IT Salaries for 2011: Outlook Good

Good news for VPs of IT—their salaries levels continue to increase, according to Bluewolf’s 2011 IT Salary Guide. These will see salaries rise upwards of 7.1% in 2011.

The report is based on the salary information collected from thousands of IT staffing placements managed by the company each year. The annual data gathered offers unique insight into IT salary trends across the United States and identifies the technologies that are creating demand for new technical resources.

The news for C-level IT executives and database administrators isn’t as good, as their potential salary fluctuations will largely remain flat in 2011. CIOs will experience an average salary high of $190,000 in 2011, while database administrators will see an average salary high of $120,000, according to the report. Network administrators and managers should finally see their salaries creep back up to pre-recession levels.

“This year’s outlook for IT professionals and organizations is quite optimistic,” says Michael Kirven, co-founder and principal of Bluewolf. “Pent-up demand for IT services is resurfacing, as previously frozen IT budgets begin to thaw. 2011 is the year for CIOs to look beyond cost-cutting measures and leverage their tech spending for innovation that will position their companies for long-term growth.”

As demand for IT services resurfaces, so too does the demand for new skill sets and positions. Some of these positions include mobile “app” developers for Google’s Android, Apple’s iPhone and iPad platform and social networking sites such as Facebook, according to the report.

Overall, Bluewolf’s IT Salary Guide indicates a need for companies to align IT with strategic business goals, and shift from managing resources to managing results, especially now that IT-related spending appears to be returning to pre-recession levels. This is further evidenced by Oracle, SAP and Microsoft’s recent moves, which indicate growing recognition that--while on-premise infrastructure still dominates the IT landscape--the future is in the cloud.

As companies begin to modernize their IT departments, demand for “hot” technologies such as Flash, Flex, PHP, Ruby, Amazon Web Services and Salesforce.com is increasing, prompting CIOs to rethink their technology priorities and seek new skill sets for IT hires.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Core systems Policy adminstration Workforce management
MORE FROM DIGITAL INSURANCE