SolarWinds Contract Job Trends

SolarWinds
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring knowledge or experience of SolarWinds products and/or services. It includes a benchmarking guide to contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited SolarWinds over the 6 months leading up to 24 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

The figures below represent the IT contractor job market in general and are not representative of contractor rates within SolarWinds.

6 months to
24 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 436 357 433
Rank change year-on-year -79 +76 +131
Contract jobs citing SolarWinds 169 174 149
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.41% 0.58% 0.34%
As % of the Vendors category 0.92% 1.24% 0.77%
Number of daily rates quoted 128 117 109
10th Percentile £309 £363 £325
25th Percentile £413 £413 £420
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - +10.53%
75th Percentile £532 £625 £638
90th Percentile £587 £711 £703
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £525 £475
% change year-on-year -4.76% +10.53% +11.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 1 7
10th Percentile £44.28 - £47.60
25th Percentile £48.68 - £62.24
Median hourly rate £57.02 £38.00 £65.98
Median % change year-on-year +50.05% -42.41% +5.37%
75th Percentile £65.01 - -
90th Percentile £69.20 - £66.59
UK excluding London median hourly rate £57.02 - £65.98
% change year-on-year - - +5.37%

All Vendors
UK

SolarWinds falls under the Vendor Products and Services category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring knowledge or experience of all vendor products and services.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 18,290 14,047 19,302
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 44.64% 46.49% 43.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,744 8,511 12,087
10th Percentile £304 £281 £259
25th Percentile £413 £406 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £523 £520
Median % change year-on-year -4.31% +0.48% -1.89%
75th Percentile £604 £625 £630
90th Percentile £700 £713 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £498 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -0.50% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 905 415 949
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.62 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.05 £21.25 £15.50
Median hourly rate £24.00 £30.00 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year -20.00% +15.38% -23.62%
75th Percentile £58.75 £63.75 £56.49
90th Percentile £74.26 £80.75 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.50 £27.13 £26.00
% change year-on-year -17.05% +4.33% -18.52%

SolarWinds
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing SolarWinds relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

SolarWinds job vacancy trend in the UK

SolarWinds
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing SolarWinds.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing SolarWinds

SolarWinds
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SolarWinds over the 6 months to 24 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for SolarWinds in the UK

SolarWinds
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing SolarWinds.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing SolarWinds

SolarWinds
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing SolarWinds over the 6 months to 24 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for SolarWinds in the UK

SolarWinds
Top 13 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing SolarWinds within the UK over the 6 months to 24 February 2026. 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 -90 147 £500 -4.76% 35
UK excluding London -68 124 £500 -4.76% 33
South East -5 53 £500 +11.11% 20
Work from Home -11 52 £450 -10.00% 8
London -52 28 £500 - 9
West Midlands -56 24 £311 -43.51% 3
Midlands -73 24 £311 -46.79% 4
North of England -90 18 £338 -28.95% 3
South West -21 17 £550 +30.95% 2
North West -55 15 £340 -28.23% 2
East of England -16 6 £363 -37.23% 1
Scotland - 6 £500 - 1
Yorkshire -52 4 £238 +5.56% 1

