Description
FINDINGS FROM THE 2014 IT Skills and Salary Survey indicate that IT and business professionals are not giving up on pursuing career success.
2014
IT SKILLS &
SALARY REPORT
A Comprehensive Survey
from Global Knowledge
& Windows IT Pro
“Our greatest weakness
lies in giving up. The
most certain way to
succeed is always to try
just one more time.”
THOMAS EDISON
INTRODUCTION
FINDINGS FROM THE 2014 IT Skills and Salary Survey
indicate that IT and business professionals are not giving up
on pursuing career success. This year’s study, the seventh
for Global Knowledge and the second in partnership with
Windows IT Pro, con?rms that while economic growth
remains slow, conditions are improving for most. This
year’s ?ndings also reveal a varied, robust workday for IT
professionals, con?rm the value of continued professional
development, and provide insight into some of the most
valuable IT and business skills.
The survey was conducted online in the fall of 2013.
More than half a million survey invitations were emailed
to recipients from the databases of Global Knowledge,
Windows IT Pro, and partner companies. More than
16,300 respondents worldwide completed the survey,
with 74 percent of those in Canada and the United States.
This report focuses on North America, where 10,299 IT
professionals and 1,798 business professionals responded.
Professionals from staf to C-level appear interested in
sharing their opinions and learning from others.
© 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 3 2 © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved.
INTRODUCTION
OVERRIDING TRENDS
COMPENSATION IS INCREASING.
Salaries for both IT and business professionals are higher this year. IT
professionals averaged $87,873, and business professionals averaged
$95,137. The overall average of $88,952 is 13 percent higher than last year.
The percentage of respondents who reported receiving a raise eclipsed
70 percent for the ?rst time since the 2009 survey. Overall, 52 percent
reported receiving a bonus—the highest percentage since the study’s
inception. When factoring for bonus eligibility, 68 percent of those who
were eligible received a bonus, which averaged more than $6,500.
PROFESSIONALS ARE WEARING MANY HATS.
Doing more with less appears to be the new normal. Thirteen percent
of IT respondents reported their work was focused in only one of the
four major functional areas designated in the study. More than half of
the respondents reported working in two or three functional areas,
while one-third reported working in all four.
TRAINING MATTERS.
Eighty percent of IT respondents who trained in the last year said it
was a positive investment for their career path, with more than 85
percent reporting that they gained new knowledge that could be
used in their existing positions. Adding new skills made a signi?cant
diference in some respondents’ base salary. Higher raises were likely
for those who trained as well as for those who earned a certi?cation
within the previous 12 months.
CERTAIN SKILLS STAND OUT.
Seventy-nine percent of IT respondents reported they expect their
organizations to add skills in at least one functional area in 2014. Within
those areas, respondents said their organizations will focus on enhancing
security, expanding competency in virtualization, continuing the
migration to cloud-based applications and services, revamping network
infrastructure, and reviewing resources allocated to servers and storage.
CONDITIONS ARE IMPROVING.
Consistent with results from the last two surveys, nearly 80 percent of
this year’s respondents reported IT and business projects being started
or resumed. This rate increases to 90 percent for those respondents
who reported business conditions are good (22 percent, up eight
points over last year). Twenty-eight percent of respondents reported
business conditions are improving.
PARTICIPANT PROFILE
Base Salary
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
$20,000
$40,000
$60,000
$80,000
$100,000
$81,600 $82,115
$79,579
$84,552
$78,649
$88,952
4 © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 5
INTRODUCTION
PARTICIPANT PROFILE
Average Bonus
Received a Bonus
Male vs. Female
College Degree
Raise Percentage
Received a Raise
Average Age
Average Tenure
54% 63% 65% 70%
68% 70% 68% 72%
2011 2012 2013 2014
2011 2012 2013 2014
2011 2012 2013 2014
4%
2%
6%
8%
7%
5% 5% 5%
40% 48% 48% 53%
2011 2012 2013 2014
3.6:1 3.7:1 4.2:1 3.5:1
2011 2012 2013 2014
2011 2012 2013 2014
2011 2012 2013 2014
2011 2012 2013 2014
5
10
10
20
$2,000
15
30
$4,000
20
40
$6,000
50
$8,000
16
44
$5,920
14
42
$4,522
16
44
$7,926
14
41
$5,600
6 © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 7
COMPENSATION
COMPENSATION
AFTER DECLINING LAST YEAR, salaries for both IT and
business professionals took a positive turn. Overall, the
average salary of this year’s respondents was $88,952
($87,873 for IT professionals and $95,137 for business
professionals), a 13 percent increase. Seventeen percent
earned less than $60,000, while approximately 30 percent
earned $100,000 or more (29 percent for IT professionals
and 36 percent for business professionals).
Several factors afect income potential, including job
function, tenure, experience (including certi?cations),
company size, industry, and geography. Data from this
year’s study continues to highlight these factors. In the
current study, we shined a brighter light on job function.
“Money won’t create
success; the freedom to
make it will.”
NELSON MANDELA
© 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 9 8 © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved.
JOB FUNCTIONS AND TASKS
In recognition of the ever-changing face of the information economy,
this year’s study looked at job functions more holistically. In previous
years, the question of job function allowed for only a single response.
This year, we divided job function into four primary areas and asked IT
respondents to indicate in which areas they work.
Approximately 13 percent of the respondents reported working in a
single functional area. More than one-third (36 percent) work in one or
two areas, two-thirds (66 percent) work in one to three areas, and
34 percent divide their work across all four functional areas.
COMPENSATION
Less than
$40,000
$40,000
–$49,000
$50,000
–$59,000
$60,000
–$69,000
$70,000
–$79,000
$80,000
–$89,000
$90,000
–$99,000
$100,000
–$109,000
$110,000
–$119,000
$120,000
–$129,000
$130,000
or more
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
SALARY RANGE OF RESPONDENTS
FUNCTIONAL AREAS RESPONDENTS WORK
NUMBER OF FUNCTIONAL AREAS
5% 10% 15% 20%
7.7%
4.5%
4.7%
11.0%
8.2%
13.8%
13.4%
10.4%
12.5%
8.0%
5.8%
6.5%
3.8%
4.0%
10.3%
7.7%
13.1%
14.3%
11.0%
14.3%
9.7%
5.3%
9.5%
4.9%
5.3%
10.1%
7.8%
13.3%
13.0%
10.1%
12.2%
8.1%
5.7%
7.2%
3.8%
4.7%
10.2%
8.7%
12.9%
13.2%
11.2%
13.4%
7.8%
6.9%
9.5%
4.1%
5.2%
15.9%
10.8%
15.0%
13.9%
87%
76%
51%
72%
8.3%
8.7%
5.0%
3.6%
Applications, Middleware,
Asset Management Software
IT Infrastructure
Collaboration and
Telecommunication
Business Transformation
1 Functional
Area
2 Functional
Areas
3 Functional
Areas
4 Functional
Areas 13
%
23
%
30
%
34
%
10 © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 11
SALARY BY FUNCTIONAL AREA AND SPECIFIC TASK
Functional Area / Speci?c Task Mean Median #
Applications, Middleware, Asset Management Software $86,730 $85,000 8,922
Application Development $95,340 $92,000 1,779
Application Implementation and Support $86,452 $85,000 3,537
Collaboration Apps $93,827 $90,000 890
CRM, ERP, SCM $93,240 $90,000 873
Databases $88,507 $86,400 2,469
Desktop and Productivity $77,172 $75,000 2,775
eCommerce $93,856 $91,858 378
Email and Messaging $79,065 $77,000 2,473
Middleware $94,420 $90,585 770
Mobile Apps $88,895 $85,668 770
Network Management $80,096 $78,000 3,274
Operating Systems $80,278 $78,700 3,352
Programming Software $92,670 $90,000 870
