Top 10 High Paying Certifications to Target in 2020 | Cyber Security, AWS, Google Cloud, Data Science, PMP, CSM

10 Top Paying Certifications To Target In 2020

2019 has been a great year so far! Many new technologies grabbed a lot of attention this year. It will continue to shape up the future and beyond. Cloud Computing, Internet of Things(IoT), Big Data, Cyber Security, and other emerging technologies are changing the way companies do business and taking technology innovation to a higher level.

In this highly competitive and technology-driven world, wherein everyone is giving their best to prove their excellence and stand out in the crowd. Professional certification helps to scale up and stay updated with the latest technology trending in the industry. Along with many job opportunities for candidates, Professional Certifications also helps employers to select the potential candidate.

The 10 top-paying certifications to target in 2020 are:

1. Certified Information Systems Security Professional® (CISSP)

2. AWS Certified Solutions Architect

3. Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect 

4. Big Data Certification

5. Data Science Certification

6. Certified In Risk And Information Systems Control (CRISC)

7. Certified Information Security Manager(CISM)

8. Project Management Professional (PMP)® Certification

9. Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

10. Certified Scrum Master (CSM)  

Search queries for the term 'cyber security certifications' over the past five years, as per Google Trends. 

Data dt. 8th November 2019.

Search queries for the term, 'scrum certification' over the past five years, as per Google Trends. 
Data as of 8th November 2019. 

Comparison of Cyber Security courses search queries (CISSP, CEH, CISM, and CRISC), over the past five years from 2014 onwards until date, as per Google Trends. Data dt. 8th November 2019.

1. Certified Information System Security Professional® (CISSP)

The Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), a certification accredited by International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, (ISC)², is one of the world's largest IT security organizations. CISSP certified professionals are considered specialists on key security issues. This includes mobile security, risk management, application development security, cloud computing, among others. 

According to Cybercrime Magazine, Cybersecurity Ventures predicted that cybercrime damages will cost the world $6 trillion annually by 2021. To mitigate these damages, there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs globally by 2021.

· They also predict that there will be 6 billion Internet users by 2022 (75 percent of the projected world population of 8 billion) — and more than 7.5 billion Internet users by 2030 (90 percent of the projected world population of 8.5 billion, 6 years of age and older).

According to ziprecuriter.com, the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) salary can go as high as $171,000

CISSP Average Annual Salary in the United States

Data as of 1st November 2019.

Eligibility criteria:

- Have a minimum 5 years of cumulative paid full-time work experience in two or more of the 8 domains of the (ISC)² CISSP Common Body of Knowledge (CBK)

- One-year experience waiver can be earned with a 4-year college degree, or regional equivalent or additional credential from the (ISC)² approved list.

How to become a Certified Information System Security Professional®( CISSP)?

Get trained for CISSP which validates your knowledge on information security. Apply for CISSP online, clear the exam, and you must ask an (ISC)² credential holder who can attest to your industry experience to complete an endorsement form for you if (ISC)² randomly selects(ISC)² -certified individuals for auditing. Successful completion of the certification entitles to automatic membership to the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC)² Membership. The CISSP certification has a three-year validity. You need 120 continuing professional education (CPE) credits for renewal.

2. AWS Certified Solution Architect

AWS Certified Solutions Architects are one of the leading professionals in cloud computing. This certification is accredited by Amazon Web Services. AWS architect is someone who can evaluate an organization's requirements in cloud computing and make architectural recommendations for implementing and deploying applications on AWS. 

According to Forbes,

· Currently, 69% of businesses are already utilising cloud technology and it is predicted that 83% of enterprise workloads will be in the Cloud by 2020.

· The public cloud market is expected to reach $236 billion by 2020, and AWS is the topmost cloud computing player with a 43% yearly growth.

According to ziprecruiter.com,  AWS Certified Solutions Architect’s salary can go as high as $202,000

AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Average Annual Salary in the United States
Data as of 1st November 2019.

Cloud services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure appeal to many organizations because of their stated features, such as pay per use, ability to scale up or down based on usage, high resiliency, and self-service. All these benefits are expected to lead to much lower IT costs, faster time to market, and better service quality compared with traditional IT offerings.

Eligibility criteria:

- At least one-year hands-on experience in cloud and AWS. These professionals should know about topics such as business continuity, deployment management, network design, data storage, security, scalability and elasticity, cloud migration and hybrid architecture.

How to become an AWS Certified Solution Architect?

