2018’s Top 10 Certification Exams In IT

The information technology industry entered 2018 at a moment of remarkable transformation, with cloud computing, cybersecurity, data analytics, and DevOps practices reshaping the skills employers demanded from technology professionals across every sector of the global economy. Organizations that had spent years building on-premises infrastructure were accelerating their migration to cloud platforms, creating urgent demand for professionals who could architect, implement, and manage cloud environments at enterprise scale. Simultaneously, the escalating frequency and sophistication of cyber threats was pushing security expertise from a specialized niche into a core competency that every technology organization needed embedded across its teams rather than siloed within a dedicated security department.

Against this backdrop of rapid technological change and evolving employer expectations, IT certifications in 2018 served a more important professional function than they had in any previous era of the technology industry. The pace of change made it genuinely difficult for employers to assess candidate competency through interviews and resume review alone, as the specific skills demanded in cloud, security, and emerging technology domains were too new and too specialized for most hiring managers to evaluate without structured credential frameworks as reference points. For technology professionals navigating this environment, strategic certification investment represented one of the most reliable mechanisms for demonstrating current, verified expertise in domains where employer demand significantly outpaced available talent supply.

AWS Certified Solutions Architect: Dominating the Cloud Certification Market

Amazon Web Services maintained its commanding position as the world’s largest public cloud provider throughout 2018, and the AWS Certified Solutions Architect certification reflected that market dominance by occupying the top position in virtually every IT certification popularity and salary survey published during the year. Organizations across every industry were accelerating their adoption of AWS infrastructure, creating an extraordinary volume of demand for professionals capable of designing, implementing, and optimizing cloud architectures on the AWS platform. The certification validated the ability to architect distributed systems on AWS that satisfied requirements for reliability, performance efficiency, security, cost optimization, and operational excellence, covering the core service categories of compute, storage, networking, databases, and application integration.

What made the AWS Solutions Architect certification particularly valuable in 2018 was the combination of strong employer recognition, broad applicability across industry sectors, and a salary premium that consistently placed certified professionals among the highest-compensated technology workers in their geographic markets. Average salaries for AWS Solutions Architect certified professionals in the United States ranged from one hundred thousand to one hundred thirty thousand dollars, with experienced architects in major technology markets frequently commanding compensation packages that exceeded these averages substantially. The certification had established itself not merely as a desirable credential but as a near-mandatory qualification for senior cloud architecture roles at technology companies, consulting firms, and the rapidly growing universe of enterprises building digital products and services on AWS infrastructure.

Cisco CCNA: The Enduring Networking Foundation That Defined Technical Careers

The Cisco Certified Network Associate certification maintained its position as one of the most widely recognized and consistently demanded networking credentials in the IT industry throughout 2018, building on a decades-long history of providing technology professionals with a rigorous and broadly respected validation of foundational networking competency. The CCNA covered a comprehensive range of networking fundamentals including network access technologies, IP connectivity, IP services, security fundamentals, automation and programmability concepts, and the operation and troubleshooting of Cisco network infrastructure. This breadth of coverage made the certification relevant to an enormous range of technology roles across virtually every industry sector that maintained any form of network infrastructure.

The enduring value of the CCNA in 2018 reflected both the continued centrality of networking knowledge to IT operations and Cisco’s continued dominance of enterprise networking equipment markets worldwide. Organizations running Cisco switching and routing infrastructure, which represented a substantial majority of large enterprise networks globally, needed administrators and engineers who understood Cisco-specific implementation details alongside universal networking principles, and the CCNA validated both dimensions of that combined knowledge requirement. Entry-level and mid-level network administrators holding the CCNA reported salaries ranging from fifty-five thousand to eighty-five thousand dollars in 2018, with the credential serving as a foundational qualification for career progression toward more advanced Cisco certifications including CCNP and the elite CCIE designation that represented the pinnacle of Cisco networking expertise.

CompTIA Security Plus: The Security Baseline That Opened Government and Enterprise Doors

The CompTIA Security Plus certification occupied a strategically important position in the 2018 IT certification landscape as the most widely adopted entry-level security credential across both the federal government and private enterprise sectors. Its approval as a baseline certification for Department of Defense information assurance workforce positions under DoD Directive 8570 created a structured source of demand from the enormous defense contracting industry that went well beyond the organic employer demand driven by pure market forces. Every technology professional working on DoD contracts in an information assurance role was required to hold Security Plus or an equivalent approved certification, generating a massive and relatively stable pool of demand that persisted regardless of broader technology market fluctuations.

