Top 5 IT certifications for 2013

This is the right time to set your 2013 goals because 2012 is approaching to its end. Achieving a professional certification is a way to improve your skills and enhance your chances of getting hired. Now a days there are so many certifications that are in the market so if you are confused about which certification to achieve in 2013, following are the top 5 IT certifications for 2013 based on expert opinion, research and Google trends.

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1. MCSA (Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate)

Following is the salary range and average salary for professionals having this certification:

• Salary Range: $52,000 to $115,000
• Average Salary: $59,000

Following are the most popular certifications for MCSA:

• MCSA: Windows 2012 Server
• MCSA: SQL Server 2012
• MCSA: Windows 8
• MCSA: SharePoint 2013

Remember that Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) certification is a prerequisite to the MCSE expert-level certifications. You can refer to Microsoft Learning website for further details of these certifications.

2. MCSE: Private Cloud

Private Cloud gives you expertise in managing and implementing Microsoft private cloud computing technologies. By this certification you can build your Microsoft private cloud solution to optimize IT services as well as gain the automation flexibility for your IT infrastructure.

Following is the salary range and average salary for professionals having this certification

• Salary Range: $52,000 to $102,000
• Average Salary: $61,000

This private cloud certification is as popular as the rival CompTIA and CCP cloud certifications. Microsoft is discontinuing its MCITP program in 2014 and promoting MCSE’s. This way you can get jump start for 2014 certifications.

 3. PMP (Project Management Professional)

Following is the salary range and average salary for professionals having this certification:

• Salary Range: $65,000 to $93,000
• Average Salary: $86,000

PMP is kind of certification which will never be outdated. This is a certification which fits in every field. PMP certification allows IT professional to plan, budget and manage IT projects. It will be a very good addition in your resume.

4. VCP (VMware Certified Professional)

Following is the salary range and average salary for professionals having this certification:

• Salary Range: $59,000 to $80,000
• Average Salary: $69,000

The main purpose of virtualization or creating virtual platforms for computing is to increase scalability and reduce infrastructure and hardware cost. There is a lot of potential in the virtualization industry and it is rapidly growing. VMware is the leader in virtualization software as well as certifications. They are becoming popular and their certifications are very much valuable.

5. CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional)

Following is the salary range and average salary for professionals having this certification:

• Salary Range: $65,000 to $111,000
• Average Salary : $80,000

In order to protect organization’s systems, data and networks, information security architects are becoming very much popular these days. Nowadays companies are shifting towards storing data in cloud systems so security experts have a very important role to secure these systems just like they are secured in-house. That is why the CISSP certification is in high demand and normally the CISSP professionals receive highest average salary.