In-Depth

ESJ Salary Survey 2009 Part 1: Management Salaries

Management salaries hold up against the economic storm as bonuses plunge

• By Joe McKendrick
• 08/20/2009

The skies have been overcast with economic storm clouds over the past year, and many companies have taken cover by tightening their IT budgets. However, for the most part, companies held the line with the base compensation provided to their IT managers. Six out of eight key management positions covered in the latest Enterprise Systems salary survey, in fact, saw increases in their salary levels, while only two saw decreases. However, management positions took large hits in bonuses this year -- five saw decreases in their average bonuses while only three saw increases. Some of the bonus cuts were sizeable, in fact.

The exceptions to this general stagnation in salaries were among general IT managers and enterprise architects; both saw salary and bonus increases over the past year.

Managers made do with smaller bonus compensation, but the economic climate hit IT staff-level positions harder, our survey finds. Average base salaries for six out of nine staff positions (developers and administrators) declined over the past year. Bonuses also dried up this year for IT staffers, with six out of nine positions seeing declines. We will explore salary data for IT staff positions in the second article in this series.

Many respondents lamented that the downturn in the economy have dampened opportunities up and down the line. For example, one respondent reported that “budgets are frozen and we are understaffed. Work is increasing; opportunities are not.” However, as shown in this survey, opportunities and pain are not distributed evenly. A respondent pointed out that while salaries overall are down by up to five percent across his organization, there are still appreciable premiums for areas “from high-skill/high-demand areas such as ERP and architecture.” One respondent observed that “architects with deep business process knowledge” are in the most demand at his organization, while another says demand is hot for network security skills. Another pointed out that “technical skills and capabilities seldom merit advancement, but political skills do.”

These findings are based on an Enterprise Systems survey of 631 companies, conducted in May 2009. The survey covered eight key management positions along with nine key IT staff positions. Note: The position of Internet Manager, included in last year's survey, did not have a sufficient number of responses to be included in this year's results.

The survey found that IT managers and executives at mainframe and Unix sites tended to have the highest salary rates, while those in more distributed environments (such as Windows or Linux servers with no mainframe) tended to see much lower rates.

This first of two sections to the Enterprise Systems salary report looks at executive and management-level salary trends for 2009.

CIO AND VICE PRESIDENT OF IT

Despite the economic turbulence, salaries for these top executives essentially held steady over the last year, increasing slightly from $149,000 to just over $150,000. Last year, the overall increase was about three percent, and one percent the year before that. To put things in a longer-term perspective, in 2001, the first year of this survey series, CIO salaries averaged about $120,000.

CIO salaries may have held steady over the past year, but their bonuses were hit hard. CIOs are projected to earn bonuses of about $18,000 on top of their base salaries for this year -- down from more than $28,000 a year ago. This is only about half the peak average bonus of $34,000 reported by companies in 2006. Nevertheless, CIOs and VPs drew the highest base salaries and bonuses of the 17 positions covered in the survey.

The typical CIO or top IT executive in our survey has 15 years of experience in the job. On average, seasoned CIOs with 20 or more years of experience earn up to 24 percent more than their less-experienced counterparts.

A seasoned CIO with over 20 years of experience brings in an average base salary of almost $137,000 a year. CIOs overseeing business-to-business installations fare best this year, earning more than $200,000 on average. By operating system and platform, mainframe operations tend to pay best, as with previous surveys. Those CIOs overseeing mainframe shops saw base salaries averaging more than $225,000 a year. (Information on salaries for all top-level executives across leading operating system and application categories is provided at the end of this article.)

CIO/VP SALARIES

INFORMATION SYSTEMS DIRECTOR

CIO base salaries eked up by only a fraction of a percent over the past year, as was the case with their immediate subordinates -- IS directors. IS directors -- who plan, direct, and control all day-to-day IT functions and oversee entire departments -- saw only very modest increases over the last year, up from $107,000 to just over $108,000. Although the current economy is not helping things, IS directors have not seen appreciable salary growth since this survey was first launched eight years ago -- overall average base salaries are only up by about nine percent for this entire period.

