Windows Server Contracts

Microsoft Windows Server
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring Windows Server skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Windows Server 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 136 95 85
Rank change year-on-year -41 -10 +31
Contract jobs citing Windows Server 623 1,014 1,686
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 2.13% 2.33% 2.82%
As % of the Operating Systems category 15.29% 17.45% 17.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 425 726 1,214
10th Percentile £313 £205 £210
25th Percentile £413 £313 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £465 £500
Median % change year-on-year +12.90% -7.00% +14.29%
75th Percentile £600 £594 £600
90th Percentile £675 £700 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £475 £475
% change year-on-year +10.53% - +17.28%
Number of hourly rates quoted 5 21 61
10th Percentile £15.70 £15.76 £20.00
25th Percentile £16.25 £16.25 £24.62
Median hourly rate £17.75 £38.50 £29.30
Median % change year-on-year -53.90% +31.40% +27.39%
75th Percentile £19.38 £61.60 £49.52
90th Percentile £52.00 £65.00 £60.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £17.75 £55.25 £37.50
% change year-on-year -67.87% +47.33% +70.45%

All Operating Systems
UK

Windows Server falls under the Operating Systems category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring operating system skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for operating system skills 4,075 5,812 9,696
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 13.94% 13.33% 16.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,687 3,913 6,831
10th Percentile £200 £183 £190
25th Percentile £319 £300 £331
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £468 £505
Median % change year-on-year +1.50% -7.33% +1.00%
75th Percentile £594 £588 £638
90th Percentile £699 £700 £719
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £475
% change year-on-year - -5.26% +11.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 177 397 416
10th Percentile £16.25 £12.75 £14.25
25th Percentile £18.13 £15.50 £17.75
Median hourly rate £24.18 £22.00 £39.30
Median % change year-on-year +9.91% -44.02% +74.67%
75th Percentile £62.50 £60.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £68.00 £70.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.00 £22.00 £31.25
% change year-on-year +4.55% -29.60% +56.25%

Windows Server
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing Windows Server as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Windows Server in the UK

Windows Server
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Windows Server.

Daily rate trend for Windows Server in the UK

Windows Server
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Windows Server over the 6 months to 30 April 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Windows Server in the UK

Windows Server
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Windows Server.

Hourly rate trend for Windows Server in the UK

Windows Server
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Windows Server over the 6 months to 30 April 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Windows Server in the UK

Windows Server
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 Windows Server 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 -39 531 £538 +16.01% 616
UK excluding London -16 377 £525 +10.53% 486
London -46 195 £525 +16.67% 159
Work from Home -12 173 £500 +6.38% 297
North of England -6 104 £500 +5.26% 136
South East -21 95 £550 - 140
South West +41 78 £575 +15.00% 57
North West +5 66 £438 -45.31% 75
Scotland +6 51 £500 -4.76% 21
Yorkshire -3 33 £550 +69.23% 44
Midlands -28 27 £400 +14.29% 90
East of England +24 23 £450 +83.67% 45
West Midlands -19 19 £375 +3.45% 40
East Midlands -4 8 £500 +53.85% 49
Wales -3 7 £365 +64.04% 7
North East -13 4 £600 +20.00% 21

