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January 18, 1999

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Life Good For IT Admins

Both pay and psychic rewards are better, they say

By Greg Berardi

emember when your high school guidance counselor told you computer science was a good field to get into? If you went on to become a database, network, or system administrator, maybe you should send a thank-you card--or better yet, how about a $100 bill?

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Life is pretty good these days for IT administrators, according to an InformationWeek Research survey of more than 3,400 of these professionals. Salaries are rising sharply, benefits are generous, and jobs are more secure. Moreover, IT administrators are in greater demand by technology-hungry companies serving up a full menu of extras: fat signing bonuses, accelerated pay increases, and a steady diet of training. "For these hot skills, I don't know that I've ever seen anything like this," says Boyd Haigler, CIO of Arco, the Los Angeles oil company with more than 800 technology professionals in a dozen countries.

Also, IT administrators report that the psychic rewards of the job are good and getting better. As platforms, networks, and applications get more complex, assignments get more interesting. Companies see a more strategic role for IT. For now, it seems like a wonderful life--even if it's a typical 60-hour week, with 4 a.m. crisis calls to liven things up. "I feel the job market is as good as, if not better than, it was in the past few years," says Chris Seymour, a database administrator at WinStar Communications, a New York telecom company.

The survey also found:

Salaries rose a whopping 14.5%, or $7,000, between 1997 and 1998. The average salary for IT administrators in any of these fields is $55,000, up from $48,000. Before taxes, that's an annual increase of nearly $600 a month.
Of the three administrator professions, database administrators command the highest average salaries at $63,310, followed by systems administrators ($55,400), and network administrators ($51,640). Pay is typically higher at larger companies than at small and midsize ones.
Most administrators feel secure in their current positions, given the bountiful job prospects and frequent calls from persistent headhunters. A full two-thirds describe their job security as above average.
Despite rising salaries, many IT administrators say they're underpaid. While 61% say they're satisfied with the compensation, nearly two in five are not, with network administrators voicing the most displeasure. Ironically, network administrators at big companies are the highest paid of all three professions on average.

These good times, according to IT professionals, are the result of an extraordinary confluence of events: the year 2000 problem, the emergence of the Internet as a business platform, and the realization by many companies that superior technology is indispensable. Whatever the cause, it's a bull market for those supplying the labor--and a challenging one for those buying it.

Show The Money--And A Good Job
The shortest route to financial freedom for IT administrators is to work for a technology company--still the reigning champ in providing the most mouth-watering compensation. "Technology companies have the financial muscle to come up with the attractive packages," says Ginny Simonds, a Long Beach, Calif., recruiter who specializes in technology searches. "It's more difficult for a non-technology company."

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That financial muscle is usually in the form of a pile of stock options, made sweeter by the chance to have a greater impact on the strategic direction of the company's technology operations. That's particularly true at smaller companies, where part of the allure is the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work for a company that goes public. But there's a trade-off: Smaller companies usually offer smaller salaries. Even so, the promise of a big payday in company equity and the opportunity to work in an entrepreneurial environment make it an easier sell for all parties involved. Arco's Haigler concedes, "We can pretty much meet base pay on the market, but as far as the equity side, we don't have that kind of flexibility."

Happy Administrators
Still, companies are working hard to keep their employees happy--and network administrators like Tommy Fuqua are grateful. Fuqua, who works at BRT Sealing Systems, landed his first job at the company's North Carolina manufacturing site after completing vocational school. Since then, the company has gone out of its way to take care of him.

In the past two years, Fuqua has enjoyed 10% raises every six months, and he says his company has footed the bill for five or six training sessions--some of them costing several thousand dollars each--an important perk for administrators worried about staying current.