Job Vacancy Trend Daily Rate Trend Daily Rate Histogram Hourly Rate Trend Hourly Rate Histogram Job Locations Skill Sets
Period
to 19 July 2018

The following table provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies with a requirement for MCSA qualifications. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months to 19 July 2018 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

Note that daily and hourly rates are treated separately in these statistics. When calculating contractor rate percentiles, daily rates are never derived from quoted hourly rates or vice versa.

Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) formerly Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator
UK
6 months to
19 Jul 2018		 Same period 2017 Same period 2016
Rank 618 650 558
Rank change year-on-year +32 -92 +1
Contract jobs citing MCSA 279 183 365
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 0.27% 0.19% 0.33%
As % of the Qualifications category 1.43% 0.97% 1.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 176 102 218
UK median daily rate £300 £325 £313
Median daily rate % change year-on-year -7.69% +4.00% +2.88%
10th Percentile £160 £146 £180
90th Percentile £500 £486 £438
UK excluding London median daily rate £300 £325 £325
% change year-on-year -7.69% - +7.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 25 34
UK median hourly rate £19.00 £16.50 £35.50
Median hourly rate % change year-on-year +15.15% -53.52% +121.88%
10th Percentile £14.89 £13.24 £14.75
90th Percentile £47.00 £29.92 £55.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.50 £16.50 £36.75
% change year-on-year +42.42% -55.10% +119.40%

MCSA is in the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. The following table is for comparison with the above and provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies with a requirement for academic qualifications or professional certifications.

All Academic and Professional Certifications
UK
Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 19,463 18,793 23,681
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 18.81% 19.74% 21.51%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,559 11,551 14,829
UK median daily rate £450 £425 £403
Median daily rate % change year-on-year +5.88% +5.59% +0.63%
10th Percentile £240 £250 £250
90th Percentile £625 £592 £590
UK excluding London median daily rate £413 £400 £380
% change year-on-year +3.13% +5.26% +1.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 953 959 841
UK median hourly rate £25.00 £30.00 £28.00
Median hourly rate % change year-on-year -16.67% +7.14% +24.44%
10th Percentile £12.75 £12.17 £12.25
90th Percentile £50.20 £52.50 £50.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.75 £31.50 £28.00
% change year-on-year -18.25% +12.50% +24.44%

MCSA
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing MCSA as a percentage of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for MCSA in the UK

MCSA
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

This chart provides the 3-month moving average for daily rates quoted in contract jobs citing MCSA.

Contractor daily rate trend for MCSA in the UK

MCSA
Contractor Daily Rate Histogram

The daily rate distribution of IT jobs citing MCSA over the 6 months to 19 July 2018.

Contractor daily rate histogram for MCSA in the UK

MCSA
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

This chart provides the 3-month moving average for contractor hourly rates quoted in IT jobs citing MCSA.

Contractor hourly rate trend for MCSA in the UK

MCSA
Contractor Hourly Rate Histogram

The hourly rate distribution of IT jobs citing MCSA over the 6 months to 19 July 2018.

Contractor hourly rate histogram for MCSA in the UK

MCSA
Top 16 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing MCSA within the UK over the 6 months to 19 July 2018. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year		 Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads		 Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months		 Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year		 Live
Job
Vacancies
England +31 254 £300 -7.69% 125
UK excluding London +58 194 £300 -7.69% 97
London -12 82 £278 -14.62% 35
South East +16 70 £323 +2.62% 26
South West +39 34 £338 +25.00% 8
East of England +9 28 £315 +17.21% 10
North of England -19 22 £300 -25.37% 29
Midlands -1 18 £290 -14.07% 17
Scotland -42 14 £283 -13.08% 4
North West -18 12 £265 -33.75% 10
East Midlands +4 10 £300 +14.29% 12
West Midlands -12 8 £290 -25.16% 5
Yorkshire -16 8 £300 -4.00% 16
Wales -5 7 £300 +172.73% 2
North East -6 2 - - 3
Northern Ireland - 1 - -

For the 6 months to 19 July 2018, IT contractor jobs citing MCSA also mentioned the following skills in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads with a requirement for MCSA.

