Career Spotlights
Azure Cloud Engineer
Career Spotlights
Azure Cloud Engineer
How much do Azure Cloud Engineers make?
| Junior (0-3 years) | Mid-level (4-8 years) | Senior (9+ years) | Freelance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States ($) | 122,000 | 151,500 | 175,750 | 96-145 (p/h) |
| United Kingdom (£) | 51,750 | 74,250 | 95,750 | 500-640 (p/d) |
| Germany (€) | 59,750 | 71,250 | 86,500 | 80-120 (p/h) |
| Switzerland (Fr) | 108,250 | 122,000 | 140,000 | 120-175 (p/h) |
Junior (0-3 years)
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| Switzerland (Fr) |
Mid-level (4-8 years)
| United States ($) | |
| United Kingdom (£) | |
| Germany (€) | |
| Switzerland (Fr) |
Senior (9+ years)
| United States ($) | |
| United Kingdom (£) | |
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| Switzerland (Fr) |
Freelance Pay Rate
| United States ($) | |
| United Kingdom (£) | |
| Germany (€) | |
| Switzerland (Fr) |
50%
of Azure Cloud Engineers are satisfied with their job, down from 71% in our previous study
15%
of Azure Cloud Engineers are satisfied with their salary, down from 59% in our last survey, although 35% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
45 hours
Permanent Azure Cloud Engineers work an average of 45 hours per week*
What factors impact your earning potential as an Azure Cloud Engineer?
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exposure to large projects | 96% | 4% | 0% |
| Years of technical experience with Microsoft products | 92% | 8% | 0% |
| Years of experience in IT | 80% | 20% | 0% |
| Specific vertical industry experience | 72% | 28% | 0% |
| Microsoft certifications | 64% | 28% | 8% |
| College/University degree(s) | 48% | 32% | 20% |
Exposure to large projects
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 96% | 4% | 0% |
Years of technical experience with Microsoft products
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 92% | 8% | 0% |
Years of experience in IT
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 80% | 20% | 0% |
Specific vertical industry experience
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 72% | 28% | 0% |
Microsoft certifications
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 64% | 28% | 8% |
College/University degree(s)
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 48% | 32% | 20% |
What steps should you take to become an Azure Cloud Engineer?
Education
Three quarters (75%) of Azure Cloud Engineers hold at least a Bachelor’s degree. However, only 18% consider a degree to be important to work with Microsoft Cloud, while 48% believe a degree to be an important factor when it comes to increasing earning potential.
What Microsoft certifications do Azure Cloud Engineers hold?
| Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate | 59% |
| Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert | 41% |
| Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals | 35% |
| Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate, Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals | 18% |
| Microsoft Certified: Azure Network Engineer Associate, Microsoft Certified: Azure Virtual Desktop Specialty, Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert, Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate, Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate | 12% |
Certification
Over two-thirds (68%, up 1% from our previous survey) of Azure Cloud Engineers are certified and 53% of those have undergone certification renewal to maintain their Microsoft Certified status. Meanwhile, 82% (down from 86%) believe that certifications help make you a more valuable professional.
If you’re just starting out on your cloud engineer journey, then the Azure Fundamentals, Azure Data Fundamentals, and/or Azure AI Fundamentals are all good places to start.
When you’re ready to take the next step on your certification journey, there are a handful of certifications geared specifically towards cloud engineers: Azure Network Engineer Associate, Azure Security Engineer Associate, and Azure Data Engineer Associate.
The cloud engineer certification path culminates with the DevOps Engineer Expert badge; one of only two top-level certifications currently available for Azure professionals.
Roles that can lead to becoming an Azure Cloud Engineer
There’s no predetermined path that is guaranteed to lead you to a role as an Azure Cloud Engineer, but given the role’s highly technical nature, having previous experience in a role related to cloud infrastructure will give you a good head-start.
Such roles include, but are not limited to:
- Software Developer
- Systems Administrator/Engineer
- Database Administrator/Engineer
- Network Engineer
What skills and experience should Azure Cloud Engineers have?
- Deep understanding of the workings of Microsoft Azure concepts such as IaaS, PaaS, and Serverless
- Experience building and maintaining cloud-native applications in Azure
- Familiarity with tools and platforms such as Hadoop, Spark, Kafka, Kubernetes and SQL/NoSQL databases
- Experience with agile development
- Experience with DevOps practices and CI/CD tools such as Azure DevOps, Jenkins
- Advanced knowledge of development or scripting languages such as Java, PHP, Ruby, Node.js, C#, PowerShell, Python, Bash, or similar
- Experience with Azure Networking, Microsoft Windows Servers, and Azure CLI
- Experience with Azure monitoring tools and services like Azure Monitor, Azure Log Analytics, Azure Trusted Advisor, or similar
- Ability to use automation tools such as ARM, Chef, Terraform, or Ansible
- Strong communication skills
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Knowledge of best practices across security, infrastructure, and governance
What are the opportunities for progression?
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