Here’s a scenario that plays out constantly on r/ITCareerQuestions: someone posts “I keep hearing DevOps is the future and pays $150K+, should I learn it?” And the responses range from “absolutely, best decision ever” to “the market is oversaturated, don’t bother.”

So which is it?

The honest answer is more nuanced than either extreme. DevOps remains one of the highest-paying and fastest-growing tech specializations in 2026, but the role isn’t what most people think it is—and getting there takes more than watching a few Kubernetes tutorials.

Let’s cut through the marketing hype and look at what DevOps actually involves, whether the salary claims hold up, and how to realistically break into this field.

What DevOps Actually Is (Not What the Job Listings Say)

The term “DevOps Engineer” has become almost meaningless on job boards. According to roadmap.sh’s DevOps career guide, companies use “DevOps” to mean everything from “cloud admin who writes scripts” to “senior SRE who architects billion-dollar infrastructure.”

Here’s what DevOps was supposed to be: a culture and set of practices that break down walls between development and operations teams. The goal? Faster, more reliable software delivery through automation, monitoring, and continuous improvement.

What it’s become in practice: a catch-all title for anyone who touches infrastructure automation, CI/CD pipelines, or cloud services.

This ambiguity creates both opportunity and risk. Opportunity because there’s massive demand for these skills. Risk because you might spend months learning tools that don’t match what employers in your target market actually need.

The Four Flavors of “DevOps”

Based on job posting analysis from DevOps Projects HQ’s H2 2025 market report, DevOps-adjacent roles typically fall into four categories:

DevOps Engineer - The generalist. Builds and maintains CI/CD pipelines, manages cloud infrastructure, writes automation scripts. This is your entry point.

Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) - The specialist. Focuses on system uptime, performance optimization, and incident response. Often requires on-call rotations. Higher pay, higher stress.

Platform Engineer - The builder. Creates internal developer platforms and tools that other teams use. Rising in popularity as companies want to improve developer experience.

Cloud Engineer - The infrastructure expert. Deeply focused on one or more cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP). May overlap significantly with DevOps roles depending on the company.

Understanding which flavor you’re aiming for saves months of learning irrelevant tools.

DevOps Salaries: Reality Check

Let’s address the elephant in the room. You’ve seen headlines about $200K DevOps salaries. Are they real?

According to the 2025 DevOps Salary Guide from Motion Recruitment, the median DevOps salary in the US is around $141,645. Glassdoor reports $142,000, while Coursera’s 2026 analysis puts it at roughly $132,914 with bonuses.

But here’s where it gets interesting. The DevOps Job Market Report for H2 2025 analyzed 832 positions and found a median salary of $177,500—significantly higher than other sources report.

Why the discrepancy? Selection bias. High-paying positions at well-funded tech companies are more likely to appear in curated job market analyses. The lower figures from salary aggregators include every “DevOps Engineer” listing, including those that are really just sysadmin jobs with a trendy title.

Salary by Experience Level

Experience LevelSalary RangeNotes
Entry-level (0-2 years)$85,000 - $110,000Often titled “Junior DevOps Engineer” or “Associate Cloud Engineer”
Mid-level (3-5 years)$122,000 - $154,000Most common range in job postings
Senior (6+ years)$150,000 - $195,000Specialization matters significantly
Principal/Architect$180,000 - $250,000+Requires strategic thinking, not just technical skills

Source: Motion Recruitment DevOps Salary Guide 2025

Salary by Specialization

Not all DevOps skills pay equally:

RoleAverage SalaryGrowth Trend
DevOps Engineer (general)$142,000Stable
Site Reliability Engineer$165,000Growing
DevOps Engineering Manager$229,000High demand
DevOps Architect$209,000Premium positions

Source: Glassdoor via CBT Nuggets

The takeaway: DevOps pays well, but the $200K figures you see require senior-level experience, specialized skills, or management responsibilities. An entry-level DevOps engineer will likely start in the $85K-$110K range—still excellent compared to many IT roles, but not the lottery ticket some portray.

The Skills That Actually Matter in 2026

Here’s where most “how to become a DevOps engineer” guides fail you: they list 47 different tools without explaining which ones matter most or in what order to learn them.

Based on the roadmap.sh DevOps learning path and analysis from KodeKloud’s 2025 DevOps Roadmap, here’s a realistic priority order:

Tier 1: Foundation (Learn First)

Linux administration - You can’t automate what you don’t understand. Most production infrastructure runs on Linux, and you’ll be troubleshooting it daily. Don’t just memorize commands—understand how the OS actually works. Practice with Shell Samurai for hands-on terminal exercises.

Scripting (Python and Bash) - Every DevOps interview worth attending includes a scripting round. You need to automate repetitive tasks, write pipeline scripts, and glue different tools together. DevOpsCube’s practical roadmap emphasizes that scripting isn’t optional—it’s daily work.

Git version control - If you don’t understand branching strategies, merge conflicts, and GitOps workflows, you’ll struggle with everything that comes next.

