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Career Spotlights

Azure Technical Architect

Career Spotlights

Azure Technical Architect

How much do Azure Technical Architects make?

Junior (0-3 years) Mid-level (4-8 years) Senior (9+ years) Freelance Rate
United States ($) - 159,750 204,000 112-173 (p/h)
United Kingdom (£) - 84,500 115,000 530-800 (p/d)
United States ($)
-
United Kingdom (£)
-
United States ($)
159,750
United Kingdom (£)
84,500
United States ($)
204,000
United Kingdom (£)
115,000
United States ($)
112-173 (p/h)
United Kingdom (£)
530-800 (p/d)
* Survey responses in the remainder of this chapter are indicative only due to a limited number of Azure Technical Architects participating in the survey.

40%

of Azure Technical Architects are satisfied with their job, down from 85% in our last survey

40%

of Azure Technical Architects are satisfied with their salary, down from 57% in our previous study

48 hours

Permanent Azure Technical Architects work an average of 48 hours per week

42 hours

Freelance Azure Technical Architects work an average of 42 hours per week

What factors impact your earning potential as an Azure Technical Architect?

We asked current Azure professionals what factors are most important for upping your earning potential in that role.
Important Neutral Unimportant
Years of technical experience with Microsoft products 100% 0% 0%
Years of experience in IT 100% 0% 0%
Microsoft certifications 84% 17% 0%
Exposure to large projects 66% 33% 0%
Specific vertical industry experience 66% 17% 17%
College/University degree(s) 17% 33% 50%
Important Neutral Unimportant
100% 0% 0%
Important Neutral Unimportant
100% 0% 0%
Important Neutral Unimportant
84% 17% 0%
Important Neutral Unimportant
66% 33% 0%
Important Neutral Unimportant
66% 17% 17%
Important Neutral Unimportant
17% 33% 50%

What steps should you take to become an Azure Technical Architect?

Education

Four fifths (80%) of Azure Technical Architects hold at least a Bachelor’s degree. However, only 17% consider a degree to be important to work with Microsoft Cloud. Similarly, 17% believe a degree to be an important factor when it comes to increasing earning potential.

What Microsoft certifications do Azure Technical Architects hold?

Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals, Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert 67%
Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate 50%
Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate, Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert 33%

Certification

As with our last study, all of the Azure Technical Architects that took part in our survey are certified, and 50% of those have undergone certification renewal to maintain their Microsoft Certified status. Meanwhile, 67% (down from 77%) believe that certifications help make you a more valuable professional.

The Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification is a great starting point for those with an eye on a career as an Azure Technical Architect role. There are then a whole host of intermediate certifications you can take, depending on what kind of areas of Azure you want to specialize in, from AI and security operations to databases and development. The top-tier certification for those in Azure architecture careers is the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification.

Spotlighting a professional

Ever wondered what it takes to build a rewarding career as an Azure Architect? In this video, we chat with Azure MVP and MCT Gregor Suttie about his journey to becoming an Azure Architect.

As part of our annual deep-dive into the Microsoft community, Gregor sat down with Craig Allen, Director at Nigel Frank International, to talk essential skills, certifications, and what you can expect as an Azure professional. Watch the interview to discover Gregor’s insider tips for budding Architects.

Roles that can lead to becoming an Azure Technical Architect

As with many other Azure jobs, there’s no predetermined path that is guaranteed to lead you to a role as an Azure Technical Architect, but there are a few common job roles that we see these kinds of professionals starting their careers in:

What skills and experience should Azure Technical Architect have?

What are the opportunities for progression?

Solution Architect or Technical Architect or Enterprise Architect?

If you’ve got your eye on a career as an Azure Architect, there are several paths you can go down. The two most common types of Architect roles you’ll find in the Azure world are Technical Architect and Solution Architect.

While both roles involve in-depth knowledge of Azure products and services, a Technical Architect tends to do more of the heavy lifting when it comes to coding, while a Solution Architect’s role is more about bridging the gap between the stakeholders and the technical team.

A Solution Architect will often evaluate the requirements of a project and come up with the best solution using Azure products. They then present this vision with a Technical Architect, who will take those building blocks and execute the implementation, define best practices, and deal with any configuration to ensure the end result meets the requirements mapped out by the stakeholder. The Solution Architect designs; the Technical Architect delivers.

Those who like getting into the nuts and bolts of a system will be well-suited to a Technical Architect role. Those with great communication skills, stakeholder management experience, and a knack for problem-solving make great Solution Architects.

The third type of Architect role you might come across is Enterprise Architect. In larger organizations, there tend to be more levels to the architecture career track, and as a result, there are often more roles available within these sizable end user businesses than in smaller, partner organizations. Enterprise Architect is a senior-level role, responsible for meeting business goals through the effective use of technologies and best practices. The job involves deciding what systems to invest in, creating roadmaps for the adoption of new tech, and taking a broad overview of the entire IT environment to make sure it is properly supporting the business.

As it is typically less hands-on and technical than other types of Architect jobs, many Enterprise Architects come into the role after working as a Project or Program Manager. It’s a big-picture job that involves a lot of high-level planning and business acumen.

Are you looking to hire a Microsoft Azure professional?

Want the highlights from this year's Careers and Hiring Guide at a glance? Our key findings report contains our top level insight and salary tables, so you can compare your own salary or benchmark your teams' across the Microsoft ecosystem.