Google Certified Professional-Data Engineer

Google's cloud is growing at breakneck speed, differentiating itself with features that empower partners to deliver unique data-crunching and machine learning capabilities.

Lynda Partner, vice president of marketing at Pythian, told CRN the solution provider, based in Ottawa, doubled the Google Cloud Platform certifications held by staff recently, and Data Engineer may be the most valuable.

"We have ongoing training here from our big data team/leadership as well as data science team, helping us to stay competitive and ahead of the curve and to meet the growing demand for internal resources as our Google practice grows," Partner said.

The Data Engineer badge is still officially in beta. But the average salary for a Google Cloud Platform Qualified Data Analyst in the United States is $105,358, according to the 2017 IT Skills and Salary Survey conducted by Global Knowledge.

Google partners are applauding recent channel changes, including new rebates and incentives for selling the complete cloud stack, including Google Cloud Platform, G Suite, and Maps. They're also providing partners with low-interest loans and launching specializations in app development, data analytics, machine learning, and infrastructure.