Service Management Contracts

Service Management
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring Service Management skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Service Management over the 6 months leading up to 30 April 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 Apr 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 86 78 87
Rank change year-on-year -8 +9 +21
Contract jobs citing Service Management 834 1,176 1,659
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 2.85% 2.70% 2.78%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.14% 3.13% 3.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 509 787 1,190
10th Percentile £238 £282 £240
25th Percentile £400 £425 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £500
Median % change year-on-year - +5.00% -3.85%
75th Percentile £606 £608 £625
90th Percentile £700 £731 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £536 £525 £475
% change year-on-year +2.14% +10.53% +2.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 33 23 45
10th Percentile - £12.85 £17.50
25th Percentile £12.62 £15.46 £20.44
Median hourly rate £22.14 £17.72 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year +24.94% -67.78% +208.86%
75th Percentile £30.68 £26.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £68.50 £57.00 £65.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.14 £17.72 £60.00
% change year-on-year +24.94% -70.47% +252.94%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

Service Management falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 26,551 37,621 53,662
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 90.82% 86.30% 89.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,137 24,254 37,244
10th Percentile £308 £300 £325
25th Percentile £413 £413 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £521 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -0.86% -4.55% +4.76%
75th Percentile £630 £638 £650
90th Percentile £744 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £481 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -3.80% - +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,071 2,437 1,746
10th Percentile £14.70 £12.75 £11.00
25th Percentile £18.50 £16.00 £16.25
Median hourly rate £29.00 £35.50 £37.30
Median % change year-on-year -18.31% -4.83% +49.20%
75th Percentile £62.00 £59.95 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £72.50 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.94 £36.50 £36.00
% change year-on-year -23.45% +1.39% +80.00%

Service Management
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing Service Management as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Service Management in the UK

Service Management
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Service Management.

Daily rate trend for Service Management in the UK

Service Management
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Service Management over the 6 months to 30 April 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Service Management in the UK

Service Management
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Service Management.

Hourly rate trend for Service Management in the UK

Service Management
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Service Management over the 6 months to 30 April 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Service Management in the UK

Service Management
Top 17 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Service Management within the UK over the 6 months to 30 April 2025. 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
Jobs
England -7 717 £525 - 522
UK excluding London -7 481 £536 +2.14% 395
London +4 271 £525 +3.70% 173
Work from Home -36 238 £500 -4.76% 239
South West +23 162 £551 +4.95% 46
North of England -30 103 £475 -5.00% 96
South East -32 67 £463 -19.57% 101
Scotland 0 63 £520 -7.47% 26
Midlands -7 52 £551 +10.10% 77
North West -33 49 £523 +5.98% 63
West Midlands +11 48 £551 +16.00% 54
Yorkshire -11 46 £425 -22.73% 24
East of England +19 33 £550 +4.76% 37
North East -4 8 £195 -60.00% 9
East Midlands -13 4 £383 -23.50% 23
Wales -7 3 £388 -27.57% 7
Channel Islands - 2 £425 -

