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The differences between consulting practice managers and technical managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become a consulting practice manager, becoming a technical manager takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a consulting practice manager has an average salary of $146,729, which is higher than the $116,619 average annual salary of a technical manager.
The top three skills for a consulting practice manager include project management, business plan and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a technical manager are project management, infrastructure, and architecture.
| Consulting Practice Manager | Technical Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $146,729 | $116,619 |
| Hourly rate | $70.54 | $56.07 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 42,595 | 116,732 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 2 |
A consulting practice manager deals with the logistics of fulfilling client agreements promptly, should be consistent in meeting client expectations, and efficient in utilizing internal and external resources. This is the reason why they need technical, analytical, and leadership skills on top of having a bachelor's degree and past practice management experiences. Other responsibilities include managing targets on the utilization of a consultants' time, create monthly utilization reports, and produce management information reports. Also, they maintain an accurate overview of the progress of client projects.
A technical manager is responsible for maintaining the company's information systems database and analyzing technology system matters to ensure its efficiency and accuracy in supporting business operations. Technical managers perform network checks regularly to assess any possible malfunctions that might compromise the company's cybersecurity. They carefully analyze business and clients' specifications on working with systems integration, responding to end-users' concerns and inquiries. A technical manager must have excellent knowledge of the information technology systems industry, as well as a strong command on network codes to conduct adjustments and manage network infrastructure.
Consulting practice managers and technical managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Consulting Practice Manager | Technical Manager | |
| Average salary | $146,729 | $116,619 |
| Salary range | Between $106,000 And $202,000 | Between $84,000 And $161,000 |
| Highest paying City | Concord, NH | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Hampshire | California |
| Best paying company | Avnet | A.T. Kearney |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a consulting practice manager and a technical manager in terms of educational background:
| Consulting Practice Manager | Technical Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | Carnegie Mellon University |
Here are the differences between consulting practice managers' and technical managers' demographics:
| Consulting Practice Manager | Technical Manager | |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.3% Female, 42.7% | Male, 83.7% Female, 16.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 12.7% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 6.4% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 14% |