TOP Most In-Demand IT Certifications 2020

The best way to enhance credibility is by getting certified. First of all, you’ll learn a lot by studying and taking an exam, second of all, you’ll prove your mastery to your prospective employer. Herein, we’ll look at the topmost important and in-demand IT certifications of 2020 worth paying attention to.

Cloud Computing

Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect

Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect exam assesses your ability to design and plan a cloud solution architecture, manage and provision the cloud solution infrastructure, analyze and optimize technical business processes, design for security and compliance, manage implementations for cloud architecture, ensure solution and operations reliability.

The exam lasts two hours in the format of a multiple-choice test. There are no prerequisites for the exam but more than three years of industry experience is recommended including one year of designing and managing solutions using GCP.

Cost: $200

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect exam is intended for individuals who perform a solutions architect role and have at least one year of hands-on experience designing scalable distributed systems on AWS.

The exam validates your knowledge and ability to architect and deploy secure and robust applications on AWS technologies, define a solution using architectural design principles based on customer requirements, provide implementation guidance.

The exam lasts two hours and ten minutes in the format of a multiple-choice test. Although the specific prerequisites are not announced, some recommended prior knowledge before embarking on certification is highly advised, such as hands-on experience using compute, networking, storage, database AWS services, AWS deployment and management services, understanding of the basic architectural principles of building on the AWS Cloud and the AWS global infrastructure, understanding of network technologies and security features and tools of AWS.

Cost: $150

AWS Certified Developer – Associate

The exam validates your understanding of core AWS services, uses, and basic AWS architecture best practices and tests your proficiency in developing, deploying, and debugging cloud-based applications using AWS.

The exam lasts two hours and ten minutes in the format of a multiple-choice test. Although the specific prerequisites are not announced, some recommended prior knowledge is highly advised, such as thoroughly comprehensive knowledge and hands-on experience with at least one programming language, understanding of core AWS services, uses, and basic AWS architecture, proficiency in developing, deploying, and debugging cloud-based applications using AWS, capacity to use the AWS service APIs, AWS CLI, and SDKs to write applications, understanding of the AWS shared responsibility model, application lifecycle management, proficiency writing code for serverless applications, etc.

Cost: $150

DevOps

AWS DevOps Certification

The exam validates your ability to implement and manage continuous delivery systems and methodologies on AWS, implement and automate security controls, governance processes, and compliance validation, deploy monitoring, metrics, and logging systems on AWS, design, manage, and maintain tools to automate operational processes.

The exam lasts two hours and fifty minutes in the format of a multiple-choice test. Before tackling the exam, make sure you have an in-depth knowledge of at least one programming language, experience building highly automated infrastructures and administering operating systems, understanding of modern development and operations processes and methodologies.

Cost: $300

Data Science

Google Certified Professional Data Engineer

The Professional Data Engineering exam validates your ability to design data processing systems, build and operationalize data processing systems, operationalize machine learning models, ensure solution quality. The certification puts a particular emphasis on security and compliance.

The exam lasts two hours in the format of a multiple-choice test. While no prerequisites are necessary, more than three years of industry experience is expected plus one year of practical experience of designing and managing solutions using GCP.

Cost: $200

Microsoft Certified Azure Data Scientist Associate

To earn a professional associate certification, ‘Azure Data Scientist Associate,’ you’ll need to take an Exam DP-100: Designing and Implementing a Data Science Solution on Azure. The exam measures your ability to accomplish the following technical tasks: defining and preparing the development environment, prepare data for modeling, performing feature engineering, and developing models.

Cost: $165

SAS Certified Data Scientist = SAS Certified Big Data Professional + SAS Certified Advanced Analytics Professional

To become a SAS Certified Data Scientist, you’ll need to take both  SAS Certified Big Data Professional and SAS Certified Advanced Analytics Professional certification exams. Certified Big Data Professional contains two separate examinations, SAS Big Data Preparation, Statistics, and Visual Exploration exam and SAS Big Data Programming and Loading exam. Certified Advanced Analytics Professional certification has three exams in total: Predictive Modeling Using SAS Enterprise Miner 7, 13, or 14 exam, SAS Advanced Predictive Modeling exam, and SAS Text Analytics, Time Series, Experimentation and Optimization exam.

Cost: ~ $970

Project Management

Project Management Professional

Project Management Professional is a certification offered by the Project Management Institute and is now currently the most recognized certification for project managers. However, before applying for an exam, you’ll have to have from 4,500 to 7,500 hours leading and directing projects and 35 hours of project management education or CAMP Certification (Certified Associate in Project Management) on top of a secondary or four-year degree. So if you are responsible for all aspects of a project from its inception, lead and direct cross-functional teams to deliver projects, have sufficient experience to appropriately apply a methodology to projects, then it’s time for you to apply for a Project Management Certification to confirm your experience, knowledge, and credentials, as well as finally get a pay raise (on average, people with certification have a 20% higher salary)

The exam has 200 multiple-choice questions and takes four hours to complete. Moreover, to maintain your certification, you’ll have to pass the PMP exam every three years. The exam has three sections: people, process, and business environment — all of which tackle the underlying responsibilities of the project manager within each domain area.

Cost: from $405 to $555

Certified Scrum Master

There are multiple certification tracks offered by the ScrumAlliance depending on the Scrum Role you’d like to pursue: master, product owner, or developer.