Security $87,840 $85,000 3,021
System Software Deployment and Support $83,078 $81,000 2,476
Virtualization $84,903 $82,236 2,584
IT Infrastructure $85,893 $84,165 7,822
Enterprise Architecture $92,558 $90,000 3,301
Cloud $94,217 $90,000 1,883
Data Center $88,778 $85,167 3,256
Networking $82,489 $80,000 4,452
Functional Area / Speci?c Task Mean Median #
Peripherals (Printers, Displays, etc.) $76,963 $75,000 2,398
Servers $83,533 $81,950 4,584
Service Provider and Carrier Networks $87,638 $85,000 1,460
Storage $84,287 $82,000 2,853
Initiatives (BYOD, etc.) $88,194 $85,000 2,265
Collaboration and Telecommunication $84,738 $82,000 5,269
Contact Center and Call Control $82,448 $80,000 1,484
Mobility and Wireless $85,488 $82,739 2,863
Presence $88,127 $85,000 922
Social Platforms and Apps $92,140 $88,000 724
Telephony $82,423 $80,000 2,384
Video and Web Conferencing $84,216 $80,123 1,982
Initiatives (BYOD [Security], Social Media, etc.) $90,688 $86,000 1,809
Business Transformation $91,205 $88,580 7,385
Leadership and Professional Skills $94,046 $90,000 4,501
Business Process Improvement $98,147 $93,020 2,385
Finance $97,251 $92,911 751
Human Resources $97,589 $92,806 456
Business Intelligence and Analysis $93,102 $90,000 1,965
Project and Program Management $93,054 $90,000 4,226
Regulatory and Governance $99,985 $95,000 1,485
Sales and Marketing $96,291 $90,000 490
COMPENSATION
12 © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 13
DRILLING DOWN FURTHER: TASKS
Under each of the four functional areas, we listed speci?c tasks (e.g.,
customer relationship management, enterprise resource management,
supply chain management, virtualization, storage, and project
management), and respondents selected the combination of functional
areas and tasks that best describes their work duties.
On average, IT respondents focus on 8.5 speci?c tasks. Respondents
who reported taking on additional responsibilities also reported
working on a greater number of speci?c tasks (10 vs. 8.1 for those
who did not take on additional responsibilities). Similar diferences
were reported by respondents who developed new skills. Those who
did averaged 9.7 tasks, whereas those who did not averaged 8.2.
COMPENSATION
SKILLS THAT POSITIVELY IMPACTED COMPENSATION
Applications, Middleware, Asset Management Software
Operating Systems
Security
Network Management
Virtualization
Databases
IT Infrastructure Tasks
Networking
Servers
Storage
Enterprise Architecture
Data Center
Collaboration and Telecommunication
Telephony
Mobility and Wireless
Video and Web Conferencing
Initiatives (BYOD [Security],
Social Media, etc.)
Business Transformation
Leadership and Professional
Project/Program Management
Business Process Improvement
(COBIT, ITIL, Six Sigma, etc.)
40% 40%
40% 40%
60% 60%
60% 60%
80% 80%
80% 80%
20% 20%
20% 20%
41
%
44
%
56
%
63
%
36
%
44
%
54
%
54
%
35
%
30
%
32
%
30
%
32
%
25
%
31
%
26
%
30
%
COMPENSATION WITHIN FUNCTIONAL AREAS
Salaries vary across functional areas and by the number of areas in
which an IT professional works. Respondents working in the Business
Transformation area, which includes project management and ITIL,
earn an average of $91,205 per year, or ?ve percent ($4,475) more
than respondents working in the next highest paying group. Within
each functional area, the range in average salaries is lowest in the
Business Transformation area ($6,931 or a 7 percent diference
between high and low) and highest in the Applications, Middleware,
Asset Management Software area ($18,168 or a 24 percent diference
between high and low).
IT respondents indicated that having skills in certain task areas had
positively impacted their total compensation.
14 © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 15
COMPENSATION
SALARY AND TASKS MANAGED BY COMPANY SIZE
Company Size (Number of Employees) Mean Median Tasks #
Small (
FINDINGS FROM THE 2014 IT Skills and Salary Survey indicate that IT and business professionals are not giving up on pursuing career success.
