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Posted on Posted in Digital transformation, General topics Tagged with , , , , , ,

Digital transformation is at the forefront of every modern business strategy, whether it’s adopting the cloud, improving and updating IT infrastructure, or developing data and analytics strategy to drive decision-making. Companies are interested in hiring seasoned pros who have a strong working knowledge of the skills they need to accomplish technology and business goals.

According to the latest 2023 Dice Tech Salary Report, there is a growing demand for IT pros who have mastered skills aimed at wrangling big data, developing cloud-native applications, processing data streams, architecting software systems, leveraging DevOps, or orchestrating cloud workloads — and they’re willing to pay top dollar to recruit them.

IT professionals already earn some of the highest salaries in the job market, but there are certain in-demand skills that can help boost your salary. Whether you already have these skills on your resume, or you want to learn a new skill to help improve your chances of a higher salary during a job hunt, these skills can help secure your IT career. Here are the 10 highest-paying IT skills of 2023, and how much they’ve increased in value since 2021.

1. MapReduce          

MapReduce is a programming model utilized in the Hadoop framework to access data stored in the Hadoop File System (HDFS). It was originally developed to be used by the Google search engine but has since grown to be adopted widely within the tech industry. MapReduce helps users analyze large datasets that span across different servers and networks, dividing it into smaller modules of data that can be distributed to computer clusters for parallel processing. The name references the Map and Reduce phases of this process, the map phase being when the data is input into the system and mapped, while the reduce phase refers to the process of analyzing and consolidating that data for output.

Average salary: US$146,672

Increase since 2021: +9.3%

2. Go/Golang            

Go, also referred to as Golang, is an open-source programming language developed in 2007 by Google as a user-friendly programming language to assist in the development of high-level software systems, web applications, and cloud and networking services. It’s designed to be efficient and easy-to-use, with simple syntax and features, including garbage collection, memory safety, and concurrency support. It’s become increasingly popular as for cloud-based programming due to the fact that it is adept at handling parallelism and concurrency. But you’ll also find it used in distributed systems, web development, machine learning, and network programming.

Average salary: US$145,672

Increase since 2021: +18.2%

3. Elasticsearch                    

Elasticsearch is a distributed search and analytics engine built on Apache Lucene that enables users to store, search, and analyze large data sets in real-time. It’s become a popular tool for organizations with large amounts of data to sift through, allowing users to quickly search through complex data sets stored across different servers. Elasticsearch is valued as a highly scalable and distributed tool that offers real-time search and analytics, full-text search, geospatial search, and structured search.

Average salary: US$143,619

Increase since 2021: +4.5%

4. Chef                       

The Chef automation tool is commonly used in DevOps and IT operations to manage and deploy software applications across different systems, servers, containers, and cloud resources. For large-scale computing environments, Chef is a valuable tool that enables organizations to become more operationally efficient by streamlining infrastructure management processes. Chef minimizes a lot of the backend work on automation, allowing companies to minimize downtime and errors, while also freeing up workers to focus on more high-level tasks. 

Average salary: US$143,188

Increase since 2021: +8.8%

5. Apache Kafka                    

Apache Kafka is a powerful tool for real-time data processing and analyzing, using a distributed streaming platform design. Kafka also makes it possible for organizations to handle large data sets, with high throughput and low latency, and provides a scalable and fault-tolerant infrastructure for data streaming. And with Kafka, it’s possible for several different systems to exchange data in real-time. It’s a popular tool in finance, telecommunications, and e-commerce, among other industries as well — it’s typically used along with other tools including Apache Spark, Apache Flink, and Apache Storm.

Average salary: US$142,764

Increase since 2021: +8.4%

6. Service-oriented architecture (SOA)                 

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is an architectural framework that focuses on software applications and systems as independent services. Each service is broken down and categorized by its own specific set of functions into a standardized interface that allows those services to interact and access one another. Breaking services down this way makes them easier to maintain, update, and monitor without impacting other parts of the system and creating unnecessary downtime. SOA gives companies the framework to organize software and services and to manage flexible, scalable, and reusable services across different applications throughout the organization.

Average salary: US$142,459

Increase since 2021: +1.6%

7. Teradata                

Teradata is a company that offers several enterprise data warehousing and analytics tools that help organizations analyze and manage large and complex data sets. One of the company’s most notable products is the Teradata Database, a relational database management system designed for large-scale data warehousing and analytics. Teradata’s offerings focus on enabling organizations to integrate data from different sources, performing advanced analytics, creating business intelligence reports, and building data warehouses.

