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The differences between decision support analysts and technical support specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a decision support analyst and a technical support specialist. Additionally, a decision support analyst has an average salary of $81,227, which is higher than the $48,667 average annual salary of a technical support specialist.
The top three skills for a decision support analyst include data analysis, SAS and tableau. The most important skills for a technical support specialist are customer service, technical support, and troubleshoot.
| Decision Support Analyst | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $81,227 | $48,667 |
| Hourly rate | $39.05 | $23.40 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 96,068 | 157,425 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.6 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A decision support analyst is a support staff who perform a variety of specialized analyses such as financial analyses and cost-benefit analyses. Your duties typically include documenting analytical findings, designing and developing data reporting systems tailored for business operations, and providing team members with processed data as needed. Additionally, you will be responsible for managing data integrity and accuracy, diagnosing and troubleshooting system errors, and providing recommendations for improvements of the decision support systems. You are also expected to train other team members on how to use the system.
A technical support specialist is responsible for assisting customer's and businesses' concerns and system issues by performing troubleshooting and remote solutions. These specialists must have extensive knowledge of system applications, including software and hardware database to handle complex processes that might affect the end user's experience or the business' daily operations. Technical support specialists should maintain excellent communication skills to guide the client and business on solving network problems. They must also document concerns and progress promptly for reference and quality checks.
Decision support analysts and technical support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Decision Support Analyst | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $81,227 | $48,667 |
| Salary range | Between $58,000 And $112,000 | Between $30,000 And $76,000 |
| Highest paying City | Mountain View, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Meta | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Finance |
There are a few differences between a decision support analyst and a technical support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Decision Support Analyst | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between decision support analysts' and technical support specialists' demographics:
| Decision Support Analyst | Technical Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 49.1% Female, 50.9% | Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 12.9% White, 55.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 11.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |