What's the average pay for...

[TurboGizzmo]

...someone that runs a companies whole network, manages the domain, handles daily user troubleshooting, manages day to day phone system issues, handles physical and network security, plans, researches and executes system/software upgrades, budget planning, admins the exchange server...I could go on.

With the new year i ponder what the average realistically in Colorado to see where i fall and if its time for a change......

[vort3xr6]

This questions depends highly on the size of network, number of users, etc.

[TFOGGuys]

Last I heard, it was all the Skittles and Mountain Dew you could handle, plus a handfull of Magic Beans™

[Mel]

Doing all that as one job is going to mean smaller companies who only have one/two people doing all their IT stuff, and pay is probably going to be less than a big corporation where you are much more specialized and the work required is more globally visible.

When it costs millions in downtime to a company, they are willing to pay you a bit more to make sure it doesn't happen.

[TurboGizzmo]

50-60 users, one network, few remote users, the company just doubled in size and jumped into multi-millions and hasnt stopped growing....

I am trying my best to keep up with develop policies and procedures to support the development from a small company into one needing corporate IT structor,(I've built IT Departments before) while still maintaining day to day operations as well as planning future upgrades....i am pushing out as much as i can to outsourced companies but i still have to monitor and manage them....i am just wondering if i need to have a "come to jesus/reality talk" with the owners or if this is just the normal "better to burn out then rust" IT life......

The job has really polished my resume but i want to be careful because being this envolved puts my personal name on the line for future jobs.....

[vort3xr6]

I would say realistically 50g.

[DevilsTonic]

I would say that it likely depends on the size of the company and the company itself. A network admin at my company starts at around 65k, Sr level is more like 80k. We've got a whole team of people for Unix, a separate team for Intel servers, a separate team for network support, etc. When I worked for Comcast I was like you and handled a little bit of everything for a whopping 43k, when I left I got a 25k pay increase.

[TurboGizzmo]

When you boss says "You're doing great on keeping us safe and the over 500,000 identities we house" its makes me feel good for 1 second and then has rethinking my life/pay grade the next.

Just the other day I had to field the idea to house code development with some free service in the cloud...ummm...nooooo....

[Nick_Ninja]

I wouldn't touch those responsibilities for less than 70g

[derekm]

are they public?

[Filo]

IT manager in Fort Collins:

Mean 106K
around -2 sigma 77K
around +2 sigma 140K

Source - salary.com

The IT person where I work (not a manager, in a remote center for a big company) makes around 90K if I remember correctly.

[Dietrich_R1]

Ask urself this ?....

Do the owners look at you like an expense or an asset???????

[merlin]

Sounds like you need some help, and aas it happens, I just got laid off last week...

:: grin ::

To actually answer your question - I don't think $65K would be unreasonable for all that from a smallish business. IBM would pay a lot more, if they let any one person handle all that, but I am guessing we aren't talking IBM here.

Merlyn

[Matt]

Seems like you should take all that experience and find a job in a bigger corporation.

Filo's 106K number sounds right for a manager. A hands on sys admin would probably be more like 90k. Depends on whether you prefer working or managing better.

A bigger company won't let you be involved with as much as you are now. You'd be more specialized.

[Devaclis]

Having done this for a majority of my life at companies from 8 users to 5k users I am going to give you a range:

$55 - $120k / year.

Starting at the bottom end, basic sysadmin and growing to the upper threshold where you are a Sr. level sysadmin managing 1-2 admins.

Now, this if for your basic business, running an MS infrastructure, maybe some WAN stuff and website work too. This will include your vendor relationship management, purchasing, asset management, licensing, decomishoning/recycling, end user support, infrastructure design/implementation/scaling/migrations along with some basic development work with DB and scripting thrown in.

Here is the key: When you are negotiating for salary in an IT position, get the MOST you can get from that company for that job. IT is a cost center. You will not likely get bonuses, decent raises, promotions as you would by working in a profit center. Your starting salary is going to be close to the same salary you will be making in 5 or 10 years if you stick with this company.

IMO - consulting is where it is at. MUCH more money, you have the chance to specialize if you wish, if you stick to short contracts you can learn a LOT very quickly as you will be in different environments every 3-6 months.

[Filo]

Having done this for a majority of my life at companies from 8 users to 5k users I am going to give you a range:...

Welcome back, your dreams were your ticket out.

[TurboGizzmo]

IMO - consulting is where it is at. MUCH more money, you have the chance to specialize if you wish, if you stick to short contracts you can learn a LOT very quickly as you will be in different environments every 3-6 months.

Very true, whats funny is my non-profit consulting rate i have with my consulting business is more than my calculated hourly day job rate....of course that doesn't include health insurance, job security and other benefits....just funny to ponder.

[Canuck]

Sounds like the IT field sucks to work in.

[~Barn~]

Sounds like the IT field sucks to work in.

It really depends; it's such a broad industry. There's definitely lots of money to be made, and it's one of those fields where you don't necessarily need college to become a mad scientist somewhere. I think the biggest things are the environment and culture of your co-workers. And whether or not the role you've been hired-into, is really a situation where you're leveraging "IT" to make a true impact to the bottom line, or just you performing "an IT service".

Like somebody said... If you get to where you've become a difficult-to-replace asset, as opposed to just another cog in the machine, the ball is firmly in your court. I couldn't see doing what you just described for less than 100 ~ 130k.