Exchange administrator vs senior system administrator

The differences between exchange administrators and senior system administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an exchange administrator and a senior system administrator. Additionally, a senior system administrator has an average salary of $98,146, which is higher than the $93,513 average annual salary of an exchange administrator.

The top three skills for an exchange administrator include powershell, windows server and troubleshoot. The most important skills for a senior system administrator are linux, windows server, and troubleshoot.

Exchange administrator vs senior system administrator overview

	Exchange Administrator	Senior System Administrator
Yearly salary	$93,513	$98,146
Hourly rate	$44.96	$47.19
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	71,304	100,873
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	2	2

What does an exchange administrator do?

An Exchange Administrator is responsible for setting up and managing an organization's Microsoft Exchange server. As an Exchange Administrator, you will assist in creating mailboxes and user accounts as well as restoring files and backup security. You will also conduct routine maintenance of the server, configure new users, and help in managing server infrastructure. Other duties include managing email-related tools and systems, assisting in server migration and disaster recovery, and handling and managing client inquiries.

What does a senior system administrator do?

A senior system administrator specializes in overseeing the computer system operations in an organization. Their responsibilities primarily revolve around monitoring the performance of all software and hardware, installing servers, configuring systems, and making sure every technical aspect is running smoothly. Should there be any issues, they must take charge of troubleshooting and providing solutions. As someone with more experience, a senior system administrator leads and evaluates the performances of fellow skilled professionals in the department, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.

Exchange administrator vs senior system administrator salary

Exchange administrators and senior system administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Exchange Administrator	Senior System Administrator
Average salary	$93,513	$98,146
Salary range	Between $70,000 And $123,000	Between $75,000 And $126,000
Highest paying City	San Jose, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Unisys	Cambridge Associates
Best paying industry	Finance	Finance

Differences between exchange administrator and senior system administrator education

There are a few differences between an exchange administrator and a senior system administrator in terms of educational background:

	Exchange Administrator	Senior System Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common major	Computer Science	Computer Science
Most common college	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Exchange administrator vs senior system administrator demographics

Here are the differences between exchange administrators' and senior system administrators' demographics:

	Exchange Administrator	Senior System Administrator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 83.4% Female, 16.6%	Male, 89.0% Female, 11.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 11.6% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 11.8% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between exchange administrator and senior system administrator duties and responsibilities

Exchange administrator example responsibilities.

Monitor, maintain, and manage Citrix XenApp user sessions and support their ThinClients.
Manage IIS 6.0 and IIS 7.0 server clusters and services across multiple sites and domains.
Save company many hours of manual testing and developing by engineering Java applications to automate tedious tasks.
Utilize strong working knowledge of TCP/IP, DHCP, HTTP, LDAP, SNMP, SMTP, and other networking protocols.
Subject matter expert on the Linux and UNIX servers.
Perform multiple batch moves from on-premise exchange environment to O365.

Senior system administrator example responsibilities.

Manage and optimize the design and delivery of project associate with AIX arena.
Manage all installs and setup of new servers, and server upgrades to server 2008 R2.
Implement IIS servers for both the internal and external web servers and managing security on all web servers.
Design, implement, and manage a network and domain extension in a remote location via a secure VPN link.
Manage Cisco network equipment including firewalls and switches.
Administer and manage daily backups via Symantec NetBackup.

Exchange administrator vs senior system administrator skills

Common exchange administrator skills

PowerShell, 8%
Windows Server, 7%
Troubleshoot, 7%
Infrastructure, 6%
Microsoft Exchange, 6%
Mobile Device Management, 4%

Common senior system administrator skills

Linux, 7%
Windows Server, 6%
Troubleshoot, 5%
System Administration, 4%
PowerShell, 4%
SAN, 4%

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Exchange Administrator vs Senior System Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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