Beyond the government and defense contracting market, Security Plus served in 2018 as the foundational security credential most frequently requested by large enterprise employers seeking to establish baseline security literacy across their broader IT workforce rather than only within dedicated security teams. The certification covered a broad range of security fundamentals including threat identification and mitigation, cryptography concepts, network and infrastructure security, identity and access management, risk management principles, and incident response procedures. Professionals earning Security Plus in 2018 reported salaries ranging from fifty-five thousand to eighty thousand dollars for roles such as Security Administrator, Systems Administrator with security responsibilities, and Junior Security Analyst, with the credential serving as an effective launching pad for progression toward more advanced security certifications including CISSP and CISM for professionals committed to building security-focused careers.

Microsoft MCSA Windows Server: Enterprise Infrastructure Expertise at Scale

The Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate credential for Windows Server maintained strong market relevance throughout 2018 as enterprises running Windows Server infrastructure needed administrators capable of deploying, configuring, managing, and maintaining the server environments that underpinned their business operations. The MCSA Windows Server certification required candidates to pass multiple examinations covering installation, storage, compute, networking, and identity management in Windows Server environments, ensuring that holders demonstrated genuine breadth of knowledge across the full administrative scope rather than deep expertise in only one dimension of server management.

Microsoft’s certification program was undergoing a significant strategic evolution in 2018 as the company shifted its platform emphasis toward Azure cloud services, creating a credential landscape where traditional on-premises infrastructure certifications like MCSA Windows Server coexisted with newer cloud-focused credentials targeting Azure administrators and architects. This transitional moment created interesting career dynamics for Windows Server administrators, as hybrid environments that spanned on-premises Windows Server infrastructure and Azure cloud services became increasingly common at large enterprises. Professionals who combined MCSA Windows Server expertise with emerging Azure credentials positioned themselves as administrators capable of managing the full hybrid environment, a combination that commanded stronger compensation than either credential delivered independently and that aligned well with the practical infrastructure realities of most large enterprise organizations throughout 2018.

Project Management Professional: Bridging Technology Delivery and Business Leadership

The Project Management Professional certification from the Project Management Institute continued its decades-long run as the most globally recognized project management credential in 2018, maintaining strong relevance within the IT industry specifically through its applicability to the complex technology delivery programs that characterized enterprise digital transformation initiatives. IT projects in 2018 were growing in strategic importance, budget scale, and organizational visibility as technology moved from a back-office support function to a core business capability driver, elevating the profile and compensation expectations of the project managers responsible for delivering these initiatives successfully within scope, schedule, and budget constraints.

The PMP examination in 2018 tested candidates across the full project management lifecycle including initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing processes, drawing from the Project Management Body of Knowledge as its primary reference framework. Candidates were required to demonstrate substantial project management experience before becoming eligible to sit for the examination, with a four-year degree holder needing to document three years of project leadership experience and thirty-five hours of project management education. This experience prerequisite ensured that PMP holders brought genuine professional context to their credential rather than theoretical knowledge alone, strengthening the signal value of the certification in hiring decisions. IT project managers holding the PMP in 2018 reported average salaries ranging from ninety thousand to one hundred fifteen thousand dollars, with senior program managers at large technology organizations and consulting firms frequently commanding compensation well above these averages.

Certified Information Systems Security Professional: The Premier Security Leadership Credential

The CISSP from ISC2 maintained its status as the most prestigious and financially rewarding security certification in the IT industry throughout 2018, with holders consistently reporting compensation that exceeded every other security credential in comparative salary surveys. The certification’s eight-domain Common Body of Knowledge covered the full breadth of enterprise security including security and risk management, asset security, security architecture and engineering, communication and network security, identity and access management, security assessment and testing, security operations, and software development security. This comprehensive coverage made CISSP holders qualified to contribute meaningfully across virtually every dimension of an enterprise security program rather than only within a narrow technical specialization.

The CISSP’s reputation for rigor and exclusivity was maintained in 2018 through a combination of the substantial five-year professional experience prerequisite, the depth and breadth of examination content, and the endorsement requirement that candidates obtain validation of their professional experience from an existing ISC2 certified professional. These multiple quality gates ensured that every CISSP holder represented genuine senior security expertise rather than entry-level familiarity, sustaining the credential’s salary premium by keeping the population of certified professionals constrained relative to the intense employer demand for senior security leadership. CISSP holders in 2018 reported average salaries ranging from one hundred ten thousand to one hundred forty thousand dollars, with security directors and CISOs holding the credential at large financial institutions and technology companies frequently commanding total compensation packages significantly exceeding these benchmarks.

