It's logical to select the certification with the promise of the highest average pay. But there are other things to consider; you should give careful thought about which cloud you're going to concentrate in. AWS is the market leader among public cloud platform providers, with 76% of global enterprises running apps or experimenting with them on Amazon's cloud, according to Statista. Microsoft is second with 63% market penetration, and Google is third with 35%. Generally, AWS and Azure cater more often to enterprises of various sizes and a number of smaller businesses, while Google is used more often by developers at tech companies, the military, and scientific organizations.  A cloud platform's greater market share doesn't necessarily mean higher pay for the professionals who work with it. In fact, expertise on a smaller but growing platform can be lucrative. Google Cloud Platform, for example, doesn't have the market penetration of AWS or Azure, but its top certification yields the highest average salary for cloud professionals. That's not to say you should ignore market share; a platform's adoption and popularity can help you assess the health of the job market in your area. Online communities, such as LinkedIn groups, cloud-related sub-Reddits, various discussion forums, or the ACG Discord server, also can also provide valuable insights from a wider field of professionals.Remember, it's not like you're limited to the first cloud certification you choose. Getting certified within and across cloud platforms isn't just a possibility, it may be a requirement at some point as you advance in your cloud computing career. According to Global Knowledge, about 64% of cloud professionals were cross-certified in 2020, and that number is expected to grow.