First, you will need to set up an AWS Account. All AWS certifications are conducted at PSI test-taking facilities—typically a local community college. By taking up AWS Solution Architect training course you get well-versed with concepts, fundamentals,  architectural best practices, designs and deployment of scalable systems on AWS.

3. Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect

Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect certification is currently the industry standard to help you emerge above the rest in this cloud job world. Google Cloud Platform (GCP) has evolved from being a niche player to a serious competitor to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. According to Fiormarkets, Global cloud computing market is expected to reach USD 712.83 Billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 18.46% from 2018 to 2025.

As per an article on Dataversity.net, according to Gartner TalentNeuron, an online real-time labour market insight portal, “there are about 50,248 cloud computing positions available in the U.S. from 3,701 employers, and 101,913 open positions worldwide.”

According to ziprecuriter.com, the Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect‘s salary can go as high as $201,500/year.

Google Cloud Platform - Average Annual Salary in the United States

Data as of 1st November 2019.

Eligibility Criteria:

The Cloud Architect should have 3+ years of industry experience as well as 1-year designing and building solutions on Google Cloud Platform.

How to become a Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect?

Register with Google cloud, Enhance your skill in Cloud adoption plans, Cloud application design, Cloud management and monitoring, Application architecture, Deployment strategies and get certified.

4. Big Data Certification

"Big Data" is a field that treats ways to analyze, systematically extract information from, or otherwise deal with data sets that are too large or complex to be dealt with by traditional data-processing application software.

A Big Data Certification will equip you with the skills and knowledge to tackle the 3 Vs of Big Data - Volume, Velocity, and Variety. 

For professionals, who are skilled in Big Data Analytics, there is an ocean of opportunities out there. There is a huge demand for big data professionals in industries like entertainment, automobile, government, education etc. According to Forbes, IBM stated that by 2020, the number of jobs for all US data professionals will increase by 364,000 openings to 2,720,000.

According to ziprecuriter.com, Big Data Certified professional's salary can go as high as $196,000/year

Big Data Analytics - Average Annual Salary in the United States

Data as of 1st November 2019.

Eligibility criteria:

There is no such eligibility criteria to take up Big Data Certification. Preferable to be acquainted with the Core Java and SQL.

How to get certified in big data?

Enhance your skill by enrolling in Big data certification course. Prepare yourselves with quality study material and attempt as many mock exams to check and confirm your proficiency in the subject matter.

5. Data Science Certification:

Data science is a multi-disciplinary field that uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract knowledge and insights from structured and unstructured data.

The Data Scientist certification is a certification which validates data scientist’s knowledge on SAS, R, Hadoop, Python and Spark and how to use data concepts such as data exploration, visualization hypothesis testing, and predictive analytics. There is a huge demand for Data Scientists in industries like Aerospace industry, IT industry, e-commerce industry and healthcare industry. According to Forbes, IBM predicts that demand for Data Scientists will increase by 28% by 2020. IBM also predicts that 59% of all Data Science and Analytics (DSA) job demand is in Finance and Insurance, Professional Services, and IT.

According to ziprecuriter.com, the Data Science Certified professional's salary can go as high as $185,000/year

Data Scientist - Average Annual Salary in the United States

Data as of 1st November 2019.

Eligibility Criteria:

There are no prerequisites for this data science online training course. 

How to get certified in Data Science?

Go for the Data scientist training course. Gain well-versed knowledge on using tools such as statistic hypothesis testing, clustering, decision trees, linear and logistic regression, R studio and Data Visualization. Pass the exam and get certified as a Data Scientist.

6. Certified In Risk And Information Systems Control (CRISC)

The Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) is the certification accredited by Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) which engages in the development, adoption and use of globally accepted, industry-leading knowledge and practices for information systems. CRISC professionals are one of of the highest-paid employee. The curriculum is based on 4 domains prescribed by ISACA.

Domain 01 - Risk Identification

Domain 02 - Risk Assessment

Domain 03 - Risk Response

Domain 04 - Risk and Control Monitoring and Reporting

According to isaca.org,

· More than 20,000 professionals worldwide have earned the CRISC to affirm their business and IT risk management competence, and their ability to design, implement, monitor and maintain effective, risk-based information systems controls.

· More than 1,300 CRISC holders are CIOs, CISOs, or chief compliance, risk or privacy officers and over 600 are CEOs, CFOs or equivalent executives.

CRISC certification makes you highly valuable to enterprises seeking to manage IT risk as a critical component of the innovation process.

According to ziprecuriter.com, the Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) salary can go as high as $143,000/year

CRISC Average Annual Salary in the United States

Data as of 1st November 2019.