Windows Server
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
1 105 (16.85%) Microsoft Exchange
2 62 (9.95%) SharePoint
3 33 (5.30%) IIS
4 20 (3.21%) Confluence
5 16 (2.57%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 11 (1.77%) Tomcat
7 10 (1.61%) Skype for Business
8 7 (1.12%) JBoss
9 5 (0.80%) BizTalk Server
10 4 (0.64%) Apache
10 4 (0.64%) SharePoint 2010
11 2 (0.32%) CMS
11 2 (0.32%) SAS
11 2 (0.32%) SharePoint Server
11 2 (0.32%) WebSphere
12 1 (0.16%) DataSynapse
12 1 (0.16%) nginx
12 1 (0.16%) WinCC
Applications
1 43 (6.90%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (0.80%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 5 (0.80%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.64%) InfoPath
4 2 (0.32%) ProjectWise
5 1 (0.16%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 5 (0.80%) Dynamics CRM
1 5 (0.80%) Dynamics GP
1 5 (0.80%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.16%) Fidessa
2 1 (0.16%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 278 (44.62%) Azure
2 146 (23.43%) Microsoft 365
3 126 (20.22%) AWS
4 123 (19.74%) Entra ID
5 52 (8.35%) IaaS
6 44 (7.06%) OpenShift
7 28 (4.49%) GCP
8 27 (4.33%) SaaS
9 25 (4.01%) Cloud Computing
10 24 (3.85%) PaaS
11 20 (3.21%) GitHub
11 20 (3.21%) OneDrive
12 19 (3.05%) Azure DevOps
12 19 (3.05%) Nutanix
13 14 (2.25%) Amazon EC2
13 14 (2.25%) Amazon S3
14 12 (1.93%) Azure Monitor
15 11 (1.77%) Azure Stack
16 10 (1.61%) Cohesity
16 10 (1.61%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 185 (29.70%) DNS
2 121 (19.42%) DHCP
3 109 (17.50%) Firewall
4 66 (10.59%) VPN
5 55 (8.83%) TCP/IP
6 47 (7.54%) SAN
7 40 (6.42%) LAN
8 35 (5.62%) NAS
8 35 (5.62%) Network Security
9 29 (4.65%) WAN
10 23 (3.69%) HTTP
11 22 (3.53%) SMTP
12 18 (2.89%) Intrusion Detection
13 17 (2.73%) Skype
14 16 (2.57%) Wi-Fi
15 14 (2.25%) MPLS
15 14 (2.25%) SSL
16 10 (1.61%) NetScaler
17 9 (1.44%) Fibre Channel
17 9 (1.44%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 87 (13.96%) SQL Server
2 23 (3.69%) Elasticsearch
2 23 (3.69%) Oracle Database
3 19 (3.05%) Big Data
4 15 (2.41%) Amazon RDS
5 13 (2.09%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 9 (1.44%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 8 (1.28%) PostgreSQL
8 7 (1.12%) DB2
9 6 (0.96%) Relational Database
10 5 (0.80%) Azure SQL Database
10 5 (0.80%) MongoDB
11 3 (0.48%) Apache Cassandra
11 3 (0.48%) Neo4j
11 3 (0.48%) Oracle Reports
11 3 (0.48%) Sybase ASE
12 2 (0.32%) Data Warehouse
12 2 (0.32%) Hadoop
12 2 (0.32%) IDOL
12 2 (0.32%) MSDE
Development Applications
1 45 (7.22%) Git
2 43 (6.90%) Jenkins
3 30 (4.82%) JIRA
4 16 (2.57%) Bitbucket
5 14 (2.25%) GitLab
6 7 (1.12%) SonarQube
7 3 (0.48%) Artifactory
7 3 (0.48%) JUnit
7 3 (0.48%) Octopus Deploy
7 3 (0.48%) Selenium
7 3 (0.48%) Sonatype Nexus
8 2 (0.32%) HP UFT
8 2 (0.32%) LoadRunner
8 2 (0.32%) Subversion
8 2 (0.32%) TeamCity
9 1 (0.16%) Atlassian Bamboo
9 1 (0.16%) NUnit
9 1 (0.16%) Serena SBM
9 1 (0.16%) Spinnaker
9 1 (0.16%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 178 (28.57%) Social Skills
2 95 (15.25%) Finance
3 71 (11.40%) Public Sector
4 46 (7.38%) Analytical Skills
5 27 (4.33%) Banking
6 24 (3.85%) Telecoms