1 279 (100.00%) Microsoft Certification
2 213 (76.34%) Windows
3 191 (68.46%) Microsoft
4 181 (64.87%) Active Directory
5 171 (61.29%) MCSE
6 125 (44.80%) Windows Server
7 118 (42.29%) VMware
8 117 (41.94%) ITIL
9 83 (29.75%) SCCM
10 82 (29.39%) Windows 7
11 79 (28.32%) Windows Server 2012
12 71 (25.45%) Office 365
13 70 (25.09%) MCP
14 64 (22.94%) Citrix
15 61 (21.86%) VMware Infrastructure
15 61 (21.86%) Windows Server 2008
16 58 (20.79%) Microsoft Office
17 55 (19.71%) Hyper-V
18 54 (19.35%) PowerShell
18 54 (19.35%) Microsoft Azure
18 54 (19.35%) DNS
19 53 (19.00%) Cisco
20 52 (18.64%) Firewall
21 47 (16.85%) DHCP
21 47 (16.85%) MCITP
22 46 (16.49%) Problem-Solving
23 45 (16.13%) SQL
24 44 (15.77%) MS Exchange
25 43 (15.41%) SLA
25 43 (15.41%) Cisco Certification

MCSA
Co-occurring IT Skills by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same job type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 44 (15.77%) MS Exchange
2 25 (8.96%) SharePoint
3 20 (7.17%) Skype for Business
4 17 (6.09%) Exchange Server 2010
5 15 (5.38%) IIS
6 12 (4.30%) Exchange Server 2013
7 6 (2.15%) Exchange Server 2007
8 2 (0.72%) Confluence
8 2 (0.72%) OpenStack
9 1 (0.36%) Apache
9 1 (0.36%) Exchange Server 2003
9 1 (0.36%) IBM Domino
9 1 (0.36%) IBM Notes
9 1 (0.36%) JBoss
9 1 (0.36%) nginx
9 1 (0.36%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 58 (20.79%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (1.79%) Microsoft Excel
2 5 (1.79%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 4 (1.43%) MS Visio
4 2 (0.72%) Acrobat
5 1 (0.36%) InfoPath
5 1 (0.36%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 3 (1.08%) Remedy ITSM
2 2 (0.72%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.72%) Elite 3E
2 2 (0.72%) Workfront
3 1 (0.36%) Cognos Business Intelligence
3 1 (0.36%) PeopleSoft HRMS
Cloud Services
1 71 (25.45%) Office 365
2 54 (19.35%) Microsoft Azure
3 12 (4.30%) Amazon AWS
3 12 (4.30%) Azure Active Directory
4 4 (1.43%) OneDrive
5 2 (0.72%) Amazon EC2
5 2 (0.72%) Cloud Computing
5 2 (0.72%) Dynamics 365
5 2 (0.72%) IaaS
5 2 (0.72%) Yammer
6 1 (0.36%) Datadog
6 1 (0.36%) G Suite
6 1 (0.36%) PaaS
6 1 (0.36%) Slack
Communications & Networking
1 54 (19.35%) DNS
2 52 (18.64%) Firewall
3 47 (16.85%) DHCP
4 35 (12.54%) TCP/IP
5 29 (10.39%) LAN
6 25 (8.96%) Internet
7 24 (8.60%) VPN
8 22 (7.89%) WAN
9 19 (6.81%) SAN
10 18 (6.45%) Skype
11 12 (4.30%) Wireless
12 10 (3.58%) VoIP
13 8 (2.87%) DMZ
14 7 (2.51%) Cisco ASA
14 7 (2.51%) Network Security
15 6 (2.15%) Remote Desktop
15 6 (2.15%) VLAN
16 4 (1.43%) SSL
17 3 (1.08%) IP Telephony
17 3 (1.08%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (11.11%) SQL Server
2 6 (2.15%) Data Warehouse
2 6 (2.15%) SQL Server Integration Services
3 5 (1.79%) Azure SQL Database
4 4 (1.43%) MySQL
4 4 (1.43%) SQL Server 2008
4 4 (1.43%) SQL Server 2012
4 4 (1.43%) SQL Server 2016
5 3 (1.08%) Relational Database
5 3 (1.08%) SQL Server Analysis Services
5 3 (1.08%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 2 (0.72%) Microsoft Analysis Services
6 2 (0.72%) OLAP
6 2 (0.72%) Oracle Database
6 2 (0.72%) Power BI