Average salary: US$141,515

Increase since 2021: +14.7%

8. Redis                      

Redis is an open-source data storage and management tool designed to be fast, efficient, and powerful. It enables users to cache and store data, making it quick and easy to access, while also keeping it backed up to a hard drive. As an IT tool, it’s known for being helpful for managing data structures, handling data in a distributed environment, and offering a high-performance and scalable solution for data storage and caching.

Average salary: US$140,290

Increase since 2021: +1.6%

9. PaaS                       

Platform as a service (PaaS) is a cloud computing model that provides users with an environment for developers to build, test, and deploy applications without impacting other systems and networks in the process. PaaS tools are typically third-party services that companies use to help improve the development process with a variety of development tools, scalability and resource management features, database and storage options, and tools for deployment and management. PaaS is touted as offering businesses reduced costs and a faster time-to-market, allowing for better efficiency and speed when releasing new products and services.

Average salary: US$139,858

Increase since 2021: +3.2%

10. Kubernetes         

Kubernetes is an open-source automation tool that helps companies deploy, scale, and manage containerized applications. Originally developed by Google, but now maintained by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), Kubernetes helps companies automate the deployment and scale of containerized applications across a set of machines, with a focus on container and storage orchestration, automatic scaling, self-healing, and service discovery and load balancing. Features include the ability to automatically detect and recover from errors and failures, built-in load balancing to manage traffic, and the ability to automatically scale applications while accounting for demand, resources, and cost.

Average salary: US$139,167

Increase since 2021: N/A

The next 5

Other skills associated with IT pros earning higher annual salaries include:

11. Containers

Average salary: US$138,559

Increase since 2021: +9.5%

12. Amazon Route 53             

Average salary: US$137,928

Increase since 2021: +3.4%

13. Rust

Average salary: US$137,153

Increase since 2021: N/A

14. RDBMS                 

Average salary: US$137,104

Increase since 2021: +8.5%

15. HANA                    

Average salary: US$136,789

Increase since 2021: +2.1%

Careers, IT Jobs, IT Skills, Salaries

Posted on Posted in Digital transformation, General topics Tagged with , , ,

The past year was rough for the tech industry, with several companies reporting layoffs and the looming threat of a recession. But despite the bumpy year, demand for technology skills remains strong, with the US tech unemployment rate dropping to 1.5% as of January. For technologists with the right skills and expertise, the demand for talent remains and businesses continue to invest in technical skills such as data analytics, security, and cloud.

Companies can’t ignore digital transformation as technology continues to dominate nearly every aspect of business and daily-life. There’s an ever-growing need for technical pros who can handle the rapid pace of technology, ensuring businesses keep up with industry standards, compliance regulations, and emerging or disruptive technologies.

And according to the latest 2023 Dice Tech Salary Report, you don’t need to reach for an executive career in IT to earn a six-figure salary. The demand for specialized skills has boosted salaries in cybersecurity, data, engineering, development, and program management. Here are the top 10 IT occupations with the highest average salaries, according to Dice.

1.    IT management

It’s no surprise that IT executive positions earn some of the highest average salaries, with Dice reporting an average yearly salary of $164,814 in 2022 — an 8.4% increase from 2021. Those working in IT management, including the roles of CIO, CTO, VP, and IT Director, hold high-level positions that oversee an entire company’s technology infrastructure. The CIO typically ranks the highest in an IT department, responsible for managing the organization’s IT strategy, resources, operations, and overall goals. Meanwhile, the CTO focuses on technology research and development efforts, often working closely with the CIO to develop a strong IT strategy. The vice president of IT is responsible for overseeing specific aspects of the organization’s IT operations, whether it’s infrastructure, security, data management, or applications. Finally, the director of IT is tasked with managing specific teams or departments within IT operations, often including development teams and help desk support.

Average salary: US$164,814

Increase since 2021: 8.4%

2. Solutions architect

Solutions architects are responsible for building, developing, and implementing systems architecture within an organization, ensuring that they meet business or customer needs. They’re also charged with assessing a business’ current system architecture, and identifying solutions to improve, change, and modernize it. It’s a role that typically requires at least a bachelor’s degree in information technology, software engineering, computer science, or a related field. Relevant skills include Java, JavaScript, organizational and leadership skills, technical knowledge, project management, and architecture design.

