Skip Links

Network World

  • Social Web 
  • Email 
  • Close

(Comma separation for multiple addresses)
Your Message:

Is CCIE pay slipping compared to other certifications?

Results of TechRepublic's 2008 IT Skills and Salary Report good news for business-oriented IT pros
IT Careers and Training Alert By Linda Leung , Network World , 03/12/2008
Sign up for this newsletter now!

Senior Writer Jon Brodkin discusses IT career and education trends and issues.

  • Share/Email
  • Tweet This
  • Comment
  • Print

In a provocatively headlined blog, TechRepublic Executive Editor Jason Hiner writes that "Cisco's CCIE is no longer the biggest cash cow of IT certification." According to the Web site's 2008 IT Skills and Salary Report conducted in association with training firm Global Knowledge, Cisco's highest accolade for network engineers is the fifth highest-earning certification for IT professionals, following PMI Project Management Professional (PMP), PMI Certified Associate in Project Management, ITIL v. 2 - Foundation, and (ISC)2's Certified Information Systems Security Professional.

It's difficult to say how much of a slip this is for the Cisco Certified Internet Expert certification as the survey, which you can download here (registration required), doesn't provide comparisons to previous years. But the results appear to gel with what we've been reporting in recent pasts - that employers are seeking IT pros with business-oriented certifications in such areas as project management and Six Sigma. According to the survey, PMPs command an average salary of $101,695, compared to $93,500 for a CCIE Routing & Switching expert. The Cisco Certified Voice Professional followed in sixth place, with an average salary of $88,600, while the highest paying Microsoft certification is the Microsoft Certified Solution Developer ($84,522), according to the survey.

Despite the many articles written about whether certifications are worth the time and investment given that bonus pay for non-certified skills are overtaking that of certified skills, 87% of the 7,193 IT professionals surveyed agreed that certifications are a worthwhile endeavor. This validates the top concern of IT professionals of keeping up with skills and quantifying their knowledge to employers, say the report's authors.

Other key findings from the report include:

* The average salary for 2008 was up 3.25% from the 2007 survey to $73,963. The average salary increase reported by the respondents slipped to 4% compared to 5% last year.

* The majority (47.1%) of respondents rated job stability as the No. 1 job satisfaction factor, followed by higher base compensation (44.9%), challenging job role (32.9%), and considerations of personal/family needs (31.6%). The least important factors for job satisfaction were stock options (cited by 2.2% as a satisfaction factor), profit sharing (4.5%), and the company having an entrepreneurial environment (6.3%).

Jon Brodkin is senior writer at Network World.

  • Share/Email
  • Tweet This
  • Comment
  • Print
Partner Content

Blue Stripe Software

www.bluestripe.com/

Improving Application Performance Troubleshooting

Diagnosing why an application is slow is hard, at times taking days or weeks to isolate and resolve. This paper explains the challenges involved using current management tools, provides a 'wish list' for application management and analysis, and explains the need for an application system-wide approach that monitors entire applications, not components.

Download Whitepaper

Virtual Vigilance: Managing Application Performance in Virtual Environments

This paper highlights the impact of virtualization on application performance.  "Managing Application Performance in Virtual Environments" states: "Best-in-Class organizations are predominately taking actions around improving visibility across both physical and virtual systems, assessing the business impact of application performance and understanding interdependencies of applications in virtualized environments."

Download Whitepaper

Application Service Requests: The Missing Link for Pragmatic ITSM

Forrester Research analyst Glenn O'Donnell and BlueStripe co-founder Vic Nyman discuss a breakthrough approach to application problem management. Learn the new approach for ITSM problem management, which provides: Rapid isolation of application slow-downs to specific components for quick problem resolution, 24/7 monitoring for proactive notification of potential issues before end users are impacted and much more.

Register for Webcast

Comments (9)
Login
Forgot your account info?

Salary survey says CCIE salary slippingBy Cisco Subnet on March 11, 2008, 7:40 pmIn a provocatively headlined blog, TechRepublic Executive Editor Jason Hiner writes that "Cisco's CCIE is no longer the biggest cash cow of IT certification."...

Reply | Read entire comment

I don't know about you....By Anonymous on March 11, 2008, 9:23 pmbut 935000 sounds a whole lot more than 101695. I'll take the CCIE job at $935000 any day.... >>>PMPs command an average salary of $101,695, compared to $93,5000...

Reply | Read entire comment

So, what if you haveBy Anonymous on March 11, 2008, 10:02 pmSo, what if you have multiple, like CCIE, CISSP, and PMP?

Reply | Read entire comment

Not Additive! :)By Scott Morris on March 12, 2008, 9:32 amUnfortunately, if you have multiple certifications they are not additive in salary. While that would be way cool, it would also price many people out of the market! Due...

Reply | Read entire comment

Too many zerosBy Cisconet on March 12, 2008, 11:46 amWhoops. It appears it is all too easy to add too many zeros in a story but alas not to my salary file in HR. I've corrected the blog posting. Thanks for noticing...

Reply | Read entire comment

CCIE is just Cisco's way of planting the seedBy Anonymous on March 12, 2008, 12:19 pmThe Best clients in this crazy IT world are the ones that have a person on site from your company. In the case of CCIE's that is Cisco's way of planting a person...

Reply | Read entire comment

View all comments

Add comment
Anonymous comments subject to approval. Register here for member benefits.
Have a NetworkWorld account? Log in here. Register now for a free account.

Videos

rssRss Feed