Networking fundamentals - DNS, TCP/IP, load balancing, firewalls. When deployments fail, network issues are often the culprit.

Tier 2: Core DevOps (Learn After Foundation)

CI/CD pipelines - Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or CircleCI. Pick one and learn it deeply. Understanding the concept of continuous integration matters more than any specific tool.

Containers (Docker) - Nearly every modern deployment involves containers. Know how to write Dockerfiles, debug container issues, and understand container networking.

Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) - Pick one to start. AWS has the largest market share, but the concepts transfer. According to the H2 2025 market report, AWS mentions increased from 12% to nearly 14% in job postings year-over-year.

Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) - This is the “superior form of automation” according to DevOps engineers. Learn to manage infrastructure through configuration files rather than clicking around in cloud consoles.

Tier 3: Advanced (Learn As Needed)

Kubernetes - Container orchestration for production scale. Essential for senior roles, but overwhelming for beginners. Don’t touch it until you’re comfortable with Docker.

Monitoring and observability - Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog. Understanding how to monitor systems and debug issues in production separates junior from senior engineers.

Configuration management - Ansible, Puppet, Chef. These automate server configuration at scale.

Security integration - DevSecOps is increasingly important. Learn to integrate security scanning into pipelines, manage secrets properly, and follow security best practices.

What the Job Postings Actually Want

The Brokee DevOps hiring statistics identified the most frequently requested skills in 2025 job postings:

  1. AWS, Kubernetes, and Python dominate
  2. CI/CD experience is nearly universal
  3. Remote work is highly prevalent (70.6% of positions)
  4. Experience matters more than certifications

How to Actually Break Into DevOps

Forget the 12-week bootcamp promises. Here’s what the transition actually looks like for most people.

Path 1: From Sysadmin or IT Support

This is the most common and natural path. According to roadmap.sh’s career transition guide, system administrators and IT support professionals already have foundational skills that DevOps builds upon.

If you’re in IT support or help desk, you likely understand:

  • How operating systems work
  • Basic networking and troubleshooting
  • Working under pressure when systems break

Your roadmap:

  1. Automate your current job. Use Python or Bash to automate repetitive tasks. This builds credibility and practical skills.
  2. Get comfortable with cloud basics. Start with AWS Free Tier or Azure Free Account.
  3. Learn Docker and basic CI/CD concepts.
  4. Build a home lab and document what you learn. See our home lab guide for ideas.
  5. Apply for hybrid roles like “Cloud Operations Engineer” or “Infrastructure Engineer”—stepping stones to pure DevOps positions.

Timeline: 6-18 months depending on how much time you can dedicate.

Path 2: From Software Development

Developers transitioning to DevOps often focus too much on learning new tools and not enough on understanding operations.

According to Spacelift’s 6-month roadmap, developers should focus on:

  1. Understanding the deployment pipeline end-to-end
  2. Learning cloud infrastructure and networking
  3. Getting comfortable with Linux systems administration
  4. Building empathy for operations challenges (on-call rotations, incident response)

Your advantage: you already understand code, version control, and software development lifecycle. Your challenge: you may underestimate the operational complexity of running systems in production.

Path 3: From Scratch

This is the hardest path, but not impossible. The consensus on r/devops and r/ITCareerQuestions is that starting with Linux fundamentals and basic programming skills is essential before jumping into DevOps-specific tools.

Realistic timeline from zero:

  1. Months 1-3: Linux, basic networking, Git, scripting fundamentals
  2. Months 4-6: Cloud basics (AWS/Azure), Docker, simple CI/CD
  3. Months 7-12: Build projects, contribute to open source, prepare for interviews
  4. Month 12+: Start applying for junior positions while continuing to learn

Resources: LinuxCommand.org for fundamentals, freeCodeCamp for programming basics, KodeKloud for DevOps-specific hands-on practice.

Certifications: Which Ones Actually Matter?

The DevOps community is divided on certifications. Some hiring managers value them; others ignore them entirely. Based on the KodeKloud 2025 certifications analysis, here’s the honest assessment:

Worth Getting

AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate - Validates fundamental cloud skills. According to CNCF data, cloud certifications are “non-negotiable” for many DevOps roles in 2025.

Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) - The gold standard for Kubernetes knowledge. Unlike most certs, it’s a hands-on exam where you actually solve problems. CNCF’s annual report shows CKA hit 250,000 enrollments in 2024.

HashiCorp Terraform Associate - Infrastructure as Code is fundamental, and Terraform dominates the market. 15,000+ US job postings mention it.

Situationally Useful

AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional - Advanced certification for those in AWS-heavy environments. Requires 2+ years of AWS experience to be meaningful.

Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) - Good for developers focusing on containerized applications rather than cluster administration.

Microsoft Certified DevOps Engineer Expert - Essential if you work in Azure environments. Requires an associate-level prerequisite.