Speaking of the Scrum Master Track, there are several certifications you can get: Certified Scrum Master, Advanced Certified Scrum Master, and Certified Scrum Professional – Scrum Master. In Certified Scrum Master Certification, you’ll learn the Scrum framework and gain an understanding of team roles, events, and artifacts; learn the foundation of Scrum and gain a deeper understanding of Agile practices, as well as engage with Agile practitioners who are committed to continuous improvement and will learn from them.

To receive the Certified Scrum Master Certification, you’ll need to attend an in-person, 16-hour course taught by a Certified Scrum Trainer®, whom you can find on the ScrumAlliance website. After the course, you’ll be required to take the 50 question CSM test and answer 37 out of the 50 questions correctly within the 60-minute time limit. After you pass the test, you’ll be asked to accept the CSM License Agreement and complete your Scrum Alliance membership profile. To maintain your certification, you’ll need to renew it every two years.

Cost of certification course: $1000-1400
Cost of exam: $450
Renewal fee: $100

Network Certification

MCSE: Core Infrastructure

Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert: Core Infrastructure certification validates your skills needed to run a highly efficient and modern data center, skills in identity management, systems management, virtualization, storage, and networking. By earning the certification, you’d be qualified for such jobs as administrator architect, computer support specialist, and information security analyst. First, you’ll be asked to earn an MCSA certification in Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2012, pass a corresponding exam, and then earn your MCSE: Core Infrastructure.

The total cost of MSCE: Core Infrastructure: ~$465

CISM: Certified Information Security Manager

CISM validates your information security management expertise and ability to manage, design, oversee, and assess an enterprise’s information security. To become CISM certified you’ll need to pass a multiple-choice exam consisting of 150 questions that cover the following topics: information security governance, managing information risk, developing and managing an information security program, information security incident management. You can study on your own, prepare for an exam with instructor-led courses, purchase print or online study materials; overall, you can learn more about opportunities to study here: http://www.isaca.org/CISM

Cost: from $415 to $595

CRISC: Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control

CRISC validates the experience and ability of IT professionals to solve the unique challenges of IT enterprise risk management. Just as the previously discussed certification exam, this one also contains 150 multiple-choice questions that cover four job domains, such as identifying IT risk, assessing the risk, responding and mitigating the risk, controlling, monitoring, and reporting. To learn more about your study options, check the following link http://www.isaca.org/CRISC

CISSP: Certified Information Systems Security Professional

To earn CISSP, you’ll need to register and prepare for an exam, take and pass it, getting yourself certified, then become a member of (ISC)2. CISSP is for experienced security practitioners, managers, executives, who are interested in proving their knowledge across a wide array of security practices and principles. However, CISSP is not for all cybersecurity professionals, please check other available specializations and see if something else aligns to your job and your responsibilities more than the current specialization that we cover. Before attempting CISSP Certification exam, you must have at least five years of experience in two or more of the eight domains that the exam covers. If you can’t meet the required criteria, however, you may apply for another certification, namely Associate. The eight domains include security and risk management, asset security, security architecture and engineering, communication and network security, identity and access management, security assessment and testing, security operations, software development security. The number of items on the exam differs from 100 to 150, the total number of hours of the exam is three, and you need to get a score of 700 out of 1000 possible.

CRM

SAP CRM certification

In case you want to build your career as an SAP CRM consultant, then an SAP CRM Certification exam will prove your skills in SAP Customer Relationship Management. The exam validates that you have a solid understanding of the principles of Customer Relationship Management and can implement this knowledge practically in projects. The topic areas that are covered include CRM Master Data, CRM Basic Functions, CRM Interaction Channels, CRM Technology & Integration, CRM User Interface, CRM Transactional Processing, CRM Business Scenarios, CRM Middleware

The cost of an exam is $550; it lasts for 180 minutes, during which you have to answer 80 multiple choice questions with a passing score of at least 63%. There are certification levels for associate, professional, and master levels, depending on your experience and domain expertise.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM

There are multiple exams on Microsoft Dynamics covering a wide range of domains from customer service to core finance and operations to Dynamics developer and Microsoft Power apps. So check out the Microsoft website for more details and choose a certification that will be inline with your career goals. With that said, there’s one fundamental certification that covers all the basics, and you’re recommended to start with just that.

The majority of exams cost $165 per attempt, though the exam for the entry-level Microsoft Dynamics 365 Fundamentals badge is cheaper at $99.

Considering the Developer Certification exam, namely Exam MB-400 (Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer), is a part of the requirements for Microsoft Certified: Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer Associate certification. Candidates for this exam are responsible for developing, designing, securing, and extending a platform implementation. Candidates attempting these exams implement components of the solution, e.g. app enhancements, custom UX, system integrations, data conversions, custom process automation, custom visualizations, etc. Among the prerequisites, as stated on the Microsoft website, are a basic understanding of DevOps practices for Power Apps + Dynamics 365 solutions, as well as development experience that includes JavaScript, TypeScript, C#, HTML, .NET, Microsoft Azure, Office 365, RESTful Web Services, ASP.NET, and PowerBI.

Ethical Hacking

CEH: Certified Ethical Hacker

Certified Ethical Hacker is a skilled professional who understands and knows how to look for vulnerabilities in target systems and uses the same knowledge and tools as a malicious hacker but in a legitimate manner to discover, assess, and fix those vulnerabilities. The CEH exam validates your knowledge and expertise in network security discipline from a vendor-neutral perspective. There are different difficulty/expert levels to the exam, Core, Advanced, and expert.

The test contains 125 questions which you have to solve for four hours.

The cost is $450, the renewal fee is $80, which needs to be paid annually.