Service Management
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

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

Application Platforms
1 50 (6.00%) Confluence
2 32 (3.84%) Microsoft Exchange
3 26 (3.12%) SharePoint
4 7 (0.84%) Skype for Business
5 5 (0.60%) CMS
6 4 (0.48%) Oracle Workflow
7 3 (0.36%) OpenStack
7 3 (0.36%) WebSphere
8 2 (0.24%) IIS
9 1 (0.12%) Anypoint
9 1 (0.12%) JBoss
9 1 (0.12%) NetWeaver
9 1 (0.12%) WebLogic
9 1 (0.12%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 94 (11.27%) Microsoft Office
2 24 (2.88%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (1.56%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (1.08%) MS Visio
5 6 (0.72%) Spreadsheet
6 2 (0.24%) Adobe Illustrator
6 2 (0.24%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.24%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.12%) Camtasia
7 1 (0.12%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.12%) Final Cut Pro
Business Applications
1 17 (2.04%) Remedy ITSM
2 5 (0.60%) SAP S/4HANA
3 3 (0.36%) SAP LE
3 3 (0.36%) SAP WM
4 2 (0.24%) Aladdin
4 2 (0.24%) Dynamics GP
4 2 (0.24%) SAP ERP
4 2 (0.24%) Shopify
5 1 (0.12%) Cloudability
5 1 (0.12%) IBM Planning Analytics
5 1 (0.12%) Loan IQ
5 1 (0.12%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.12%) Oracle EBS R12
5 1 (0.12%) Oracle ERP
5 1 (0.12%) Oracle iProcurement
5 1 (0.12%) Remedy AR System
5 1 (0.12%) SAP MM
5 1 (0.12%) SAP PP
5 1 (0.12%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 93 (11.15%) Azure
2 77 (9.23%) Microsoft 365
3 71 (8.51%) AWS
4 24 (2.88%) Entra ID
4 24 (2.88%) GCP
5 12 (1.44%) OpenShift
5 12 (1.44%) Power Platform
5 12 (1.44%) SaaS
6 10 (1.20%) GitHub
6 10 (1.20%) OCI
7 9 (1.08%) Azure DevOps
8 8 (0.96%) Azure Monitor
9 7 (0.84%) Slack
10 6 (0.72%) Azure Sentinel
10 6 (0.72%) Google Workspace
10 6 (0.72%) IaaS
10 6 (0.72%) OneDrive
11 5 (0.60%) Asana
11 5 (0.60%) Azure AKS
11 5 (0.60%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 50 (6.00%) Firewall
2 31 (3.72%) DNS
3 30 (3.60%) VPN
4 28 (3.36%) DHCP
5 26 (3.12%) Network Security
6 21 (2.52%) TCP/IP
7 19 (2.28%) BGP
7 19 (2.28%) OSPF
8 17 (2.04%) HTTP
9 16 (1.92%) Cisco IOS
10 13 (1.56%) WAN
10 13 (1.56%) Wi-Fi
11 12 (1.44%) LAN
11 12 (1.44%) Skype
12 11 (1.32%) EIGRP
12 11 (1.32%) Intranet
12 11 (1.32%) RIP
12 11 (1.32%) Spanning Tree
13 9 (1.08%) VXLAN
14 8 (0.96%) 5G
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (2.16%) SQL Server
2 7 (0.84%) MySQL
2 7 (0.84%) NoSQL
2 7 (0.84%) Relational Database
3 6 (0.72%) PostgreSQL
3 6 (0.72%) Power BI
4 5 (0.60%) Elasticsearch
4 5 (0.60%) Oracle Reports
4 5 (0.60%) SAP HANA
5 4 (0.48%) Data Lake
5 4 (0.48%) InterSystems Cache
5 4 (0.48%) MariaDB
5 4 (0.48%) Oracle Database
5 4 (0.48%) RDBMS
5 4 (0.48%) Tableau
6 3 (0.36%) DB2
6 3 (0.36%) Electronic Patient Records
6 3 (0.36%) Oracle Exadata
7 2 (0.24%) Amazon RDS
7 2 (0.24%) Pentaho
Development Applications
1 93 (11.15%) JIRA
2 33 (3.96%) Jenkins
3 20 (2.40%) Bitbucket
4 19 (2.28%) Git
5 13 (1.56%) GitLab
6 6 (0.72%) LoadRunner
7 4 (0.48%) JMeter
7 4 (0.48%) ScriptRunner
7 4 (0.48%) webpack
8 3 (0.36%) Artifactory
8 3 (0.36%) NeoLoad
9 2 (0.24%) HP UFT
9 2 (0.24%) TeamCity
10 1 (0.12%) Atlassian Bamboo
10 1 (0.12%) JIRA Agile
10 1 (0.12%) Maven