Eligibility Criteria:

According to ISACA, The requirements for CRISC Certification – 2015 exams and later are:

- Successful completion of the CRISC examination

- Three (3) or more years of cumulative work experience performing the tasks of a CRISC professional across at least two (2) CRISC domains, of which one must be in Domain 1 or 2, is required for certification. There are no substitutions or experience waivers.

- This experience must have been gained within the 10-year period preceding the application date for certification or within five years of passing the examination.

- A completed application must be submitted within 5 years from the date of initially passing the examination.

How to become a Certified In Risk And Information Systems Control (CRISC)?

First, candidates must register and pay a non-refundable and non-transferable fee prior to becoming eligible to schedule their test. To register for the CRISC exam, candidates must create an ISACA profile at www.isaca.org. After the login, candidates can schedule the exam. Candidates who clear the examination need to pay a maintenance fee and earn a minimum of 20 contact hours of CPE annually. Additionally, a minimum of 120 contact hours is required during a fixed 3-year period.

7. Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)

Data as of 1st November 2019.

Certified information security manager (CISM) is accredited by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). CISM supervises enterprise information security. As recommended by ISACA, There are 4 primary domains to be focused on to get CISM Certification:

· Information Security Governance.

· Information Risk Management.

· Information Security Program Development and Management.

· Information Security Incident Management.

According to ziprecuriter.com, the Certified information security manager (CISM) salaries can reach up to $216,000 per year.

CISM Average Annual Salary in the United States

Eligibility criteria:

- A completed application must be submitted within 5 years from the date of initially passing the examination.

- All experience must be verified independently with employers.

- This experience must have been gained within the 10-year period preceding the application date for certification or within five years of passing the examination.

- Three (3) years of the five (5) years of work experience must be gained performing the role of an information security manager

- In addition, this work experience must be broad and gained in three (3) of the four (4) CISMR domains

How to become a certified information security manager (CISM)?

Take up the course, gain knowledge on four domains and register with ISACA or exam locator.  Every year, the exam is offered by ISACA during the designated testing of windows. Clear the exam and get credentials. Continuing education credits are required each year to maintain your certification.

8. Project Management Professional (PMP)® Certification

Data as of 1st November 2019.

Project Management Professional (PMP)  accredited by Project Management Institute (PMI) is an industry-standard certification which is globally recognized. According to the PMI (2013). Talent Gap: Project Management through 2020 article by the Project Management Institute, Inc. - Through the decade ending in 2020, 15.7 million new project management roles will be created. The profession is expected to grow by US$6.61 trillion. Now is the time for professionals and job-seekers to build project management skills, as demand for these skills outstrips supply.

The PMP Certification has consistently been among the top ranked certifications worldwide and according to the 10th edition of PMI’s Project Management Salary Survey, Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Earning Power Report reveals a significant advantage in earning potential for PMP® certified practitioners. Survey respondents holding the Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification reported higher median salaries than those without a PMP certification―23% higher on average across the 37 countries surveyed.

A PMP certification demonstrates your Project Management knowledge, experience, and skills to potential employers and clients. It also provides professional skills necessary to lead project teams and bring projects to successful completion. A PMP certification will enable you to command higher salaries than non-certified individuals by showcasing competencies in leading and directing projects. Accelerate and expand the scope of your career with a globally recognized and in-demand certification. Know more about our PMP Exam Prep Certification Training courses at a location near you. 

According to ziprecruiter.com, Project Management Professional's salary can go as high as $172,000

PMP - Average Annual Salary in the United States

Eligibility criteria:

For Graduates:

- 3 years or 4,500 hours of project management experience

- 35 hours of project management education

For non-graduates

- 5 years or 7,500 hours of project management experience

- 35 hours of project management education

How to become a Project Management Professional (PMP) ®?

Create a professional profile by signing up at PMI.org. Take 35 hours of PMP® Certification training course. For a special discount on PMP exam application fee and the access to a free PDF copy of the PMBOK Guide, apply for PMI membership. Fill the online application within 90 days. You can schedule the exam at your nearest test centres. Once you qualify the test, get PMP® certification. Your credentials are valid for only three years. You need to maintain your PMP® certification by earning 60 PDUs to fulfil the Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR).

Test your level of preparation for the PMP (Project Management Professional) Examination. 
Free Download full-length PMP Exam Practice Test with 200 PMP Questions. 

9. Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

Certified Ethical Hacker, accredited by EC-Council(The international council of E-Commerce consultants), validates the baseline knowledge on five phases of ethical hacking. These are:

· Reconnaissance,

· Gaining Access,

· Enumeration,

· Maintaining Access,

· Covering your tracks.

