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Information technology manager vs information technology director

The differences between information technology managers and information technology directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both an information technology manager and an information technology director. Additionally, an information technology director has an average salary of $138,906, which is higher than the $119,589 average annual salary of an information technology manager.

The top three skills for an information technology manager include customer service, project management and database. The most important skills for an information technology director are customer service, project management, and cloud.

Information technology manager vs information technology director overview

Information Technology ManagerInformation Technology Director
Yearly salary$119,589$138,906
Hourly rate$57.49$66.78
Growth rate16%16%
Number of jobs108,17987,765
Job satisfaction54
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age4747
Years of experience88

What does an information technology manager do?

An information technology manager is responsible for supervising tasks for the company's network and information systems operations. Information technology managers require excellent knowledge of the information systems industry, a strong command of programming languages, and software and hardware application processes. An information technology manager reviews the performance of the IT department staff, ensuring that networks and systems maintain the highest quality and efficiency, and adjusting the specific system updates as needed. Information technology managers monitor the security of the system's database and identify business opportunities to utilize all business systems to improve the company's services.

What does an information technology director do?

An information technology (IT) Director is an individual responsible for the management, strategy, and execution of an organization's IT infrastructure. He/She supervises a team of workers while working with the organization's management and external vendors and advisors. Aside from managing workers, an IT director should possess problem-solving skills and an aptitude for organizational thinking. An IT director must also identify new market opportunities and should lead an effort to improve the organization's IT process.

Information technology manager vs information technology director salary

Information technology managers and information technology directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

Information Technology ManagerInformation Technology Director
Average salary$119,589$138,906
Salary rangeBetween $84,000 And $169,000Between $97,000 And $197,000
Highest paying CityRichmond, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateNew HampshireCalifornia
Best paying companyMetaThe Tipping Point
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between information technology manager and information technology director education

There are a few differences between an information technology manager and an information technology director in terms of educational background:

Information Technology ManagerInformation Technology Director
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorComputer ScienceBusiness
Most common collegeCarnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon University

Information technology manager vs information technology director demographics

Here are the differences between information technology managers' and information technology directors' demographics:

Information Technology ManagerInformation Technology Director
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 84.5% Female, 15.5%Male, 88.1% Female, 11.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 12.7% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 12.7% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between information technology manager and information technology director duties and responsibilities

Information technology manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage all systems onboarding & offboarding of all employees, manage all account access on all company systems & equipment setup.
  • Manage NFS mounts from NAS devices and setup auto-mounts for the server farm.
  • Manage applications support for Lawson, Meditech, ChartMaxx and McKesson PACs system.
  • Negotiate and manage the company through several Telecom agreements for voice, data and wireless.
  • Manage production turnovers by conducting performance tests, and reviewing SQL coding standards and methods.
  • Manage 3rd party vendors supporting legacy 3Com, Avaya, Nortel, and Cisco platforms.
  • Show more

Information technology director example responsibilities.

  • Lead the implementation of the ServiceNow ITSM solution.
  • Work with customers and internal management to create and manage acceptable SLA standards and measurements.
  • Manage the migration of email system for 400 plus users from Novell GroupWise to Google Gmail.
  • Manage the QA department and oversee the support of all storage for the company and its outsource customers.
  • Perform resource planning for a portfolio of projects via prioritizing the demand queue and successfully managing business relationships.
  • Lead the prototyping of a Microsoft SharePoint implementation that customize the look & feel to support the organizational requirements.
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Information technology manager vs information technology director skills

Common information technology manager skills
  • Customer Service, 12%
  • Project Management, 9%
  • Database, 4%
  • Network Infrastructure, 4%
  • SAN, 3%
  • SQL Server, 3%
Common information technology director skills
  • Customer Service, 10%
  • Project Management, 7%
  • Cloud, 6%
  • Network Infrastructure, 6%
  • Disaster Recovery, 3%
  • Windows Server, 3%

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