Google Cloud Certified Professional Data Engineer: Riding the Data Analytics Wave

The Google Cloud Certified Professional Data Engineer certification emerged in 2018 as one of the most timely and financially rewarding credentials available in the intersection of cloud computing and data engineering, two of the fastest-growing professional domains in the technology industry. Google Cloud Platform had built a distinctive reputation for excellence in data analytics, machine learning infrastructure, and large-scale data processing, making this certification particularly valued by organizations building data-intensive applications and analytics platforms on GCP. The examination tested candidates on their ability to design, build, operationalize, secure, and monitor data processing systems using GCP’s extensive portfolio of data services.

Professionals earning the Google Cloud Professional Data Engineer certification in 2018 demonstrated competency with the core GCP data services ecosystem including BigQuery for large-scale analytical workloads, Cloud Dataflow for unified stream and batch processing, Cloud Dataproc for managed Apache Hadoop and Spark environments, Cloud Pub/Sub for event-driven messaging architectures, and Cloud Storage for scalable object persistence. The certification also addressed machine learning model development and deployment using Google’s AI platform services, reflecting GCP’s strategic positioning of machine learning capabilities as a core differentiator within its cloud platform. Data engineers and analytics architects holding this credential reported average salaries ranging from one hundred five thousand to one hundred thirty thousand dollars in 2018, with strong demand from technology companies, financial services organizations, and digital media businesses processing large data volumes on GCP infrastructure.

Certified Ethical Hacker: Offensive Security Skills Meeting Enterprise Demand

The Certified Ethical Hacker certification from EC-Council demonstrated remarkable commercial staying power in 2018 as one of the most widely adopted offensive security credentials in the enterprise market, maintaining strong employer recognition despite ongoing debates within the professional security community about the depth of technical knowledge the certification actually required. The CEH covered a comprehensive curriculum spanning the full ethical hacking methodology including reconnaissance, scanning and enumeration, vulnerability assessment, system exploitation, malware analysis, social engineering techniques, web application attacks, wireless network exploitation, and cloud security testing, providing candidates with broad conceptual exposure to offensive security across diverse target environments.

The CEH’s market success in 2018 was driven largely by its adoption as a required or preferred qualification for penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, and security analyst roles across enterprise organizations that valued the structured curriculum and recognized brand of the EC-Council credential. Government agencies and defense contractors also showed strong demand for CEH holders, particularly in roles requiring demonstrated understanding of adversarial techniques as context for defensive security decision-making. Security professionals holding the CEH in 2018 reported salaries ranging from eighty thousand to one hundred five thousand dollars depending on experience level and role focus, with practitioners who combined CEH with additional technical experience in specific exploitation domains or who held complementary credentials such as OSCP commanding premium compensation at the upper end of this range.

VMware Certified Professional: Virtualizing Enterprise Infrastructure at Scale

The VMware Certified Professional certification remained a highly valued credential in 2018 enterprise IT environments where VMware virtualization technologies continued to underpin the majority of server infrastructure at large organizations worldwide. The VCP validated competency in deploying, managing, and optimizing VMware vSphere environments, the foundational virtualization platform that enabled enterprises to consolidate physical server infrastructure, improve resource utilization, enhance disaster recovery capabilities, and reduce data center operational costs. As organizations increasingly built private cloud environments using VMware technologies alongside their public cloud deployments, VCP holders found themselves in demand for roles spanning traditional virtualization administration and emerging hybrid cloud management.

The VCP examination required candidates to first complete a mandatory VMware authorized training course before becoming eligible to sit for the certification exam, ensuring that all candidates had exposure to structured instructional content covering VMware’s recommended configuration approaches, operational best practices, and troubleshooting methodologies. This training prerequisite, combined with the technical depth of the examination content, made the VCP a credential that carried meaningful signal value among hiring managers familiar with enterprise virtualization environments. Systems administrators and infrastructure engineers holding the VCP in 2018 reported salaries ranging from seventy-five thousand to one hundred five thousand dollars, with experienced VMware architects at large enterprises and managed service providers commanding compensation at the higher end of this range based on the breadth and complexity of the virtualization environments they were responsible for managing.