10 1 (0.12%) SonarQube
10 1 (0.12%) Subversion
10 1 (0.12%) Team Foundation Server
10 1 (0.12%) Zephyr
General
1 343 (41.13%) Social Skills
2 175 (20.98%) Analytical Skills
3 134 (16.07%) Public Sector
4 123 (14.75%) Finance
5 49 (5.88%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 43 (5.16%) Telecoms
7 42 (5.04%) Organisational Skills
8 33 (3.96%) Banking
9 31 (3.72%) Retail
10 30 (3.60%) Manufacturing
11 25 (3.00%) Legal
12 16 (1.92%) Marketing
13 14 (1.68%) Law
13 14 (1.68%) Military
13 14 (1.68%) Presentation Skills
14 12 (1.44%) Billing
14 12 (1.44%) Electronics
15 9 (1.08%) Police
16 8 (0.96%) Back Office
16 8 (0.96%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 101 (12.11%) Service Manager
2 89 (10.67%) Analyst
3 81 (9.71%) Architect
4 60 (7.19%) Lead
5 56 (6.71%) Senior
6 50 (6.00%) Support Engineer
7 44 (5.28%) Developer
8 38 (4.56%) IT Manager
8 38 (4.56%) IT Support
9 32 (3.84%) Consultant
10 28 (3.36%) Delivery Manager
11 27 (3.24%) IT Engineer
12 26 (3.12%) Administrator
12 26 (3.12%) ServiceNow Architect
13 25 (3.00%) 2nd Line Support
13 25 (3.00%) ServiceNow Developer
14 24 (2.88%) Service Delivery Manager
15 23 (2.76%) Service Analyst
15 23 (2.76%) Solutions Architect
15 23 (2.76%) Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 42 (5.04%) HTML
2 31 (3.72%) CSS
3 29 (3.48%) Web Services
4 28 (3.36%) REST
5 26 (3.12%) SOAP
6 22 (2.64%) .NET
7 19 (2.28%) AngularJS
8 14 (1.68%) Flash
9 11 (1.32%) 802.1X
9 11 (1.32%) RESTful
9 11 (1.32%) XML
10 10 (1.20%) JSON
10 10 (1.20%) Node.js
11 9 (1.08%) Ajax
11 9 (1.08%) Oracle Fusion
12 5 (0.60%) jQuery
12 5 (0.60%) OpenTelemetry
12 5 (0.60%) React
12 5 (0.60%) Spine.js
13 4 (0.48%) Redux
Miscellaneous
1 71 (8.51%) CMDB
2 57 (6.83%) Management Information System
3 37 (4.44%) Onboarding
4 23 (2.76%) Data Centre
5 19 (2.28%) Cloud Native
5 19 (2.28%) Smartphone
6 18 (2.16%) Clustering
7 17 (2.04%) PKI
8 16 (1.92%) iPhone
9 15 (1.80%) Self-Motivation
10 12 (1.44%) Legacy Systems
11 11 (1.32%) Product Ownership
12 10 (1.20%) Enterprise Software
13 9 (1.08%) Replication
14 8 (0.96%) Analytical Mindset
14 8 (0.96%) Data Protection Act
15 7 (0.84%) Distributed Systems
15 7 (0.84%) Video Conferencing
16 6 (0.72%) Mainframe
16 6 (0.72%) Team-Oriented Environment
Operating Systems
1 153 (18.35%) Windows
2 68 (8.15%) Linux
3 46 (5.52%) Windows Server
4 44 (5.28%) Windows 10
5 30 (3.60%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 19 (2.28%) Mac OS
7 17 (2.04%) Unix
8 14 (1.68%) Android
8 14 (1.68%) Apple iOS
9 10 (1.20%) Solaris
10 8 (0.96%) Windows Server 2012
11 6 (0.72%) AIX
11 6 (0.72%) HPUX
12 5 (0.60%) CatOS
13 4 (0.48%) Ubuntu
13 4 (0.48%) VMS
13 4 (0.48%) Windows 7
13 4 (0.48%) Windows Server 2016
14 2 (0.24%) CentOS
14 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 444 (53.24%) ITIL
2 347 (41.61%) ITSM
3 193 (23.14%) Problem-Solving
4 178 (21.34%) Agile
5 131 (15.71%) Service Delivery
6 113 (13.55%) Change Management
7 107 (12.83%) Incident Management
8 106 (12.71%) Continuous Improvement
8 106 (12.71%) Customer Service
9 103 (12.35%) Stakeholder Management
10 89 (10.67%) Project Management
11 82 (9.83%) DevOps
12 81 (9.71%) Problem Management
13 71 (8.51%) Configuration Management
14 55 (6.59%) Asset Management