Of course, given the economy, 2009 is also a bad year for bonuses, and this was certainly the case for IS directors. The typical average bonus reported among this survey group is about $9,600, down significantly from close to $14,000 last year at this time.

On average, the IS directors covered in our survey have about 15 years of experience. IS directors with 20 or more years experience make 25% more than those in the first 10 years of their jobs. An IS director with less than 10 years experience can expect to make close to $90,000 a year, a figure that climbs to more than $113,000 for those with at least two decades' worth of experience.

IS DIRECTOR SALARIES

INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGER

Even though the economic climate has put a damper on additional compensation for IT managers and professionals, companies have continued to reward IS managers who are involved with the day-to-day operations of their enterprises. This year, the average base salary for an IS manager -- who plans and approves equipment and software purchases, as well as oversees day-to-day activities -- is up by about 12%, from about $90,000 to more than $100,000.

IS managers also saw modest increases in their bonus levels as well. IS managers' bonuses for the past year averaged close to $9,890, up about 21% from last year.

The average IS manager reported in this survey has about 14 years of on-the-job experience. Those in their first decade average about $68,000, a figure that doubles among more seasoned managers.

IS MANAGER SALARIES

APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS

Application development managers escaped the carnage of the economic slowdown, seeing an average six-percent jump in average salary levels over the past year, and are approaching the $100,000 mark, our survey finds. However, in line with other positions in this survey this year, AD managers saw less of a bonus check. This year, AD managers' bonuses averaged close to $6,000, continuing a downward trend over the past five years.

The average AD manager has almost 16 years of experience on the job. These managers can expect to see salary growth of at least 27 percent throughout their careers, the survey finds. Currently, AD managers in the first decade of their careers make more than $90,000, a level that rises to more than $114,000 for those with at least 20 years of experience.

APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT MANAGER SALARIES

DATA CENTER/OPERATIONS MANAGER

The growing reliance on robust data centers to support new business initiatives has helped data center managers weather the harsh economy, our survey finds. Data center and operations managers -- who oversee day-to-day operations of data center environments -- saw a three percent jump in average base salaries, our survey finds. Interestingly, data center manager salaries have closely tracked those of application development managers, suggesting there is equal value at both critical points of application lifecycles. Although down from last year’s six-percent hike, data centers appeared to have fared better than many other categories of IT professionals.

The survey finds data center managers now making more than $97,000 -- up from last year’s average of $94,700. Overall, data center managers' salaries are up by about 25 percent from the time this category was first covered in the survey in 2002.

Bucking the trend seen for other managers and professionals, data center managers also saw slightly larger bonuses this year, averaging about $6,200 for the year, which is up about four percent from last year.

On average, data center managers in our survey have about 15 years of experience. The more experienced managers (with two decades or more of experience) are drawing salaries of at least $114,000, or close to twice the amount seen by their less-seasoned counterparts with less than 10 years of experience.

DATA CENTER/OPERATIONS MANAGER SALARIES

NETWORKING MANAGER

Many IT departments and professionals were hard hit by the recent economic troubles, but harder hit in the Enterprise Systems survey were networking managers. This group of managers saw a significant decrease in their average base salary of more than 14%, breaking a steady five-year climb in salary levels. Currently, network managers -- who oversee the operation and planning of computer networks -- are earning base salaries of about $72,000. Average salaries are back at the same level as in the 2002 survey, the first time this position was covered.

Average bonuses for networking managers also have fallen off dramatically over the past year. This year, the average annual bonuses reported by this group of survey respondents was about $2,600, less than half the level of last year’s bonus. This was also the second lowest reported among the eight management positions in the survey.

Networking managers, who average about 14 years of experience on the job, can expect to see salary growth of at least 17% throughout their careers, the survey also finds. Currently, networking managers in their first decade on the job (with less than 10 years of experience) make about $70,000, a level that rises to about $82,000 with 20 years of experience.

NETWORKING MANAGER SALARIES

HELP DESK/SUPPORT MANAGER

The economic environment appears to have hit help desk and support managers hard over the past year, our survey finds. These managers -- responsible for diagnosing, troubleshooting, and correcting end-user access problems -- had decreases in salaries of 11%, now averaging about $66,000.