7 19 (3.05%) Documentation Skills
8 17 (2.73%) Manufacturing
9 16 (2.57%) Legal
10 14 (2.25%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 13 (2.09%) Law
12 8 (1.28%) Military
13 6 (0.96%) Marketing
13 6 (0.96%) Presentation Skills
14 5 (0.80%) Electronics
14 5 (0.80%) Investment Banking
14 5 (0.80%) Police
14 5 (0.80%) Spanish Language
15 4 (0.64%) Organisational Skills
16 3 (0.48%) German Language
Job Titles
1 161 (25.84%) Infrastructure Engineer
2 56 (8.99%) Architect
3 51 (8.19%) Senior
4 44 (7.06%) Support Engineer
5 41 (6.58%) Analyst
6 40 (6.42%) Windows Engineer
7 30 (4.82%) Infrastructure Specialist
8 29 (4.65%) Administrator
9 27 (4.33%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
9 27 (4.33%) Server Engineer
10 25 (4.01%) 3rd Line Engineer
11 23 (3.69%) Azure Engineer
12 22 (3.53%) IT Engineer
13 21 (3.37%) Linux Engineer
14 19 (3.05%) 3rd Line Infrastructure Engineer
14 19 (3.05%) Infrastructure Architect
15 17 (2.73%) DevOps Engineer
15 17 (2.73%) Lead
16 16 (2.57%) Support Analyst
17 15 (2.41%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (3.37%) .NET
2 18 (2.89%) REST
3 15 (2.41%) LDAP
4 10 (1.61%) SOAP
5 7 (1.12%) ASP.NET
6 6 (0.96%) Middleware
6 6 (0.96%) RabbitMQ
7 5 (0.80%) ARM Templates
7 5 (0.80%) Web Services
8 4 (0.64%) .NET Framework
8 4 (0.64%) Apache Axis
8 4 (0.64%) Azure Blueprints
8 4 (0.64%) Elastic Stack
8 4 (0.64%) HTML
8 4 (0.64%) SAML
9 3 (0.48%) AngularJS
9 3 (0.48%) Apache NiFi
9 3 (0.48%) ASP.NET Core
9 3 (0.48%) OpenAPI
9 3 (0.48%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 67 (10.75%) PKI
2 48 (7.70%) Data Centre
3 36 (5.78%) Clustering
4 35 (5.62%) Hybrid Cloud
5 27 (4.33%) Management Information System
6 26 (4.17%) Onboarding
7 23 (3.69%) Linux Command Line
8 17 (2.73%) Public Cloud
8 17 (2.73%) Self-Motivation
9 13 (2.09%) Data Protection Act
9 13 (2.09%) Security Posture
10 11 (1.77%) Replication
11 9 (1.44%) Enterprise Software
12 8 (1.28%) Client/Server
12 8 (1.28%) Video Conferencing
13 7 (1.12%) Cloud Native
14 6 (0.96%) Cyber Threat
14 6 (0.96%) Enterprise Storage
14 6 (0.96%) Private Cloud
15 5 (0.80%) SWIFT Messaging Network
Operating Systems
1 622 (99.84%) Windows
2 208 (33.39%) Linux
3 86 (13.80%) Windows 10
3 86 (13.80%) Windows Server 2016
4 75 (12.04%) Windows Server 2019
5 60 (9.63%) Windows Server 2012
6 59 (9.47%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 37 (5.94%) Unix
8 23 (3.69%) Windows Server 2003
9 22 (3.53%) Ubuntu
10 15 (2.41%) CentOS
10 15 (2.41%) VMS
11 12 (1.93%) Android
12 10 (1.61%) Windows Server 2008
13 8 (1.28%) Solaris
14 7 (1.12%) Amazon Linux
15 6 (0.96%) Mac OS
15 6 (0.96%) Windows 8
16 5 (0.80%) Apple iOS
16 5 (0.80%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 216 (34.67%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 127 (20.39%) Problem-Solving
3 109 (17.50%) ITIL
4 100 (16.05%) Migration
5 92 (14.77%) DevOps
6 89 (14.29%) Agile
7 57 (9.15%) High Availability
8 55 (8.83%) Disaster Recovery
9 46 (7.38%) Service Management
10 43 (6.90%) Patch Management
11 42 (6.74%) Project Delivery
12 40 (6.42%) Configuration Management
13 37 (5.94%) Cybersecurity
14 36 (5.78%) CI/CD
15 35 (5.62%) Server Management
16 33 (5.30%) Change Management