6 2 (0.72%) SQL Server 2014
7 1 (0.36%) Data Mart
7 1 (0.36%) RDBMS
7 1 (0.36%) SQL Server 2005
7 1 (0.36%) VLDB
Development Applications
1 9 (3.23%) HP UFT
2 8 (2.87%) TestDirector
2 8 (2.87%) WinRunner
3 4 (1.43%) GCC
3 4 (1.43%) JIRA
4 2 (0.72%) Atlassian Bamboo
4 2 (0.72%) Team Foundation Server
4 2 (0.72%) TeamCity
5 1 (0.36%) CruiseControl
5 1 (0.36%) Cucumber
5 1 (0.36%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.36%) JMeter
5 1 (0.36%) Metasploit
5 1 (0.36%) MSI
5 1 (0.36%) Selenium
5 1 (0.36%) Visual Studio
5 1 (0.36%) Visual Studio Team System
General
1 26 (9.32%) Finance
2 15 (5.38%) Retail
3 12 (4.30%) Marketing
4 9 (3.23%) Banking
4 9 (3.23%) Telecoms
5 7 (2.51%) Manufacturing
6 5 (1.79%) Advertising
7 4 (1.43%) Automotive
8 3 (1.08%) Investment Banking
9 2 (0.72%) Back Office
9 2 (0.72%) Law
9 2 (0.72%) Legal
10 1 (0.36%) Billing
10 1 (0.36%) Front Office
10 1 (0.36%) International Banking
Job Titles
1 55 (19.71%) Analyst
2 26 (9.32%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 25 (8.96%) Support Engineer
3 25 (8.96%) Windows Engineer
4 23 (8.24%) Desktop Support
5 19 (6.81%) Service Analyst
5 19 (6.81%) Service Desk Analyst
6 16 (5.73%) IT Support
7 15 (5.38%) 3rd Line Engineer
7 15 (5.38%) 3rd Line Support
8 14 (5.02%) Support Analyst
9 13 (4.66%) Consultant
10 12 (4.30%) Architect
10 12 (4.30%) Server Engineer
11 11 (3.94%) Desktop Analyst
11 11 (3.94%) Technical Support
12 9 (3.23%) 3rd Line Support Engineer
12 9 (3.23%) IT Manager
12 9 (3.23%) Wintel Engineer
13 8 (2.87%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (1.79%) Software Packaging
2 4 (1.43%) .NET
3 3 (1.08%) Apache Axis
3 3 (1.08%) ASP.NET
4 2 (0.72%) REST
5 1 (0.36%) .NET Framework
5 1 (0.36%) ASP.NET Web Forms
5 1 (0.36%) SAML
5 1 (0.36%) WCF
5 1 (0.36%) WF
5 1 (0.36%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 41 (14.70%) Data Centre
2 25 (8.96%) Analytical Skills
3 13 (4.66%) Clustering
3 13 (4.66%) PKI
4 10 (3.58%) Client/Server
4 10 (3.58%) Self-Motivation
5 9 (3.23%) Management Information System
5 9 (3.23%) Video Conferencing
6 7 (2.51%) Driving Licence
6 7 (2.51%) NHS
7 6 (2.15%) PDA
8 5 (1.79%) Computer Science
8 5 (1.79%) Public Cloud
8 5 (1.79%) Replication
9 4 (1.43%) Blackberry
10 3 (1.08%) CESG
10 3 (1.08%) Fat Client
10 3 (1.08%) Freedom of Information
10 3 (1.08%) Thin Client
10 3 (1.08%) Wiki
Operating Systems
1 213 (76.34%) Windows
2 125 (44.80%) Windows Server
3 82 (29.39%) Windows 7
4 79 (28.32%) Windows Server 2012
5 61 (21.86%) Windows Server 2008
6 42 (15.05%) Windows 10
7 34 (12.19%) Windows Server 2003
8 27 (9.68%) Windows XP
9 21 (7.53%) Linux
10 12 (4.30%) Unix
11 11 (3.94%) AIX
12 7 (2.51%) Windows 8
13 5 (1.79%) Android
14 4 (1.43%) Apple iOS
14 4 (1.43%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
14 4 (1.43%) Windows 2000
14 4 (1.43%) Windows Vista
15 3 (1.08%) CentOS
15 3 (1.08%) Solaris
16 2 (0.72%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 117 (41.94%) ITIL
2 46 (16.49%) Problem-Solving
3 40 (14.34%) Change Management
4 39 (13.98%) ITIL V3
4 39 (13.98%) Migration
5 17 (6.09%) Incident Management