SolarWinds
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 11 (6.51%) Confluence
1 11 (6.51%) Microsoft Exchange
1 11 (6.51%) SharePoint
2 6 (3.55%) IIS
2 6 (3.55%) Skype for Business
3 5 (2.96%) Apache
4 4 (2.37%) BizTalk Server
4 4 (2.37%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 13 (7.69%) MS Visio
2 6 (3.55%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.59%) Microsoft Excel
Cloud Services
1 47 (27.81%) Azure
2 35 (20.71%) AWS
3 14 (8.28%) Datadog
4 13 (7.69%) Entra ID
5 10 (5.92%) GCP
6 7 (4.14%) Microsoft 365
7 5 (2.96%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 5 (2.96%) Nutanix
7 5 (2.96%) Power Platform
7 5 (2.96%) SaaS
8 4 (2.37%) Azure Logic Apps
8 4 (2.37%) Azure Monitor
8 4 (2.37%) Cohesity
8 4 (2.37%) PaaS
8 4 (2.37%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 3 (1.78%) Mimecast
10 2 (1.18%) AWS Direct Connect
10 2 (1.18%) Azure Sentinel
10 2 (1.18%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 70 (41.42%) Firewall
2 51 (30.18%) WAN
3 46 (27.22%) LAN
4 43 (25.44%) DNS
5 35 (20.71%) DHCP
6 34 (20.12%) Cisco ISE
6 34 (20.12%) OSPF
7 32 (18.93%) BGP
7 32 (18.93%) Junos
8 30 (17.75%) VPN
9 23 (13.61%) VLAN
10 21 (12.43%) Network Security
11 20 (11.83%) VXLAN
12 19 (11.24%) Cisco Firepower
12 19 (11.24%) Cisco IOS
12 19 (11.24%) MPLS
13 18 (10.65%) SD-WAN
14 16 (9.47%) BIG-IP
14 16 (9.47%) Ethernet VPN
14 16 (9.47%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 12 (7.10%) SQL Server
2 6 (3.55%) SQL Server Integration Services
3 5 (2.96%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 5 (2.96%) JIRA
2 4 (2.37%) Git
2 4 (2.37%) Jenkins
3 3 (1.78%) Bitbucket
4 1 (0.59%) Sonatype Nexus
4 1 (0.59%) Subversion
General
1 43 (25.44%) Social Skills
2 28 (16.57%) Public Sector
3 24 (14.20%) Analytical Skills
4 13 (7.69%) Finance
5 7 (4.14%) Documentation Skills
5 7 (4.14%) Law
6 6 (3.55%) Legal
7 5 (2.96%) Presentation Skills
8 4 (2.37%) Manufacturing
8 4 (2.37%) Military
8 4 (2.37%) Telecoms
9 3 (1.78%) Influencing Skills
9 3 (1.78%) Retail
10 2 (1.18%) Aviation
11 1 (0.59%) Advertising
11 1 (0.59%) Aerospace
11 1 (0.59%) Financial Institution
11 1 (0.59%) French Language
11 1 (0.59%) Local Government
11 1 (0.59%) Police
Job Titles
1 68 (40.24%) Network Engineer
2 18 (10.65%) 3rd Line Engineer
2 18 (10.65%) Analyst
3 17 (10.06%) 3rd Line Network Engineer
3 17 (10.06%) Cloud Engineer
3 17 (10.06%) Cloud Network Engineer
4 16 (9.47%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
5 15 (8.88%) Senior
5 15 (8.88%) Support Engineer
6 14 (8.28%) Network Support
7 13 (7.69%) 3rd Line Support
7 13 (7.69%) Infrastructure Analyst
7 13 (7.69%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 13 (7.69%) Network Support Engineer
8 12 (7.10%) 3rd Line Support Engineer
9 11 (6.51%) Architect
10 9 (5.33%) Senior Network Engineer
11 8 (4.73%) Network Specialist
12 7 (4.14%) DBA
12 7 (4.14%) SQL DBA
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (10.06%) 802.1X
2 6 (3.55%) REST
3 4 (2.37%) JSON
4 2 (1.18%) LDAP
4 2 (1.18%) Middleware
4 2 (1.18%) SAML
5 1 (0.59%) Elastic Stack
5 1 (0.59%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 28 (16.57%) PKI
2 27 (15.98%) Clustering
2 27 (15.98%) Data Centre
3 14 (8.28%) Linux Command Line
4 8 (4.73%) CMDB
4 8 (4.73%) Onboarding
4 8 (4.73%) Operational Technology
5 7 (4.14%) Replication
5 7 (4.14%) Security Posture
6 5 (2.96%) Self-Motivation
7 3 (1.78%) Enterprise Software
7 3 (1.78%) Hybrid Cloud
8 2 (1.18%) Data Structures
8 2 (1.18%) Driving Licence
8 2 (1.18%) Management Information System
8 2 (1.18%) SCADA
8 2 (1.18%) Taxonomies
