: Windows Server 2016 – $103,615
- MCSA: Windows Server 2012 – $101,268
- MCSA: Office 365 – $99,064
- MCSA: Windows 8 – $96,905
- MCSA: Windows 10 – $93,892
Several of these Microsoft certification are retired, though the skills associated are still relevant. The cloud certifications have been replaced by Azure role-based credentials.
Azure Administrator Associate, Azure Developer Associate, Azure Solutions Architect Expert and Azure DevOps Engineer Expert were released after our survey was distributed, so they didn’t make our list. Though with cloud salaries the way that they are—the top-paying industry both in North America and globally—it can be assumed that the salaries associated with these new Azure certifications are also high.
Complete guides to Azure certifications
Take a deep dive into Microsoft’s Azure certifications with our certification prep guides:
- How to Become a Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate
- How to Become a Microsoft Certified Azure Developer Associate
- How to Become a Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect Expert
Microsoft professionals are certification-focused
Microsoft certifications are the fourth most popular in North America, as they’re held by 16% of survey respondents.
IT professionals who are Microsoft-certified are most likely to be cross-certified in CompTIA, cybersecurity, Cisco, ITIL and Citrix. Many also plan to cross-certify in AWS this year.
Microsoft-certified pros also have multiple certifications—only six percent only have one. In fact, 42% of Microsoft-certified professionals have six or more certifications, and 55% earned their most recent credential in the past 12 months.
Top job functions for Microsoft-certified professionals:
- Cybersecurity/IT Security – 19%
- Infrastructure, Networking and Telecommunications – 18%
- IT Architecture and Design – 13%
- Service Desk and IT Support – 13%
- Executive – 6%
Top industries for Microsoft-certified professionals:
- Healthcare – 10%
- IT consulting – 10%
- IT-related services – 9%
- IT software – 9%
- Government: Non-defense, state, local – 8%
Related resources
- Microsoft Training Courses
- Microsoft Certification Training
- Microsoft Certification Tracks
- Microsoft Azure Certification Tracks
- Global Knowledge 2019 IT Skills and Salary Report
