The Year In Review: Best Paid IT Certifications of 2013

The year 2013 was a fascinating period for the technology industry. Cloud computing was moving from buzzword to business reality, virtualization had become a standard enterprise practice, and organizations were beginning to feel the pressure of managing increasingly complex IT environments. Against this backdrop, IT certifications were not just resume accessories — they were genuine markers of expertise in a job market that was growing faster than universities and training programs could keep up with.

Professionals who invested in the right certifications during 2013 found themselves positioned ahead of a wave of demand that would only intensify in the years that followed. This review looks back at the credentials that stood out that year, what made them valuable, and why the professionals who earned them had good reason to feel confident about their career trajectories.

Why 2013 Was a Turning Point for Certification Value

The economic recovery following the 2008 financial crisis had been slow and uneven, but by 2013 technology hiring had returned with real momentum. Organizations that had deferred IT investments during the downturn were now spending again, and they needed skilled professionals to implement and manage the systems they were deploying. Certifications served as efficient filters for employers trying to identify candidates who could hit the ground running.

At the same time, the technology landscape was shifting in ways that created new premium skill areas. Cloud infrastructure, network security, virtualization, and data management were all experiencing rapid growth, and the certifications aligned with these areas commanded the highest salaries. Professionals who recognized these trends early and invested in the relevant credentials were rewarded with compensation packages that reflected the genuine scarcity of their skills.

The Cisco CCIE and Its Reign at the Top

The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert held its position at the very top of networking certifications in 2013, as it had for years before. What made the CCIE remarkable was not just its association with high salaries but the sheer difficulty of earning it. The certification required candidates to pass a written exam and then a grueling eight-hour lab exam conducted in person at a Cisco testing facility. The pass rate was notoriously low, which kept the number of certified professionals small and the compensation for those who held it exceptionally high.

In 2013, CCIE holders in areas like routing and switching, security, and data center were among the highest-paid IT professionals in the world. Salaries frequently exceeded six figures in the United States, and the credential carried similar weight in major technology markets across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. For networking professionals willing to put in the years of preparation required, the financial reward was substantial and well documented.

VMware Certifications and the Virtualization Premium

VMware had established itself as the dominant force in enterprise virtualization by 2013, and its certification program reflected that market position. The VMware Certified Professional in Data Center Virtualization, known as the VCP-DCV, was one of the most sought-after credentials in enterprise IT that year. Organizations running VMware vSphere environments needed skilled administrators, and those who could demonstrate certified competence were compensated accordingly.

The premium on VMware skills in 2013 was driven by the widespread adoption of virtualization as a standard infrastructure practice. Companies that had spent years consolidating physical servers onto virtual platforms needed professionals who understood how to manage, optimize, and troubleshoot those environments. The VCP credential gave employers a reliable signal that a candidate possessed those skills, and salary surveys from that period consistently placed VMware-certified professionals among the top earners in infrastructure roles.

Project Management and the PMP’s Financial Pull

The Project Management Professional certification appeared prominently in salary surveys throughout 2013, often ranked among the top paying credentials across all of IT rather than just within specific technical domains. This was notable because the PMP is not a purely technical certification — it validates leadership and management skills applied to project delivery. Its presence at the top of compensation rankings reflected how much organizations valued structured project leadership as IT initiatives grew more complex and expensive.

Many IT professionals who earned the PMP in 2013 were using it to transition from technical contributor roles into project and program management positions. The salary differential between a skilled technical professional and a certified project manager leading large IT initiatives was significant, and the PMP provided a recognized credential that made that transition more credible to employers. For professionals with both technical depth and management ambition, it was one of the most strategically valuable certifications available that year.

AWS and the Early Cloud Certification Advantage

Amazon Web Services had launched its certification program in 2013, and the professionals who recognized the significance of that moment early gained a meaningful advantage. The AWS Certified Solutions Architect credential was among the first to be offered, and demand for cloud skills was already outpacing supply by the time the certification became available. Professionals who earned it in its early days were entering a market where certified cloud expertise was genuinely scarce.

The salaries associated with AWS certification in 2013 were already impressive, and they would continue to rise in subsequent years as cloud adoption accelerated. What made this certification particularly interesting from a career perspective was that it was accessible to professionals coming from a range of backgrounds. Network engineers, system administrators, software developers, and IT architects all found pathways into cloud roles, and the AWS certification provided a common credential that helped employers evaluate candidates regardless of their specific prior experience.

The CISSP and the Security Salary Premium

Information security was already a high-priority concern for organizations in 2013, and the Certified Information Systems Security Professional certification was firmly established as the gold standard for security credentials. The CISSP, issued by ISC2, required both a passing score on a comprehensive exam and a minimum of five years of professional experience in information security. This combination of knowledge validation and experience requirement kept the credential selective and the compensation for those who held it high.

Security professionals with the CISSP in 2013 were working in an environment where threat awareness was growing rapidly but skilled defenders remained in short supply. High-profile data breaches and the increasing sophistication of cyber threats were pushing organizations to invest more seriously in security infrastructure and talent. The CISSP served as a reliable marker of deep security knowledge, and employers were willing to pay a premium for professionals who could demonstrate that level of expertise.

Microsoft Certifications and Their Continued Relevance

Microsoft’s certification program remained one of the most extensive in the industry in 2013, covering everything from desktop support to enterprise server infrastructure and database administration. The Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert credentials, which had replaced the older MCSE branding that year, were among the most widely recognized enterprise IT credentials in the market. Professionals specializing in areas like server infrastructure, private cloud, and messaging commanded strong salaries.