CEH Stimulates the real-time threats, counter-defensive mechanisms to eliminate threats and protective measures to prevent attacks. CEH simulates real-time threats, counter-defensive mechanisms to eliminate threats and protective measures to prevent attacks and breaches.  There is a difference between Hacker and ethical hacker. Hacker hacks the system and steals the information, while CEH defends attacks and threats using the same techniques the hacker used. CEH professionals are in-demand and are internationally recognized because of the continuous updates of tools and techniques.

According to ziprecuriter.com, Certified Ethical Hacker salaries can go up to $220,000 per year.

CEH - Average Annual Salary in the United States

Data as of 1st November 2019.

Eligibility criteria:

There are no such eligibility criteria to take up CEH. Basic knowledge of  Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is advised.

How to become a Certified Ethical Hacker?

Take up training on CEH to learn tools and programs used for security, ethics, network security etc. With the knowledge of the above mentioned skills, you can pass the exam. The CEH certification is valid for three years and can be renewed by earning 120 continuing education credits within the three-year period.

10. Certified Scrum Master (CSM)  

Certified Scrum Master, accredited by Scrum Alliance validates the knowledge of Agile principles and practices and makes you more noticeable than others. According to the State of Agile report, the Scrum Methodology is most widely used amongst software development creating many job opportunities.

According to ziprecruiter.com, Certified Scrum Master Salary can reach from median of  $118,353/year to $160,000/year.

CSM - Average Annual Salary in the United States

Data as of 1st November 2019.
 

Eligibility criteria:

There is no such eligibility criteria to take up CSM. You can become a Certified Scrum Master regardless of your educational background.

How to become a Certified Scrum Master?

To become a certified Scrum Master, you need to take the Certified Scrum Master course from Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) or Scrum Alliance Authorized Trainer. Scrum Alliance will send you a link to create login credentials after completion of course. Clear the exam and get certified along with two-year membership with Scrum Alliance.

For more information on how you can accelerate your career with these certifications, visit us at https://www.icertglobal.com/ or call now on +1-713-287-1213 / 1214 or e-mail us at info {at} icertglobal {dot} com. 

Know more about our Professional Certification Training Courses for preparing for the above certifications.

CISSP Certification Training Courses

AWS Certified Solutions Architect Certification Training Courses

Google Cloud Platform Fundamentals Certification Training Courses

Big Data Certification Training Courses

Data Science Certification Training Courses

CRISC Certification Training Courses

CISM Certification Training Courses

PMP Certification Training Courses

Free Download: PMP Practice Test with 200 Questions

CEH Certification Training Courses

CSM Certification Training Courses 

We provide instructor-led classroom and instructor-led live online training across the globe. We also provide Corporate Training for enterprise workforce development. 

Connect with us: 

- Follow us on Linkedin 

- Like us on Facebook 

- Follow us on Instagram  

- Follow us on Twitter   

- Follow us on Pinterest

- Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

iCert Global conducts Project Management, Quality Management, Business Analysis, Agile, Scrum, and DevOps Certification courses across various locations in the United States.

Visit us at https://www.icertglobal.com/ for more information about our professional certification training courses or Call Now! on +1-713-287-1213 / +1-713-287-1214 or e-mail us at info {at} icertglobal {dot} com.

Project Management Training by iCert Global:
- PMP Certification Training
- CAPM Certification Training

Quality Management Training by iCert Global:
- Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt (LSSYB) Certification Training Courses
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB) Certification Training Courses
- Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (LSSBB) Certification Training Courses

Scrum Training by iCert Global:
- CSM (Certified ScrumMaster) Certification Training Courses

Agile Training by iCert Global:
- PMI-ACP (Agile Certified Professional) Certification Training Courses

DevOps Training by iCert Global:
- DevOps Certification Training Courses

Business Analysis Training by iCert Global:
- ECBA (Entry Certificate in Business Analysis) Certification Training Courses
- CCBA (Certificate of Capability in Business Analysis) Certification Training Courses
- CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional) Certification Training Courses

iCert Global both Instructor-led Classroom training workshops and Instructor-led Live Online Training sessions for learners from across United States and around the world.

Please Contact Us for more information about our professional certification training courses to accelerate your career in the new year. Wish you all the best for your learning initiatives in the new year.

Which certifications are you aiming to achieve in 2020? Let us know your thoughts in the 'Comments' section below.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Hope you found it useful and interesting. Team iCert Global wishes you all the best for your learning endeavors.