2014
IT SKILLS &
SALARY REPORT
A Comprehensive Survey
from Global Knowledge
& Windows IT Pro
“Our greatest weakness
lies in giving up. The
most certain way to
succeed is always to try
just one more time.”
THOMAS EDISON
INTRODUCTION
FINDINGS FROM THE 2014 IT Skills and Salary Survey
indicate that IT and business professionals are not giving up
on pursuing career success. This year’s study, the seventh
for Global Knowledge and the second in partnership with
Windows IT Pro, con?rms that while economic growth
remains slow, conditions are improving for most. This
year’s ?ndings also reveal a varied, robust workday for IT
professionals, con?rm the value of continued professional
development, and provide insight into some of the most
valuable IT and business skills.
The survey was conducted online in the fall of 2013.
More than half a million survey invitations were emailed
to recipients from the databases of Global Knowledge,
Windows IT Pro, and partner companies. More than
16,300 respondents worldwide completed the survey,
with 74 percent of those in Canada and the United States.
This report focuses on North America, where 10,299 IT
professionals and 1,798 business professionals responded.
Professionals from staf to C-level appear interested in
sharing their opinions and learning from others.
© 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 3 2 © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved.
INTRODUCTION
OVERRIDING TRENDS
COMPENSATION IS INCREASING.
Salaries for both IT and business professionals are higher this year. IT
professionals averaged $87,873, and business professionals averaged
$95,137. The overall average of $88,952 is 13 percent higher than last year.
The percentage of respondents who reported receiving a raise eclipsed
70 percent for the ?rst time since the 2009 survey. Overall, 52 percent
reported receiving a bonus—the highest percentage since the study’s
inception. When factoring for bonus eligibility, 68 percent of those who
were eligible received a bonus, which averaged more than $6,500.
PROFESSIONALS ARE WEARING MANY HATS.
Doing more with less appears to be the new normal. Thirteen percent
of IT respondents reported their work was focused in only one of the
four major functional areas designated in the study. More than half of
the respondents reported working in two or three functional areas,
while one-third reported working in all four.
TRAINING MATTERS.
Eighty percent of IT respondents who trained in the last year said it
was a positive investment for their career path, with more than 85
percent reporting that they gained new knowledge that could be
used in their existing positions. Adding new skills made a signi?cant
diference in some respondents’ base salary. Higher raises were likely
for those who trained as well as for those who earned a certi?cation
within the previous 12 months.
CERTAIN SKILLS STAND OUT.
Seventy-nine percent of IT respondents reported they expect their
organizations to add skills in at least one functional area in 2014. Within
those areas, respondents said their organizations will focus on enhancing
security, expanding competency in virtualization, continuing the
migration to cloud-based applications and services, revamping network
infrastructure, and reviewing resources allocated to servers and storage.
CONDITIONS ARE IMPROVING.
Consistent with results from the last two surveys, nearly 80 percent of
this year’s respondents reported IT and business projects being started
or resumed. This rate increases to 90 percent for those respondents
who reported business conditions are good (22 percent, up eight
points over last year). Twenty-eight percent of respondents reported
business conditions are improving.
PARTICIPANT PROFILE
Base Salary
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
$20,000
$40,000
$60,000
$80,000
$100,000
$81,600 $82,115
$79,579
$84,552
$78,649
$88,952
4 © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 5
INTRODUCTION
PARTICIPANT PROFILE
Average Bonus
Received a Bonus
Male vs. Female
College Degree
Raise Percentage
Received a Raise
Average Age
Average Tenure
54% 63% 65% 70%
68% 70% 68% 72%
2011 2012 2013 2014
2011 2012 2013 2014
2011 2012 2013 2014
4%
2%
6%
8%
7%
5% 5% 5%
40% 48% 48% 53%
2011 2012 2013 2014
3.6:1 3.7:1 4.2:1 3.5:1
2011 2012 2013 2014
2011 2012 2013 2014
2011 2012 2013 2014
2011 2012 2013 2014
5
10
10
20
$2,000
15
30
$4,000
20
40
$6,000
50
$8,000
16
44
$5,920
14
42
$4,522
16
44
$7,926
14
41
$5,600
6 © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 7
COMPENSATION
COMPENSATION
AFTER DECLINING LAST YEAR, salaries for both IT and
business professionals took a positive turn. Overall, the
average salary of this year’s respondents was $88,952
($87,873 for IT professionals and $95,137 for business
professionals), a 13 percent increase. Seventeen percent
earned less than $60,000, while approximately 30 percent
earned $100,000 or more (29 percent for IT professionals
and 36 percent for business professionals).
