The last two years have been eventful for big house certification companies such as Microsoft, and as the greater need for practical and valid qualifications has arisen, they have seen a further increase in certification sales, which is to continue throughout 2011. The Robert Half salary guide, announced in October 2010, is a guide that demonstrates ongoing technological business needs and certification trends, which will give any business or individual a good idea of 2011's computer certification trends.

With a gigantic 64% of CIOs recognising that understaffing was slowing down the process of technological improvement in the work place and 51% (The Robert Half Salary Guide) finding their biggest challenge was to find skilled staff, it appears that the average modern business require very able, capable and certified staff.

Before, we view the top possible certifications; we need an overview of the areas that are to expand in the next year. 2011 will see a higher demand for IT professionals in business services, health care and the oil and gas industries. In America and Canada, these industries are set to expand, and so is the private sector, whilst especially in the UK, the health care sector is to go under a metamorphosis to run more efficiently. All of this expansion and change needs then some adequate hands with IT certifications under their belts.

According to the RH salary guide areas that are to expand in IT include: technical developers, technical analysists, consultancy, database administrators, business analysist, IT auditor, data architect, web designers, web developers, network and security based jobs. As you can see, most of the posts becoming available are furthering the technological development of a business, as well as maintaining systems for the future.

So bearing in mind this metamorphosis of IT for 2011, we are to see a number of big house certifications in demand, including the popular MCSE (Microsoft certified systems engineer), MCITP (Microsoft certified IT professional), MCTS (Microsoft certified technology specialist), MCAD (Microsoft certified applications developer) from Microsoft. These certifications from Microsoft charter a great number of in demand skills, from the implementation of new technologies to the maintenance.

With an increase of security risks, it has also become vital for companies to employ security savvy individuals, who have qualifications, such as the CISSP (certified information systems security professional) or a security administrator with the CCSA (check point certified security administrator) and the Check point certified security expert (CCSE). Cisco (CCNA), Linux (RHCE) and project management professional certifications (PMP) have also been rankled highly as essential certifications for 2011.