Salary Survey Extra is a series of periodic dispatches that give added insight into the findings of our most recent Salary Survey. These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

Anyone who looks to the horizon of the IT industry will see nothing but clouds. The future of almost every sector of the IT industry is, in some way, dependent on cloud computing technology. No matter where your IT job has you positioned, you could almost certainly improve your career outlook by getting your head in the cloud (as they say).

The biggest name in cloud computing is Amazon Web Services (AWS), and the growing AWS certification program is an excellent place to start for cloud technologists eager to burnish their cloud security bona fides. The AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate credential checked in at No. 24 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list.

Here’s what the salary picture looks like for AWS Certified SysOps Administrator holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $138,810
Median Annual Salary: $140.940
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 14.3 percent
Very Satisfied: 52.4 percent
Satisfied: 19 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 9.5 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 4.8 percent

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $70,810
Median Annual Salary: $61,250
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 7.7 percent
Very Satisfied: 15.8 percent
Satisfied: 15 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 38.5 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 23 percent

Roughly two-thirds of the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator holders who participated in the Salary Survey are U.S. residents (67.7 percent), but we also heard from credential holders in 7 other countries: Brazil, France, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore, and Switzerland.

Tech circles tend to be dominated by men, and male professionals account for 96.5 percent of the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator holders who participated in the survey. Most respondents, regardless of gender, are either young-ish, between the ages of 25 and 34 (16.1 percent of those surveyed) or clustered around middle age either between the ages of 35 and 44 (22.6 percent) or between the ages of 45 and 54 (35.5 percent). Everyone else is between the ages of 55 and 64 (25.8 percent of respondents).

More than 90 percent of AWS Certified SysOps Administrator holders who responded to the survey have an educational background that includes time spent at a college or university. The highest level of formal education completed by most AWS Certified SysOps Administrator holders is either a bachelor’s degree (38.7 percent of those surveyed), master’s degree (35.5 percent), doctorate (3.4 percent), or associate’s degree (12.9 percent). The outliers are the 6.5 percent of respondents who topped out at some level of post-high school technical training and the 3 percent who exited the realm of formal education after completing high school.

A rare and striking 100 percent of the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator holders who responded to the survey are employed full-time. For most, that means they are at work either for the standard 40 hours per week (54.9 percent of respondents) or put in between 41 and 50 hours per week (29 percent). The remaining roughly 15 percent of those surveyed are either carrying a heavy load, working more than 50 hours per week (12.9 percent), or getting off easy with a standard work week of between 39 and 31 hours per week (3.2 percent).

Since the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, many AWS Certified SysOps Administrator holders who formerly had a desk at an office are spending most or all of their work schedule at home. A notable 77 percent of respondents don’t ever leave the house for work, putting in either 40 hours per week from home (48.4 percent) or more than 40 hours per week from home (29 percent). Among the remaining 23 percent, 3.2 percent work from home between 31 and 39 hours per week, 6.6 percent work from home between 21 and 30 hours per week, 6.5 percent work from home between 10 and 20 hours per week, and 6.3 percent work from home fewer than 10 hours per week.

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of AWS Certified SysOps Administrator holders we heard from, 55.9 percent of those surveyed, are employed at the senior specialist level. The rest, in descending order, are either specialists (14.7 percent of respondents), rank-and-file employees (9 percent), directors (8.7 percent), managers (6 percent), and senior managers (5.7 percent).

A little more than half (55.9 percent) of the AWS Certified Security holders who responded to the survey are IT veterans, having worked in a role that directly utilizes one or more of their certified skills for more than a decade. The rest have been plying their certified skills for either between zero years (1 to 11 months) and 2 years (8.8 percent of those surveyed), between 3 and 5 years (14.7 percent), between 6 and 8 years (11.8 percent), or between 9 and 10 years (8.8 percent).

Finally, here’s the view of AWS Certified Security holders on key questions from the survey about how certification impacts job performance:

At my current job I use skills learned or enhanced through certification:
Several times a day: 47.1 percent
Several times a week: 38.3 percent
Several times a month: 8.8 percent
Occasionally: 3 percent
Rarely: 2.8 percent

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 55.9 percent
Agree: 11.8 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 29.4 percent
Disagree: 2.9 percent
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 35.3 percent
Agree: 32.4 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 17.6 percent
Disagree: 14.7 percent
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 38.2 percent
Agree: 20.6 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 32.4 percent
Disagree: 5.9 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2.9 percent