Several factors afect income potential, including job
function, tenure, experience (including certi?cations),
company size, industry, and geography. Data from this
year’s study continues to highlight these factors. In the
current study, we shined a brighter light on job function.
“Money won’t create
success; the freedom to
make it will.”
NELSON MANDELA
© 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 9 8 © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved.
JOB FUNCTIONS AND TASKS
In recognition of the ever-changing face of the information economy,
this year’s study looked at job functions more holistically. In previous
years, the question of job function allowed for only a single response.
This year, we divided job function into four primary areas and asked IT
respondents to indicate in which areas they work.
Approximately 13 percent of the respondents reported working in a
single functional area. More than one-third (36 percent) work in one or
two areas, two-thirds (66 percent) work in one to three areas, and
34 percent divide their work across all four functional areas.
COMPENSATION
Less than
$40,000
$40,000
–$49,000
$50,000
–$59,000
$60,000
–$69,000
$70,000
–$79,000
$80,000
–$89,000
$90,000
–$99,000
$100,000
–$109,000
$110,000
–$119,000
$120,000
–$129,000
$130,000
or more
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
SALARY RANGE OF RESPONDENTS
FUNCTIONAL AREAS RESPONDENTS WORK
NUMBER OF FUNCTIONAL AREAS
5% 10% 15% 20%
7.7%
4.5%
4.7%
11.0%
8.2%
13.8%
13.4%
10.4%
12.5%
8.0%
5.8%
6.5%
3.8%
4.0%
10.3%
7.7%
13.1%
14.3%
11.0%
14.3%
9.7%
5.3%
9.5%
4.9%
5.3%
10.1%
7.8%
13.3%
13.0%
10.1%
12.2%
8.1%
5.7%
7.2%
3.8%
4.7%
10.2%
8.7%
12.9%
13.2%
11.2%
13.4%
7.8%
6.9%
9.5%
4.1%
5.2%
15.9%
10.8%
15.0%
13.9%
87%
76%
51%
72%
8.3%
8.7%
5.0%
3.6%
Applications, Middleware,
Asset Management Software
IT Infrastructure
Collaboration and
Telecommunication
Business Transformation
1 Functional
Area
2 Functional
Areas
3 Functional
Areas
4 Functional
Areas 13
%
23
%
30
%
34
%
10 © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 11
SALARY BY FUNCTIONAL AREA AND SPECIFIC TASK
Functional Area / Speci?c Task Mean Median #
Applications, Middleware, Asset Management Software $86,730 $85,000 8,922
Application Development $95,340 $92,000 1,779
Application Implementation and Support $86,452 $85,000 3,537
Collaboration Apps $93,827 $90,000 890
CRM, ERP, SCM $93,240 $90,000 873
Databases $88,507 $86,400 2,469
Desktop and Productivity $77,172 $75,000 2,775
eCommerce $93,856 $91,858 378
Email and Messaging $79,065 $77,000 2,473
Middleware $94,420 $90,585 770
Mobile Apps $88,895 $85,668 770
Network Management $80,096 $78,000 3,274
Operating Systems $80,278 $78,700 3,352
Programming Software $92,670 $90,000 870
Security $87,840 $85,000 3,021
System Software Deployment and Support $83,078 $81,000 2,476
Virtualization $84,903 $82,236 2,584
IT Infrastructure $85,893 $84,165 7,822
Enterprise Architecture $92,558 $90,000 3,301
Cloud $94,217 $90,000 1,883
Data Center $88,778 $85,167 3,256
Networking $82,489 $80,000 4,452
Functional Area / Speci?c Task Mean Median #
Peripherals (Printers, Displays, etc.) $76,963 $75,000 2,398
Servers $83,533 $81,950 4,584
Service Provider and Carrier Networks $87,638 $85,000 1,460
Storage $84,287 $82,000 2,853
Initiatives (BYOD, etc.) $88,194 $85,000 2,265
