Where Does Your Compensation Fall on the IT Salary Spectrum?

If the old adage “you get what you pay for” is really true, then IT architects are providing plenty of value to the organizations at which they work.

Based on responses to the 2015 IT Skills and Salary Survey, “IT architecture” was the highest paid functional area. IT architects reported earning an average salary of $108,201. Given the complexity and fluidity of today’s IT environments, it makes sense that IT architects are in high demand. On-premise legacy systems, cloud-based business applications, systems scaling up and down to meet demand, APIs for this and apps for that, BYOD, BYOA … It’s getting more and more challenging to ensure that everything works together and is meeting business needs.

 According to Webopedia, “The genesis of the architecture role in IT is directly related to the rapid decentralization and added complexities associated with the PC and Client Server revolution (and everything else that has occurred since then). In other words, as IT environments and systems became more complex, it was apparent that a ‘complexity manager’ was required. That person is the architect.”

The 2015 IT Skills and Salary Survey was conducted online from Sept. 15 to Oct. 24, 2014. More than half a million survey invitations were sent to recipients from the databases of Global Knowledge, Windows IT Pro, and partner companies and organizations. More than 16,300 responses worldwide were returned, with 68 percent coming from the United States and Canada. This year’s survey is the eighth annual for Global Knowledge and the third in partnership with Windows IT Pro.

The report based on the survey breaks down salaries by functional area and within functional area.

The functional areas that rounded out the top four average salaries are also reflective of some of the technologies that are most important to businesses today. They include:

No. 5 on the list is another functional area focused on keeping things running smoothly: Project/Program management ($99,489).

The IT jobs with the lowest compensation, based on survey responses?

To see where your job lands on the salary spectrum, download the full 2015 IT Salary & Skills report here.

And, we'd like to know whether you feel that your salary is fair considering the work that you do. Please weigh in on our poll, and we welcome your comments below.