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Infrastructure consultant vs senior system administrator

The differences between infrastructure consultants 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 infrastructure consultant and a senior system administrator. Additionally, a senior system administrator has an average salary of $98,146, which is higher than the $81,653 average annual salary of an infrastructure consultant.

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

Infrastructure consultant vs senior system administrator overview

Infrastructure ConsultantSenior System Administrator
Yearly salary$81,653$98,146
Hourly rate$39.26$47.19
Growth rate5%5%
Number of jobs84,318100,873
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age4343
Years of experience22

What does an infrastructure consultant do?

An infrastructure consultant is an independent computer professional who assists companies in the building, installation, and maintenance of their computer systems. Infrastructure consultants lead the team in defining new manage desktop environment and Y2K strategies for cheaper and faster adoption. The improve the operations architecture internal policies through the ITIL principle application. They establish and maintain the SharePoint site, which is a resiliency assessment project. Also, they take part in prioritizing, high-level estimating, and positioning of strategic initiatives.

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.

Infrastructure consultant vs senior system administrator salary

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

Infrastructure ConsultantSenior System Administrator
Average salary$81,653$98,146
Salary rangeBetween $69,000 And $96,000Between $75,000 And $126,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyDropboxCambridge Associates
Best paying industryTechnologyFinance

Differences between infrastructure consultant and senior system administrator education

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

Infrastructure ConsultantSenior System Administrator
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Infrastructure consultant vs senior system administrator demographics

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

Infrastructure ConsultantSenior System Administrator
Average age4343
Gender ratioMale, 92.6% Female, 7.4%Male, 89.0% Female, 11.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.8% Asian, 14.1% White, 60.7% 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 Percentage9%9%

Differences between infrastructure consultant and senior system administrator duties and responsibilities

Infrastructure consultant example responsibilities.

  • Manage various infrastructure system management projects using ITIL, MOF and MSF methodology.
  • Lead a desktop operating system migration in a highly regulate pharmaceutical environment.
  • Maintain NT , 2000 , 2003 and Linux servers.
  • Provide direct technical input to UNIX system patching, maintenance impacts and scheduling.
  • Produce and maintain provisioning pipeline for virtual instances, redeploy servers and net new servers.
  • Build Linux, Solaris and AIX servers and accordingly virtualize by creating virtual zone and Lpars.
  • Show more

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.
  • Show more

Infrastructure consultant vs senior system administrator skills

Common infrastructure consultant skills
  • Cloud, 14%
  • Architecture, 10%
  • PowerShell, 7%
  • Project Management, 7%
  • Azure, 6%
  • Linux, 4%
Common senior system administrator skills
  • Linux, 7%
  • Windows Server, 6%
  • Troubleshoot, 5%
  • System Administration, 4%
  • PowerShell, 4%
  • SAN, 4%

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