Data network specialist vs network consultant

The differences between data network specialists and network consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a data network specialist and a network consultant. Additionally, a network consultant has an average salary of $89,303, which is higher than the $81,950 average annual salary of a data network specialist.

The top three skills for a data network specialist include switches, timely maintenance and business rules. The most important skills for a network consultant are appeals, firewall, and windows server.

Data network specialist vs network consultant overview

	Data Network Specialist	Network Consultant
Yearly salary	$81,950	$89,303
Hourly rate	$39.40	$42.93
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	91,708	58,194
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	2	2

Data network specialist vs network consultant salary

Data network specialists and network consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Data Network Specialist	Network Consultant
Average salary	$81,950	$89,303
Salary range	Between $54,000 And $123,000	Between $60,000 And $132,000
Highest paying City	Olympia, WA	Mountain View, CA
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	California
Best paying company	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	Dell
Best paying industry	Health Care	Manufacturing

Differences between data network specialist and network consultant education

There are a few differences between a data network specialist and a network consultant in terms of educational background:

	Data Network Specialist	Network Consultant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Business	Computer Science
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Data network specialist vs network consultant demographics

Here are the differences between data network specialists' and network consultants' demographics:

	Data Network Specialist	Network Consultant
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 81.8% Female, 18.2%	Male, 87.0% Female, 13.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 9.4% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 11.3% White, 61.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between data network specialist and network consultant duties and responsibilities

Data network specialist example responsibilities.

Design, develop, and manage SharePoint sites on both classify and unclassify networks.
Maintain and manage a tactical network during military and combat operations, both in garrison and deploy.
Design, configure and run VMWare Vcenter servers to manage multiple ESXi host servers and optimize server resources.
Manage TCP/IP network, install and configure network peripherals, run DHCP clients and servers, and maintain WNS and DNS.
Ensure business continuity by managing and monitoring all infrastructure backups, and notifying business partners of fail backup jobs.
Assist customers, if necessary, with proper configuration of network devices to support VOIP implementation.

Network consultant example responsibilities.

Support and manage Linux base firewalls for client.
Manage FTP servers, AD/DNS, wireless access points and load balancers.
Manage and configure VoIP devices which include gateway and gatekeeper.
Lead architecture and design sessions with customers; initiate technical meetings with customer engineers to further engage and identify additional opportunities.
Create an optimize network to separate voice and data with QOS, MPLS BGP OSPF.
Configure route redistribution to between OSPF and EIGRP.

Data network specialist vs network consultant skills

Common data network specialist skills

Switches, 9%
Timely Maintenance, 7%
Business Rules, 6%
Network Management, 6%
Data Network Systems, 5%
VoIP, 5%

Common network consultant skills

Appeals, 10%
Firewall, 5%
Windows Server, 5%
Switches, 4%
Network Infrastructure, 4%
Network Hardware, 4%

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Data Network Specialist vs Network Consultant

Updated January 8, 2025

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