ITIL Foundation: Process Excellence as a Career Differentiator

The ITIL Foundation certification from AXELOS occupied a distinctive position in the 2018 IT certification landscape as a process and service management credential that delivered career value through a fundamentally different mechanism than the technical certifications that dominated most IT certification discussions. Rather than validating specific technical platform skills, ITIL Foundation certified understanding of the IT Infrastructure Library framework for organizing and managing IT service delivery, covering concepts including service strategy, service design, service transition, service operation, and continual service improvement. This process focus made ITIL Foundation broadly applicable across technology roles regardless of the specific platforms or technical domains involved.

The strategic value of ITIL Foundation in 2018 lay in its relevance to the increasing emphasis organizations were placing on structured IT service management as a mechanism for improving service quality, reducing operational incidents, managing change risk, and demonstrating measurable value from technology investments to business stakeholders. IT professionals who combined strong technical skills with structured process knowledge embodied in ITIL certification were particularly well-positioned for service management, IT operations management, and technology leadership roles where bridging the gap between technical execution and business service delivery was a core responsibility. Service desk managers, IT operations leads, and technology service managers holding ITIL Foundation alongside relevant technical certifications in 2018 reported salaries ranging from sixty-five thousand to ninety-five thousand dollars, with the combined credential profile supporting progression toward senior IT management roles carrying significantly higher compensation.

Salary Comparisons and Market Positioning Across All Ten Certifications

Examining the salary data across all ten certifications profiled in this guide reveals a consistent pattern connecting credential financial returns to the combination of examination difficulty, experience prerequisites, domain demand intensity, and the degree to which certified professionals could contribute to high-stakes organizational decisions rather than only routine operational tasks. The CISSP and AWS Solutions Architect certifications occupied the top compensation tier, reflecting both the genuine expertise depth they required and their alignment with security leadership and cloud architecture roles where professional judgment carried significant organizational consequences. The PMP and Google Cloud Professional Data Engineer certifications formed a strong second tier, rewarding professionals who combined structured methodology expertise with domain-specific technical knowledge in high-priority organizational capability areas.

Mid-tier compensation outcomes were associated with credentials like CEH, VCP, and MCSA Windows Server, where strong technical knowledge was validated but the roles associated with these certifications tended to involve more defined operational responsibilities than the strategic leadership and architecture work rewarded at the highest compensation levels. Entry-level credentials including CompTIA Security Plus, ITIL Foundation, and CCNA delivered their most meaningful financial impact as credential combinations that enhanced existing experience profiles rather than as standalone salary drivers, providing the foundational qualification signals that allowed professionals to access role categories they could not otherwise enter and from which progressive career advancement and compensation growth became possible.

Conclusion

The ten IT certification exams that defined professional development in 2018 collectively painted a vivid portrait of an industry at an inflection point, where the established disciplines of networking, server administration, and service management were intersecting with the rapidly emerging domains of cloud computing, cybersecurity, and data engineering to create a technology career landscape of extraordinary complexity and opportunity. Each certification profiled in this guide represented not merely a credential to be earned but a structured pathway into a domain where genuine expertise was scarce, employer demand was intense, and the professional rewards available to those who invested in verified knowledge were both immediate and compounding over time.

What the 2018 certification landscape revealed most clearly was that the most financially and professionally rewarding credentials shared a consistent set of characteristics that distinguished them from the broader universe of available IT certifications. They required genuine preparation that could not be shortcut through passive study or test-taking tricks. They demanded either substantial professional experience as a prerequisite or examination performance that effectively simulated the judgment demands of real professional practice. They were recognized by employers as credible and meaningful signals of capability rather than as easily obtained credentials with limited differentiation value. And they aligned directly with the technology domains where organizational investment was accelerating and talent supply was most constrained relative to demand.

For technology professionals evaluating their certification investment priorities, the 2018 credential landscape offered guidance that extended well beyond the specific year it described. The principle that strategic certification investment in high-demand, genuinely rigorous credentials delivers compounding career returns remained as valid in subsequent years as it was throughout 2018. The specific certifications that embodied this principle evolved as cloud platforms matured, security threats intensified, and new technology domains emerged to create fresh waves of professional opportunity. But the underlying career development logic connecting genuine expertise development, structured credential validation, and sustained professional success proved remarkably durable across the years of technological change that followed this pivotal moment in IT industry history.