What's the most lucrative/profitable IT industry today?

Question

Hi.
I'm interested to know in your opinion, what's the most profitable IT industry today?
Is it web development, database administration or reports generation, system administration, networking, desktop application /component development, some kind of security, some kind of analysis, maybe something MS related (MCSA or something stronger).

Basically I'm asking because I'm on a crossroads at the moment and I can choose which way to go. I've been programming since I was very young and I always loved everything computer related so nothing is dull or a problem to me.

I'm looking primarily for answers from people who know for a fact some salaries (or their own).

Thanx

Answer 1

IT is still a very broad category. So you're going to have to also decide what interests you, and what you enjoy doing. I know that a lot of data base managers can pull in great money ... 115K a year in metropolitan areas like San Francisco, etc.



But I for one, haven't enjoyed databases and T-SQL statements :) I've done well with Network Engineering. Cisco routers and switches, HP ProCurve switches, etc. I make 40 an hour for contract work -- or 85-90 K a year. I'm sure I could make more, but I'm still learning.



I have Microsoft cert (MCSE NT4) -- Cisco Cert (CCNA), CompTIA certs -- A+ and Network +. It takes time to pass certifications, and/or school or job experience.

Answer 2

In the IT world, there are basically 2 different areas of work ... on the one side is infrastructure and the other is applications.



Infrastructure includes hardware (computers, storage, networking) and software (middleware, OS, management tools). On this side, the jobs are likely to be knows as administration or engineering (Systems Administrator/Engineer, Database Administrator/Engineer, Network Adminstrator/Engineer, etc. etc.). These jobs are critical for any IT shop, and all big business have IT shops, so there are a lot of these jobs around. Unfortunately for the U.S. of A., the "globalization" of our economy means that many technical jobs can be done remotely, and the remote location of choice for many big corporations is anywhere but the U.S. For example, IBM has a standing policy to move all technical support jobs that don't require hands-on physical presence to other countries (Brazil and India are the 2 biggest locations where IBM is sending formerly American jobs).



The greatest liklihood of being able to (a) find a lucrative job and (b) keep a lucrative job would be in the "applications" side of the house ... and by applications I am referring to being a programmer. Being a programmer means you won't be as tied to any particular technology as much as a hardware guy would be, hence it would be easier for you to move to new work without having to retrain / relearn everything.



So, there's my recommendation for ya ... be a programmer. Do web-stuff. That's where the dollars are.

Answer 3

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