Skip Unless Free

Generic “DevOps Fundamentals” certifications from non-major vendors rarely influence hiring decisions. Focus on cloud vendor certs (AWS, Azure, GCP) and CNCF certifications (CKA, CKAD, CKS) instead.

The Uncomfortable Truths

Before you commit to this path, understand what you’re signing up for.

On-Call Rotations Are Real

Many DevOps and SRE roles include on-call responsibilities. That means getting paged at 3 AM when production breaks. According to discussions on r/sysadmin and our burnout guide, this is a major source of stress in operations roles.

Companies handle this differently—some compensate well for on-call time, others treat it as expected labor. Ask about on-call expectations in every interview.

The Learning Never Stops

The DevOps ecosystem changes constantly. Tools that were industry standard three years ago are now legacy. According to DevOpsCube’s career guide, “DevOps is an evolving field, and there is always something new. To be up to date, you have to be willing and open to continuous learning.”

If constant learning exhausts rather than excites you, consider whether this is the right path.

”DevOps” Can Mean Anything

Without industry standardization, two DevOps Engineer positions at different companies might have zero overlap in responsibilities. One company’s DevOps engineer writes Terraform all day; another’s troubleshoots Jenkins pipelines; a third’s is essentially a cloud security specialist.

Research specific companies and teams before accepting offers. The title alone tells you very little.

Market Saturation Concerns

The DevOps market isn’t as wide-open as it was five years ago. Entry-level positions face more competition. According to our IT career outlook for 2026, specialization and demonstrable project experience increasingly matter for landing roles.

This doesn’t mean DevOps is a bad choice—the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 17% job growth for software developers (which includes DevOps roles) from 2023 to 2033. It means you need to differentiate yourself beyond “I took a Kubernetes course.”

Should You Pursue DevOps?

DevOps is a strong career choice if you:

  • Enjoy automation and solving infrastructure problems
  • Can handle high-pressure situations (production outages happen)
  • Like working at the intersection of development and operations
  • Are comfortable with continuous learning
  • Want high earning potential with a technical (not management) focus

DevOps might not be right if you:

  • Prefer predictable, structured work without surprises
  • Dislike being on-call or handling emergencies
  • Want a career where you can master a stable skill set
  • Find constant tool churn exhausting rather than exciting
  • Prefer working on user-facing products rather than infrastructure

For those uncertain, consider exploring adjacent paths first. Cloud computing careers offer similar technologies with sometimes less operational stress. Software development focuses more on building features than infrastructure.

Getting Started This Week

If DevOps sounds right for you, here’s how to start immediately:

  1. Install Linux - Use VirtualBox to run Ubuntu. Spend 30 minutes daily using the command line.

  2. Automate one thing - Write a Bash script that does something useful in your current job or life. Commit it to GitHub.

  3. Spin up AWS Free Tier - Launch an EC2 instance, connect to it via SSH, install a web server. Simple, but foundational.

  4. Practice with purpose - Use Shell Samurai for structured Linux practice. Build projects documented on GitHub that show your skills.

  5. Read the right resources - The DevOps Roadmap on roadmap.sh provides a visual learning path. KodeKloud offers hands-on practice environments.

FAQ

How long does it take to become a DevOps engineer?

For someone with IT or development experience, 6-12 months of focused learning and project work is realistic. Starting from scratch, expect 12-18 months before being competitive for entry-level roles. Mastery takes years of production experience.

Do I need a computer science degree?

No. According to discussions on r/devops and hiring manager interviews, practical experience and demonstrable skills matter more than degrees. However, understanding fundamental CS concepts (data structures, algorithms, networking) remains valuable.

Is DevOps being replaced by AI?

AI tools are augmenting DevOps work, not replacing it. According to Statista research, DevOps engineers remain among the most in-demand IT roles. AI can help write scripts and documentation, but humans still need to architect systems, debug complex issues, and make judgment calls.

What’s the difference between DevOps and SRE?

DevOps is a culture and set of practices; SRE (Site Reliability Engineering) is a specific job role that applies software engineering to operations problems. SRE typically involves more focus on reliability metrics, error budgets, and on-call work. SRE roles generally pay 10-20% more but carry higher stress.

Should I learn AWS, Azure, or GCP?

Start with AWS—it has the largest market share and most job postings. The concepts transfer to other clouds. Once you’re comfortable, adding a second cloud makes you more versatile. Check job postings in your target market to see which cloud local employers prefer.

Conclusion

DevOps remains one of the strongest career paths in tech for 2026. The salaries are real—median around $140K with significant upside for specialists. The demand is genuine—17% projected job growth outpaces most occupations.

But success requires more than collecting certifications and following tutorials. It demands understanding systems deeply, automating intelligently, and constantly adapting to new tools and practices.

If that sounds energizing rather than exhausting, DevOps could be your path to a rewarding, high-paying technical career. Start with the fundamentals, build real projects, and document everything you learn. The market rewards those who can demonstrate skills, not just list them.

For related career guidance, see our cloud computing career path guide, IT certification decision framework, and technical skills in demand for 2026.

Sources and Citations