Average salary: US$155,934

Increase from 2021: n/a

3. Principal software engineer

As a senior-level technical role, a principal software engineer is responsible for leading a team of engineers and ensuring that the team builds and implements high-quality, scalable software, while following best practices. It’s a role that not only requires technical skills, but also leadership and communication skills as well to work across departments and to manage teams of engineers. These leaders are responsible for reviewing code written by other engineers, designing architecture for complex software systems, identifying the right technology for business needs, and staying on top of the latest industry trends.

Average salary: US$153,354

Increase from 2021: n/a

4. Systems architect

A systems architect is responsible for designing and overseeing the implementation of IT infrastructure such as hardware, software, and networks. They’re required to work closely with upper management, executives, and key stakeholders to identify business needs and requirements. Systems architects are responsible for identifying technical solutions that align with the business goals and budget. Relevant skills for a systems architect include risk management, performance optimization, security, leadership, and a strong knowledge of complex computer systems.

Average salary: US$151,364

Increase from 2021: 2.3%

5. Cybersecurity engineer/architect

The roles of cybersecurity engineer or architect require much of the same knowledge, expertise, and skills. However, engineers are responsible for building and maintaining cybersecurity infrastructure, while architects are responsible for designing cybersecurity systems. These IT pros work closely with developers to ensure security measures such as firewalls, encryption, and intrusion detection systems are included in software, systems, networks, and applications. Cybersecurity engineers and architects may also be responsible for responding to security incidents, data breaches, cyberattacks, and other potential security risks that businesses face. Average salary: US$145,512

Increase from 2021: 7.7%

6. Cloud architect/engineer

The roles of cloud architect and engineer share a lot of similarities, with the architects responsible for designing cloud systems, while the engineers are responsible for building and maintaining cloud infrastructure. Cloud architect skills include an understanding of cloud technologies and architectural principles, knowledge of how to scale cloud applications at cost, and the ability to collaborate and communicate with others in the organization. Both roles require a knowledge of cloud services, such as Amazon Web Services, as well as experience with ITSM, I&O, governance, automation, and vendor management.

Average salary: US$145,416

Increase from 2021: 3.4%

7. Program analyst/manager

A program analyst or manager is tasked with developing and overseeing IT projects to ensure that they stay on task and on budget. The role requires identifying resource requirements, creating and defining project objectives, establishing necessary timelines, and determining potential risks. Program analysts and managers need skills such as data management, analytical and organizational skills, strong communication skills, and proficiency in statistics and mathematics.

Average salary: US$139,683

Increase from 2021: 12.9%

8. Product manager

The role of product manager is vital for businesses, ensuring that the products and services they launch are up to customer standards and align with business needs and industry trends. Product managers need to gather customer requirements, create a product roadmap, conduct market research, collaborate with relevant teams across the organization, identify the key features that need to be prioritized, and keep track of how the products perform after launch. Product managers are becoming increasingly crucial as more businesses shift to product-based IT models, resulting in the big salary gains for the role in recent years.

Average salary: US$139,100

Increase from 2021: 15.6%

9. DevOps engineer

DevOps engineers are tasked with managing IT infrastructure, identifying requirements, overseeing software testing, and monitoring performance of software and services after they are deployed. The role requires a strong focus on automation, especially around software development processes, and ensuring continuous integration and delivery pipelines are implemented to support development teams. It’s a multifaceted role that was created to bridge the gap between development and operations. Relevant skills for a DevOps engineer include coding and scripting skills, security, analytics, automation, data management, and IT operations skills.

Average salary: US$136,017

Increase from 2021: 14.1%

10. MIS manager

A management information systems (MIS) manager is responsible for overseeing an organization’s IT strategy and systems and identifying new technology and tools that can help the organization meet its business and operational goals. MIS managers are tasked managing a team of IT professionals and planning, developing, implementing, and maintaining the business’ IT systems and ensuring that they remain scalable, secure, efficient, and reliable. This role requires knowledge of IT security, data privacy, encryption, compliance, and the ability to manage budgets, identify the most cost-effective solutions, and maintain systems with troubleshooting and updates.

Average salary: US$132,094

Increase from 2021: 10.8%

Careers, IT Jobs, Salaries