What are the AWS Certifications Worth? Global Knowledge, an IT training company, released a report about the highest-paying IT certifications in 2019. Two AWS certs made it to the top five. To compile the cloud-heavy list, the firm used data from its annual IT skills report and salary report (coming later in the year). The company posted Monday’s blog post on February 11 that the highest-paid certifications this year revealed a strong focus on certain topics such as cloud computing and cybersecurity. “In fact, cloud computing and project management dominate the top five positions.” Two AWS certifications with associated reported salaries of more than $130,000 are also included in the top five spots.

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  • AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate. This associate demonstrates “expertise designing and deploying scalable system on AWS”, and is paid a $132.840 annual salary.
  • AWS Certified Developer – Associate. This certification validates “technical competence in developing and maintaining AWS applications, as opposed to designing the solution using the Solutions Architect certification.” The associated salary is reported to be $130,369.

The top three certifications that had higher associated salaries were:

  • Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect – $139,529
  • PMP – Project Management Professional $135,798
  • Certified ScrumMaster – $135,441

The company stated that certifications must contain at least 100 survey responses in order to be statistically valid. According to a Forbes article, the average salary for the five AWS certifications from Global Knowledge was $125,591. According to Forbes, “The U.S. continues to have a shortage of AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associates,” which drove up salaries and recruitment incentives. “AWS’s dominance in the public cloud platform market is what drives demand for all five AWS certifications at higher levels this year. Enterprises are also choosing to build their cloud applications in-house and rely on AWS for their development platforms. IT teams are seeking to hire tech professionals with AWS Certified developer – Associate certification. This average salary is $114,148. It will give them the skills needed to create new apps in house. IT companies often compete to hire AWS certified architects. “AWS also offers its own certification program that includes exam readiness courses and some free exams.