16 33 (5.30%) Roadmaps
17 32 (5.14%) ITSM
18 30 (4.82%) Data Protection
19 29 (4.65%) Business Continuity
Programming Languages
1 265 (42.54%) PowerShell
2 109 (17.50%) Python
3 104 (16.69%) SQL
4 64 (10.27%) Bash
5 30 (4.82%) Java
6 26 (4.17%) C#
7 23 (3.69%) Perl
8 22 (3.53%) PL/SQL
9 18 (2.89%) Shell Script
10 15 (2.41%) VBScript
11 10 (1.61%) JavaScript
12 7 (1.12%) VB
13 6 (0.96%) Bicep
14 5 (0.80%) C++
15 4 (0.64%) Ruby
16 3 (0.48%) T-SQL
17 1 (0.16%) ActionScript
17 1 (0.16%) C
17 1 (0.16%) FoxPro (VFP)
17 1 (0.16%) Korn
Qualifications
1 225 (36.12%) Security Cleared
2 139 (22.31%) SC Cleared
3 83 (13.32%) DV Cleared
4 58 (9.31%) Degree
5 56 (8.99%) Microsoft Certification
6 35 (5.62%) Azure Certification
7 34 (5.46%) Cisco Certification
8 25 (4.01%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 24 (3.85%) MCSE
10 15 (2.41%) CISSP
11 13 (2.09%) AWS Certification
12 11 (1.77%) CCNP
12 11 (1.77%) RHCE
13 10 (1.61%) CompTIA Security+
13 10 (1.61%) MCSA
13 10 (1.61%) OCA
13 10 (1.61%) Oracle Certification
14 9 (1.44%) CISM
14 9 (1.44%) RHCA
15 7 (1.12%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (2.89%) SLA
2 12 (1.93%) GDPR
2 12 (1.93%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 12 (1.93%) QA
3 7 (1.12%) Accessibility
3 7 (1.12%) NCSC
4 5 (0.80%) Cyber Essentials
4 5 (0.80%) Disclosure Scotland
4 5 (0.80%) Government Security Classifications
4 5 (0.80%) NIST
5 4 (0.64%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 4 (0.64%) PCI DSS
5 4 (0.64%) SOC 2
6 2 (0.32%) HMG Security Policy Framework
6 2 (0.32%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 1 (0.16%) HL7
7 1 (0.16%) IEC 61131
7 1 (0.16%) JSP 440
7 1 (0.16%) PMO
System Software
1 363 (58.27%) Active Directory
2 179 (28.73%) VMware Infrastructure
3 104 (16.69%) Hyper-V
4 58 (9.31%) VMware ESXi
5 50 (8.03%) Docker
6 49 (7.87%) vSphere
7 32 (5.14%) Virtual Machines
8 18 (2.89%) Microsoft App-V
8 18 (2.89%) Virtual Servers
9 17 (2.73%) BitLocker
10 16 (2.57%) Virtual Desktop
11 14 (2.25%) VMware NSX
12 11 (1.77%) Terminal Services
13 10 (1.61%) Microsoft Virtual Server
14 9 (1.44%) XenApp
14 9 (1.44%) XenDesktop
15 7 (1.12%) NFS
16 4 (0.64%) Citrix Hypervisor
16 4 (0.64%) Firmware
16 4 (0.64%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 85 (13.64%) Ansible
2 73 (11.72%) Microsoft Intune
3 71 (11.40%) SCCM
4 69 (11.08%) Terraform
5 63 (10.11%) Kubernetes
6 61 (9.79%) vCenter Server
7 54 (8.67%) WSUS
8 38 (6.10%) Puppet
9 18 (2.89%) NetBackup
10 17 (2.73%) SCOM
11 15 (2.41%) Progress Chef
11 15 (2.41%) vMotion
12 13 (2.09%) Microsoft Clustering
12 13 (2.09%) Nagios
12 13 (2.09%) Nessus
13 12 (1.93%) Single Sign-On
14 11 (1.77%) Oracle RMAN
15 10 (1.61%) Active Directory Federation Services
15 10 (1.61%) Kibana
16 8 (1.28%) VxRail
Vendors
1 275 (44.14%) Microsoft
2 266 (42.70%) VMware
3 77 (12.36%) Cisco
4 63 (10.11%) Red Hat
5 61 (9.79%) Oracle
6 48 (7.70%) Citrix
7 39 (6.26%) Dell
8 31 (4.98%) HP
9 23 (3.69%) SolarWinds
10 22 (3.53%) Google
11 21 (3.37%) Symantec
11 21 (3.37%) Veeam
12 20 (3.21%) Veritas
13 19 (3.05%) CyberArk
14 17 (2.73%) NetApp
15 15 (2.41%) IBM
16 14 (2.25%) Atlassian
16 14 (2.25%) ServiceNow
17 12 (1.93%) Zscaler
18 11 (1.77%) EMC