14 55 (6.59%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 51 (6.12%) CI/CD
16 49 (5.88%) Computer Science
17 45 (5.40%) Decision-Making
18 44 (5.28%) Collaborative Working
Programming Languages
1 59 (7.07%) Python
2 57 (6.83%) JavaScript
3 53 (6.35%) PowerShell
4 37 (4.44%) SQL
5 30 (3.60%) Bash
6 26 (3.12%) Java
7 13 (1.56%) C#
8 7 (0.84%) TypeScript
9 6 (0.72%) Bicep
10 5 (0.60%) ActionScript
10 5 (0.60%) ActionScript 2.0
10 5 (0.60%) Kusto Query Language
10 5 (0.60%) VB
10 5 (0.60%) VBScript
11 4 (0.48%) C
11 4 (0.48%) Groovy
11 4 (0.48%) MUMPS
11 4 (0.48%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.12%) Apex Code
12 1 (0.12%) SOQL
Qualifications
1 280 (33.57%) Security Cleared
2 225 (26.98%) SC Cleared
3 104 (12.47%) Degree
4 69 (8.27%) ITIL Certification
5 59 (7.07%) DV Cleared
6 42 (5.04%) Cisco Certification
7 29 (3.48%) CCNP
7 29 (3.48%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
8 21 (2.52%) Computer Science Degree
9 19 (2.28%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 18 (2.16%) CCNA
11 17 (2.04%) Microsoft Certification
12 14 (1.68%) Master's Degree
13 13 (1.56%) PMI Certification
14 12 (1.44%) PMP
15 11 (1.32%) BPSS Clearance
15 11 (1.32%) Oracle Certification
16 10 (1.20%) Azure Certification
17 9 (1.08%) OCA
17 9 (1.08%) RHCE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 46 (5.52%) SLA
2 24 (2.88%) QA
3 10 (1.20%) ISO/IEC 20000
4 8 (0.96%) GDPR
4 8 (0.96%) PMO
4 8 (0.96%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 7 (0.84%) Data Quality
5 7 (0.84%) Disclosure Scotland
5 7 (0.84%) NIST
6 5 (0.60%) Accessibility
6 5 (0.60%) GRC
7 4 (0.48%) COBIT
8 3 (0.36%) GxP
8 3 (0.36%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 2 (0.24%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.12%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.12%) HIPAA
10 1 (0.12%) NCSC
10 1 (0.12%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.12%) WCAG
System Software
1 78 (9.35%) Active Directory
2 66 (7.91%) VMware Infrastructure
3 24 (2.88%) Docker
4 20 (2.40%) Hyper-V
5 17 (2.04%) VMware NSX
6 15 (1.80%) VMware ESXi
7 10 (1.20%) Virtual Desktop
8 5 (0.60%) BitLocker
8 5 (0.60%) vSphere
9 4 (0.48%) Microsoft Virtual Server
9 4 (0.48%) Oracle RAC
9 4 (0.48%) Virtual Servers
10 3 (0.36%) Apache ZooKeeper
11 2 (0.24%) Firmware
11 2 (0.24%) VMware Workstation
12 1 (0.12%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 64 (7.67%) Ansible
2 48 (5.76%) Terraform
3 39 (4.68%) Kubernetes
4 31 (3.72%) vCenter Server
5 29 (3.48%) Puppet
6 26 (3.12%) Microsoft Intune
6 26 (3.12%) SCCM
7 16 (1.92%) Jamf Pro
8 15 (1.80%) Grafana
8 15 (1.80%) Progress Chef
9 9 (1.08%) Prometheus
10 8 (0.96%) WSUS
11 7 (0.84%) SCOM
12 6 (0.72%) Packer
12 6 (0.72%) Single Sign-On
13 5 (0.60%) Data Guard
13 5 (0.60%) Opsgenie
14 4 (0.48%) NSN NetAct
15 3 (0.36%) logstash
15 3 (0.36%) Oracle Flashback
Vendors
1 208 (24.94%) ServiceNow
2 156 (18.71%) Microsoft
3 70 (8.39%) VMware
4 55 (6.59%) Cisco
5 44 (5.28%) Oracle
6 41 (4.92%) Atlassian
7 36 (4.32%) SAP
8 25 (3.00%) Google
9 23 (2.76%) Remedy
10 22 (2.64%) IBM
11 20 (2.40%) Apple
12 16 (1.92%) BMC
12 16 (1.92%) Juniper
12 16 (1.92%) Red Hat
13 11 (1.32%) HP
13 11 (1.32%) Palo Alto
14 10 (1.20%) Broadcom
14 10 (1.20%) Dell
14 10 (1.20%) Salesforce
15 9 (1.08%) CheckPoint