The SQL Server certification track was particularly valuable in 2013. Data management was growing in strategic importance, and organizations were investing heavily in database infrastructure to support everything from transactional applications to early analytics initiatives. Microsoft Certified professionals with SQL Server expertise were well positioned to benefit from this investment wave, with database administrators and data platform specialists earning salaries that reflected the critical nature of the systems they managed.

Oracle Database Certifications and the Data Management Wave

Oracle maintained its position as the enterprise database leader in 2013, and its certification program reflected the value organizations placed on deep database expertise. The Oracle Certified Professional credential for database administrators was one of the higher-paying certifications in enterprise IT that year, with experienced DBAs working on large Oracle environments commanding salaries that reflected the complexity and criticality of the systems they managed.

The Oracle certification path was known for being demanding, with multiple levels of certification and exams that tested deep technical knowledge rather than surface-level familiarity. This rigor contributed to the credential’s market value. Employers knew that an Oracle-certified professional had passed genuinely difficult assessments, and they priced that verified expertise accordingly in their compensation offers.

CompTIA Security Plus and the Entry Point Premium

Not every high-value certification in 2013 was at the expert or architect level. The CompTIA Security Plus credential occupied a useful position in the market as an accessible but respected entry point into information security roles. For professionals transitioning from general IT support or system administration into dedicated security positions, the Security Plus provided a recognized credential that opened doors that might otherwise have remained closed.

The salary gains associated with Security Plus in 2013 were less about reaching the top of the pay scale and more about clearing a meaningful threshold. Professionals who earned it often found that it qualified them for roles that came with significant pay increases over general IT support positions. In government contracting and defense-related IT work, it was frequently listed as a baseline requirement, making it a practical necessity for professionals working in those environments.

Certified Ethical Hacker and the Offensive Security Space

The Certified Ethical Hacker certification from EC-Council was gaining significant traction in 2013 as organizations began to invest more seriously in penetration testing and vulnerability assessment. The credential validated skills in identifying and exploiting security weaknesses from an attacker’s perspective, which gave certified professionals a unique and valuable position in the security job market. Understanding how attacks work from the inside out was increasingly recognized as essential knowledge for building effective defenses.

Salaries for certified ethical hackers and penetration testing professionals were strong in 2013 and trending upward. The demand for professionals who could conduct authorized attacks on organizational systems to identify vulnerabilities before malicious actors did was being driven by a combination of regulatory requirements, growing cyber insurance markets, and heightened executive awareness of cybersecurity risk. The CEH gave professionals in this space a recognized credential to support their work.

ITIL and the Service Management Compensation Angle

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library framework and its associated certifications offered a different kind of value in 2013. ITIL was not a deeply technical credential — it focused on IT service management practices and the processes that organizations use to deliver and support technology services. But in large enterprises and service-oriented IT organizations, ITIL knowledge was highly valued and well compensated.

Professionals who combined strong technical skills with ITIL certification were particularly attractive to employers running large IT operations. The ability to manage technology at both the technical and process levels was a combination that commanded premium compensation in service delivery, operations management, and IT leadership roles. ITIL Foundation certification was accessible to a wide range of professionals, while the higher-level certifications attracted more experienced practitioners looking to move into management.

Red Hat Certifications in the Linux Enterprise Space

Red Hat’s performance-based certification program was already well established as one of the most respected in enterprise Linux by 2013. The Red Hat Certified Engineer credential was consistently cited in salary surveys as one of the higher-paying certifications in the systems administration category. Red Hat’s approach of testing practical skills in live environments rather than relying on multiple-choice questions gave its credentials a reputation for validating genuine competence.

Enterprise Linux skills were in demand in 2013 across a range of sectors including financial services, telecommunications, government, and research computing. Organizations running mission-critical workloads on Red Hat Enterprise Linux needed administrators who could manage those systems confidently, and certified professionals were well positioned to meet that demand. The premium on Red Hat skills reflected both the technical depth required and the critical nature of the systems being managed.

Conclusion

Looking back at the certification landscape of 2013 from a longer perspective, several important patterns become clear. The credentials that commanded the highest compensation were almost universally those that validated skills in areas where demand was growing faster than the supply of qualified professionals. Cloud computing, security, virtualization, networking, and data management were all experiencing this dynamic simultaneously, which created an unusually rich environment for professionals who had invested in the right areas.

The year also demonstrated that certification value is rarely about the credential alone. The professionals who saw the greatest financial returns from their certifications in 2013 were those who combined formal credentials with real-world experience and the ability to apply their knowledge in complex, high-stakes environments. Employers were not simply paying for certificates — they were paying for the demonstrated capability that those certificates were meant to represent.

Another pattern that 2013 reinforced was the importance of timing. The professionals who earned AWS certifications in that early period, for example, were entering a market before demand had fully materialized. They were positioned ahead of the curve in a way that created both employment options and compensation leverage that later entrants to the same credential would not enjoy to the same degree. Recognizing where technology adoption is headed and certifying ahead of peak demand has consistently proven to be one of the most effective career strategies in the IT industry.

The certifications reviewed here varied enormously in their technical focus, their difficulty, and their intended audience, but they shared a common characteristic — they were all markers of expertise in areas that organizations genuinely needed help with. That alignment between credential content and market demand is ultimately what makes any certification valuable, and 2013 provided an unusually clear illustration of that principle at work across multiple technology domains simultaneously.

 

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