9 1 (0.59%) Cyber Kill Chain
9 1 (0.59%) Enterprise Storage
9 1 (0.59%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 63 (37.28%) Windows
2 35 (20.71%) Windows Server
3 27 (15.98%) Linux
4 7 (4.14%) Windows 10
5 5 (2.96%) Windows Server 2016
6 3 (1.78%) Unix
6 3 (1.78%) Windows Server 2019
7 1 (0.59%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.59%) Solaris
7 1 (0.59%) VMS
7 1 (0.59%) Windows 7
7 1 (0.59%) Windows Server 2003
7 1 (0.59%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 34 (20.12%) ITIL
1 34 (20.12%) Service Management
2 33 (19.53%) Problem-Solving
3 28 (16.57%) ITSM
4 27 (15.98%) High Availability
5 24 (14.20%) Agile
6 23 (13.61%) Network Monitoring
7 20 (11.83%) Load Balancing
8 17 (10.06%) Change Management
8 17 (10.06%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 17 (10.06%) Observability
9 15 (8.88%) Disaster Recovery
9 15 (8.88%) Project Delivery
10 14 (8.28%) Continuous Improvement
10 14 (8.28%) Identity Access Management
11 13 (7.69%) Network Design
12 12 (7.10%) Capacity Planning
13 10 (5.92%) Roadmaps
14 9 (5.33%) Incident Response
14 9 (5.33%) Network Virtualisation
Programming Languages
1 25 (14.79%) PowerShell
2 15 (8.88%) Python
3 13 (7.69%) SQL
4 8 (4.73%) Bash
5 4 (2.37%) Perl
6 1 (0.59%) JavaScript
Qualifications
1 79 (46.75%) Security Cleared
2 42 (24.85%) Cisco Certification
3 35 (20.71%) DV Cleared
3 35 (20.71%) SC Cleared
4 30 (17.75%) CCNP
5 19 (11.24%) CCNA
6 13 (7.69%) Degree
7 10 (5.92%) Microsoft Certification
8 9 (5.33%) JNCIS
9 8 (4.73%) CCIE
9 8 (4.73%) MCSE
10 7 (4.14%) JNCIP
11 6 (3.55%) ITIL Certification
11 6 (3.55%) JNCIA
12 5 (2.96%) Master's Degree
12 5 (2.96%) Network+ Certification
13 4 (2.37%) AWS Certification
14 3 (1.78%) (ISC)2 CCSP
14 3 (1.78%) BPSS Clearance
14 3 (1.78%) CCIE Security
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 6 (3.55%) PCI DSS
2 5 (2.96%) GDPR
2 5 (2.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 4 (2.37%) NIST
4 3 (1.78%) NCSC
4 3 (1.78%) QA
5 2 (1.18%) Data Quality
6 1 (0.59%) Disclosure Scotland
6 1 (0.59%) GRC
6 1 (0.59%) ISO/IEC 20000
6 1 (0.59%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 49 (28.99%) Active Directory
2 44 (26.04%) VMware Infrastructure
3 31 (18.34%) VMware NSX
4 17 (10.06%) vSphere
5 12 (7.10%) Hyper-V
6 5 (2.96%) Firmware
6 5 (2.96%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 5 (2.96%) Virtual Machines
6 5 (2.96%) Virtual Servers
7 1 (0.59%) KVM
7 1 (0.59%) RHEV
7 1 (0.59%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.59%) Xen
7 1 (0.59%) XenApp
7 1 (0.59%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 28 (16.57%) vCenter Server
2 26 (15.38%) Ansible
3 19 (11.24%) Terraform
4 18 (10.65%) Nagios
5 17 (10.06%) FortiGate
6 16 (9.47%) SCCM
7 13 (7.69%) vRealize
8 12 (7.10%) VxRail
9 10 (5.92%) WSUS
10 9 (5.33%) Cisco Prime
11 6 (3.55%) Microsoft Clustering
12 5 (2.96%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 5 (2.96%) Microsoft Intune
13 4 (2.37%) Iperf
13 4 (2.37%) Nmap
13 4 (2.37%) Pingdom
14 3 (1.78%) Red Hat Satellite
14 3 (1.78%) Single Sign-On
15 2 (1.18%) Cisco CUCM
15 2 (1.18%) PowerCLI
Vendors
1 120 (71.01%) Cisco
2 48 (28.40%) VMware
3 46 (27.22%) Juniper
4 32 (18.93%) Palo Alto
5 27 (15.98%) Fortinet
6 26 (15.38%) F5
6 26 (15.38%) Splunk
7 25 (14.79%) Microsoft
8 20 (11.83%) Veeam
9 18 (10.65%) CheckPoint
10 17 (10.06%) ServiceNow
11 15 (8.88%) AppDynamics
11 15 (8.88%) Commvault
12 14 (8.28%) Dell
12 14 (8.28%) Extreme Networks
12 14 (8.28%) IBM
13 13 (7.69%) HP
13 13 (7.69%) Meraki
14 11 (6.51%) Aruba
15 10 (5.92%) LogicMonitor