5 17 (6.09%) Validation
6 13 (4.66%) PRINCE2
7 12 (4.30%) Software Deployment
8 10 (3.58%) Disaster Recovery
8 10 (3.58%) High Availability
8 10 (3.58%) Service Management
9 9 (3.23%) Configuration Management
9 9 (3.23%) Performance Management
9 9 (3.23%) Problem Management
9 9 (3.23%) Project Management
9 9 (3.23%) Test Automation
10 8 (2.87%) ITSM
10 8 (2.87%) Service Delivery
10 8 (2.87%) Software Testing
Programming Languages
1 54 (19.35%) PowerShell
2 45 (16.13%) SQL
3 13 (4.66%) Shell Script
4 9 (3.23%) VB
5 7 (2.51%) T-SQL
6 5 (1.79%) VBScript
7 4 (1.43%) C#
8 2 (0.72%) Python
8 2 (0.72%) VB.NET
9 1 (0.36%) Bash Shell
9 1 (0.36%) C
9 1 (0.36%) Java
9 1 (0.36%) JavaScript
9 1 (0.36%) Korn
9 1 (0.36%) Perl
9 1 (0.36%) VBA
Qualifications
1 279 (100.00%) Microsoft Certification
2 171 (61.29%) MCSE
3 70 (25.09%) MCP
4 47 (16.85%) MCITP
5 43 (15.41%) Cisco Certification
5 43 (15.41%) Security Cleared
6 38 (13.62%) CCNA
7 36 (12.90%) SC Cleared
8 26 (9.32%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 24 (8.60%) MCTS
10 16 (5.73%) A+ Certification
11 14 (5.02%) DV Cleared
12 13 (4.66%) CCNP
13 11 (3.94%) Degree
14 10 (3.58%) ITIL Certification
14 10 (3.58%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 8 (2.87%) PRINCE2 Certification
16 6 (2.15%) DBS Check
16 6 (2.15%) ISTQB
16 6 (2.15%) MCSD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 43 (15.41%) SLA
2 12 (4.30%) QA
3 3 (1.08%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 3 (1.08%) PCI DSS
4 2 (0.72%) PMO
5 1 (0.36%) Data Quality
5 1 (0.36%) Disclosure Scotland
5 1 (0.36%) GDPR
System Software
1 181 (64.87%) Active Directory
2 61 (21.86%) VMware Infrastructure
3 55 (19.71%) Hyper-V
4 24 (8.60%) vSphere
5 18 (6.45%) VMware ESXi
6 13 (4.66%) Virtual Machines
7 11 (3.94%) XenApp
8 7 (2.51%) XenDesktop
9 5 (1.79%) Terminal Services
10 4 (1.43%) BitLocker
10 4 (1.43%) Microsoft App-V
11 3 (1.08%) Forefront TMG
11 3 (1.08%) ISA Server
11 3 (1.08%) UAG
11 3 (1.08%) Virtual Servers
12 2 (0.72%) Firmware
12 2 (0.72%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 2 (0.72%) VMware Server
13 1 (0.36%) Oracle RAC
13 1 (0.36%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 83 (29.75%) SCCM
2 27 (9.68%) WSUS
3 14 (5.02%) Nessus
3 14 (5.02%) SCOM
4 11 (3.94%) Backup Exec
5 10 (3.58%) McAfee ePO
5 10 (3.58%) Microsoft Clustering
6 9 (3.23%) HP Quality Center
7 7 (2.51%) EMC NetWorker
7 7 (2.51%) Microsoft Intune
7 7 (2.51%) Netcool
8 6 (2.15%) FortiGate
8 6 (2.15%) HP Data Protector
8 6 (2.15%) Norton AntiVirus
9 5 (1.79%) NetBackup
9 5 (1.79%) vCenter Server
10 3 (1.08%) SCSM
10 3 (1.08%) Single Sign-On
10 3 (1.08%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
11 2 (0.72%) AirWatch
Vendors
1 191 (68.46%) Microsoft
2 118 (42.29%) VMware
3 64 (22.94%) Citrix
4 53 (19.00%) Cisco
5 32 (11.47%) McAfee
6 20 (7.17%) SolarWinds
7 19 (6.81%) HP
7 19 (6.81%) Ivanti
7 19 (6.81%) Shavlik
8 13 (4.66%) NetApp
8 13 (4.66%) Veritas
9 12 (4.30%) Dell
9 12 (4.30%) Remedy
9 12 (4.30%) ServiceNow
10 11 (3.94%) EMC
10 11 (3.94%) Symantec
11 10 (3.58%) Veeam
12 8 (2.87%) Apple
12 8 (2.87%) Avaya
12 8 (2.87%) Fortinet