InformationWeek

As E-business matures, companies are looking for IT staffers with a good understanding of business goals and the ability to design and build systems and infrastructure to meet them. Marianne Marino, a recruiter with RHI Consulting, says there are not enough good architects to go around. And because of the need to move quickly on E-business, some companies are in a panic.

"Speed is critical," says Marino. "On top of that, you have to have someone with a business understanding of project management who can also design the technology piece of it. True architects have this understanding. They're hard to find."

When companies do find architects, they typically give them a broad range of responsibilities. IT staffers labeled as architects act as managers in some respects and tend to serve as mentors to other staffers, says Norm Shulman of CMA Worldwide, an IT recruitment firm. "They not only design the system, they work with the people who build it," he says.

How does an IT professional become an architect? Here's Marino's recommended strategy: Move into the group at the company that works with emerging technologies. Shulman says getting Internet experience is most important for architect wannabes. "One year at a Web company is like three years in a traditional company," says Shulman. "The Web stuff will carry over into other work."

Recruiters predict those with architect skills will enjoy long careers. "Systems constantly have to be built and rebuilt," says Shulman. "It's a continuing effort." Adds Marino, "The Internet is such a young medium that it has yet to mushroom. There's so much for IT to get involved in, directing how it will develop."

On the management side, the title of vice president pays better than any other title, according to the survey. VPs earned median total cash compensation of $125,000, while CIOs earned $110,000 and chief technology officers, $90,000.

While some in IT may argue that job function is more crucial, the status conferred by title is important to some IT pros. Shulman recently worked with an online company that lost a talented candidate because it wouldn't give her the VP title she wanted. "They didn't have a slot; the corporate structure wasn't set up for it," he says. Making her VP "would have put her on a peer level with the chief technology officer--but she was to report to the CTO. They couldn't do it."