In the long run, average salary growth for help desk managers has been slow. With the slump in salaries this year, salaries have inched up only by about six percent since 2002, the first time this position was measured in our survey. At that time, help desk manager salaries averaged $63,000 a year.

Along with salary cuts, help desk managers also saw significantly reduced bonuses over the past year. This year, help desk managers’ bonuses are averaging just over $1,200 in bonuses, barely a quarter of last year’s amount. This was also the lowest bonus amount among the eight management positions covered in the survey.

The typical help desk manager in our survey has at least seven years of industry experience. Help desk managers earn about $58,000 in their first decade, and then rise to about $82,000 for those with at least a decade of experience.

HELP DESK/SUPPORT SALARIES

ENTERPRISE ARCHITECT

The overall economy may be weak, but demand for enterprise architects -- who bridge the gap between IT and business processes -- appears to be hot. Average annual base salaries for enterprise architects in our survey averaging $118,000, up by about 15 percent from last year. EAs saw the biggest annual raises among the eight management positions covered in the survey.

Enterprise architects also had the second-highest salaries of the eight IT management positions. For purposes of this survey, EAs are categorized as management since their responsibilities include supporting business process enablement, preparing for the architectural implications of outsourcing, adopting a system for measuring and managing performance, and measuring the business impact of the architecture. The position may also be known by titles such as senior architect; chief architect; and director, enterprise architecture and/or enterprise strategies and/or enterprise solutions.

Overall, enterprise architects’ incomes are also being augmented by average annual bonuses of close to $11,000 -- up dramatically over the average of $8,500 from last year. This is the second-highest level of any of the eight management positions, trailing only CIOs.

Enterprise architects are the most experienced professional group in this year’s survey. The enterprise architects in the current survey have about 10 years’ experience, with an average of about 17 years. This surpasses even CIOs, who average 15 years of experience in their jobs.

ENTERPRISE ARCHITECT

OPERATING SYSTEM AND APPLICATION ENVIRONMENTS

Top-level IT managers (CIOs, VPs, IT directors and managers) overseeing mainframe operations had the highest annual salaries, bringing in average base salaries of more than $230,000 a year. Those at Unix-based sites followed with $173,000, and midrange systems sites at close to $150,000. By contrast, IT executives overseeing distributed computing sites (with no mainframes present) had the lowest salary ranges. Those overseeing Windows environments averaged $115,000 a year. Top-level executives at Linux-centric sites (with no mainframes) had the lowest annual rate, at about $60,000 a year.

By application level, top-level managers charged with extending systems beyond the walls of the enterprise to outside parties were more likely to command higher base salaries. Executives and managers at sites with business-to-business environments drew the highest base salaries, averaging close to $164,000 a year, our survey finds. Executives with supply-chain management environments following at about $160,000, and business-to-consumer sites at $152,000.

Among functional-level management positions covered in the survey, those charged with midrange-class system environments (such as IBM’s System i implementations) had the highest average base salaries -- averaging close to $160,000. Functional-level management positions covered in this survey include application development, data center, network, and help desk managers, as well as enterprise architects. Functional managers at mainframe sites averaged $112,000, while those at Unix-intensive sites topped $100,000. Functional-level managers overseeing distributed environments with no mainframe present saw the lowest annual salary ranges, averaging $87,000 at Windows sites and $81,000 at Linux sites.

As is the case with their executive level bosses, functional managers charged with extending systems beyond the walls of the enterprise to outside parties were more likely to command higher base salaries. Managers at sites with supply-chain management environments drew the highest base salaries, averaging close to $102,000 a year, followed by $101,000 at business-to-consumer system environments.

IT EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT SALARIES
(CIO/VP, IT Director, IT Manager)

IT FUNCTIONAL MANAGEMENT SALARIES
(AD Manager, DC Manager, NTW Manager, Help Desk Manager, Enterprise Architect)

SALARIES OF PROFESSIONAL STAFF

In our next report we'll examine salaries of IT professional staff -- from application programmers to storage administrators.