Data Professionals See Salaries Rise

Dollars and Sense and the Data AdminBeing a database professional is not easy, but it can pay well. So says a survey of 503 members of the Independent Oracle Users Group conducted by Unisphere Research. Those surveyed included database administrators and IT managers as well as database developers and analysts. As the IOUG survey shows, certification and experience can go a long way toward making that extra buck.

Ranges of DBA SalariesThe IOUG survey found that 28 percent of DBAs have six-figure base salaries, while another 47 percent are pulling in between $80,001 and $100,000. There were significant differences in the pay ranges between small and large organizations. A third of DBAs in organizations with 10,000 or more employees made over $100,000, compared with only 20 percent of those in organizations with 1,000 employees or less.

DBA Salaries by ExperienceNone of the DBAs surveyed with less than five years of experience made more than $100,000. In contrast, 82 percent of those with 11 to 20 years experience made more than $80,000; 40 percent made more than $100,000.

Certification MattersThe survey covered a range of Oracle certifications, including OCA (Oracle Certified Associate) and Oracle 10g OCP (Oracle Certified Professional). On the whole, those with certifications made more, though the percentage of people making more than $100,000 with and without certifications was virtually identical.

Bigger Databases, Bigger PaychecksForty-four percent of DBAs charged with managing multiterabyte databases were making more than $100,000 a year. About 30 percent of DBAs in data warehouse environments passed $100,000.

Developers and AnalystsThirteen percent of database developers and analysts reported making more than $100,000 a year. However, 22 percent reported making less than $60,000, the largest single percentage of any of the salary ranges. Seventy-eight percent of this group are directly involved in application development, while another 27 percent said they are involved in project management. Most-

IT AdministratorsSome 35 percent of IT admins surveyed cleared more than $100,000 a year, with 11 percent making more than $120,000. This group included CIOs, vice presidents, IT directors and managers, nearly half of which manage teams of 10 or more employees.

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