Collaboration and Telecommunication $84,738 $82,000 5,269
Contact Center and Call Control $82,448 $80,000 1,484
Mobility and Wireless $85,488 $82,739 2,863
Presence $88,127 $85,000 922
Social Platforms and Apps $92,140 $88,000 724
Telephony $82,423 $80,000 2,384
Video and Web Conferencing $84,216 $80,123 1,982
Initiatives (BYOD [Security], Social Media, etc.) $90,688 $86,000 1,809
Business Transformation $91,205 $88,580 7,385
Leadership and Professional Skills $94,046 $90,000 4,501
Business Process Improvement $98,147 $93,020 2,385
Finance $97,251 $92,911 751
Human Resources $97,589 $92,806 456
Business Intelligence and Analysis $93,102 $90,000 1,965
Project and Program Management $93,054 $90,000 4,226
Regulatory and Governance $99,985 $95,000 1,485
Sales and Marketing $96,291 $90,000 490
COMPENSATION
12 © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 13
DRILLING DOWN FURTHER: TASKS
Under each of the four functional areas, we listed speci?c tasks (e.g.,
customer relationship management, enterprise resource management,
supply chain management, virtualization, storage, and project
management), and respondents selected the combination of functional
areas and tasks that best describes their work duties.
On average, IT respondents focus on 8.5 speci?c tasks. Respondents
who reported taking on additional responsibilities also reported
working on a greater number of speci?c tasks (10 vs. 8.1 for those
who did not take on additional responsibilities). Similar diferences
were reported by respondents who developed new skills. Those who
did averaged 9.7 tasks, whereas those who did not averaged 8.2.
COMPENSATION
SKILLS THAT POSITIVELY IMPACTED COMPENSATION
Applications, Middleware, Asset Management Software
Operating Systems
Security
Network Management
Virtualization
Databases
IT Infrastructure Tasks
Networking
Servers
Storage
Enterprise Architecture
Data Center
Collaboration and Telecommunication
Telephony
Mobility and Wireless
Video and Web Conferencing
Initiatives (BYOD [Security],
Social Media, etc.)
Business Transformation
Leadership and Professional
Project/Program Management
Business Process Improvement
(COBIT, ITIL, Six Sigma, etc.)
40% 40%
40% 40%
60% 60%
60% 60%
80% 80%
80% 80%
20% 20%
20% 20%
41
%
44
%
56
%
63
%
36
%
44
%
54
%
54
%
35
%
30
%
32
%
30
%
32
%
25
%
31
%
26
%
30
%
COMPENSATION WITHIN FUNCTIONAL AREAS
Salaries vary across functional areas and by the number of areas in
which an IT professional works. Respondents working in the Business
Transformation area, which includes project management and ITIL,
earn an average of $91,205 per year, or ?ve percent ($4,475) more
than respondents working in the next highest paying group. Within
each functional area, the range in average salaries is lowest in the
Business Transformation area ($6,931 or a 7 percent diference
between high and low) and highest in the Applications, Middleware,
Asset Management Software area ($18,168 or a 24 percent diference
between high and low).
IT respondents indicated that having skills in certain task areas had
positively impacted their total compensation.
14 © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. © 2014 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 15
COMPENSATION
SALARY AND TASKS MANAGED BY COMPANY SIZE
Company Size (Number of Employees) Mean Median Tasks #
Small (