Global Knowledge, the world leader in IT trainings represented by ITCE in Bulgaria, published in 2016 an IT Skills and Salary Survey on the 15 Top-Paying Certifications for 2016 in USA. This article inspired us to make our own ranking of Top IT Certifications for 2017 which are entirely based on our view of the market we cover in Central and South Eastern Europe.
We strongly rely on our consultants’ and trainers’ opinions, so we decided to ask them in an internal survey and hereby, we’re presenting you the results.
Which are the Top 5 IT Certifications to get certified for in 2017 according to our team and why?
DevOps (Foundation)
Now it’s the time to start planning your DevOps certification. DevOps is entering the enterprise world with great urgency because it is considered as an essential enabler of digital transformation and is an important competitive advantage for the companies that manage to adopt it and to achieve rapid IT service management and continual service delivery.
However, since it is a movement that leverages principles from other methodologies, it is open for interpretation (so, not trademark protected). There are many different ways in which organizations are applying it – some teams focus on adopting the tooling, others focus on the cultural and collaboration elements that it preaches.
Being able to provide a DevOps certification by one of the certification bodies (such as the DevOps Institute) demonstrates and proves a particular level of understanding of the area. There are already multiple DevOps certifications on the market that focus on different specializations within it (such as processes, service management, security) that are usually preceded by the foundation level certification – DevOps Foundation.
MCSA: Windows Server 2016
This year, one of the fundamental Microsoft technologies – Windows Server is being updated with a new skillset and a focus on IT cost optimization, enhanced security, and built-in agility. For many IT professionals, this means that it’s time to start reading.
Microsoft Windows Server 2016 has been available since October 2016 and it has a key role in company’s hybrid cloud strategy as it makes it possible for customers to run their applications on premise and in the cloud. This is said to be an important milestone in the product strategy of Microsoft for enabling DevOps processes.
More information about the MCSA Windows Server 2016 certification path can be found here and the available courses can be found here.
MCSE: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure
Unsurprisingly and logically, cloud makes its way into the top IT Certifications to have. This year, Microsoft is updating its certification path from MCSE: Private Cloud to Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE): Cloud Platform and Infrastructure certification effective from April 1st, 2017. The new certification focuses on implementing Azure, Windows Server and cloud computing technologies.
As cloud is a focus point of enterprises across all industries, there is a high demand for highly qualified professionals to run modern data centers and to understand in depth identity management, virtualization, networking and storage as well as management of on premise and cloud applications across various technologies.
What does the new certification program mean for professionals who have already achieved a MCSE Public Cloud certification? Learn more here.
Designing and Implementing Big Data Analytics Solutions
Big data is logically the next topic in our ranking. There are loads of big data solutions on the market and certifications for them. However, for the purpose of this article, we have decided to stay focused on Azure and therefore, Microsoft.
Big data analytics is of significant and strategic importance for organizations. This field uncovers unlimited possibilities such as optimizing the supply chain (or separate processes), delivering customized experience for users based on their behavior and overall, making informed decisions based on predictive analytics.
Passing this certification exam leads to the title Microsoft Specialist: Designing and Implementing Big Data Analytics Solutions. It is suitable for professionals in the field of data management, technology experts, architects, data scientists and data developers who design big data analytics solutions on Microsoft Azure.
Lean Six Sigma – Green Belt
By leveraging the Lean and Six Sigma principles, Lean Six Sigma is a popular process improvement, data-driven methodology that helps enterprises to adapt and optimize their work in order to minimize or eliminate waste. It is neither a new certification nor currently upcoming methodology but we consider it an evergreen one.
The advantages of adopting Lean Six Sigma are twofold. On one hand, it is focused on improving the quality of products and services and on the other, it is an important tactic for organizational cost optimization.
LSS Green belt holders are usually drivers of change in their organizations as they need to constantly challenge established processes and routines and introduce new practices and improvements. Consequently, this area of knowledge requires a combination of soft and hard skills which is generally in high demand across the IT and software industry. Green belt is typically the foundation level sought by enterprises and can be followed by Black Belt and Master Black Belt certification.
In this article we’ve introduced the top 5 of IT certifications in 2017 according to our consultants. On this page, you can take a look at the certification exams which ITCE provides.
