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Infrastructure consultant vs systems administrator

The differences between infrastructure consultants and systems 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 systems administrator. Additionally, an infrastructure consultant has an average salary of $81,653, which is higher than the $77,156 average annual salary of a systems administrator.

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

Infrastructure consultant vs systems administrator overview

Infrastructure ConsultantSystems Administrator
Yearly salary$81,653$77,156
Hourly rate$39.26$37.09
Growth rate5%5%
Number of jobs84,318134,500
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 60%
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 systems administrator do?

Systems administrators are employees who oversee information technology infrastructures in the office. They are skilled information technology professionals who are knowledgeable about the company's network systems and other technology-related infrastructures. They are responsible for installing, configuring, or updating network systems, software, and hardware. They also monitor the different systems and troubleshoot any issues that users may encounter. Systems administrators manage the access of users, ensure the security of the network, and address any challenges that users may have. They conduct repairs and routine maintenance to ensure that the systems in place are in the best shape.

Infrastructure consultant vs systems administrator salary

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

Infrastructure ConsultantSystems Administrator
Average salary$81,653$77,156
Salary rangeBetween $69,000 And $96,000Between $59,000 And $100,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyDropboxMeta
Best paying industryTechnologyTechnology

Differences between infrastructure consultant and systems administrator education

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

Infrastructure ConsultantSystems Administrator
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Infrastructure consultant vs systems administrator demographics

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

Infrastructure ConsultantSystems Administrator
Average age4343
Gender ratioMale, 92.6% Female, 7.4%Male, 83.9% Female, 16.1%
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, 8.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 11.5% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between infrastructure consultant and systems 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

Systems administrator example responsibilities.

  • Used Jenkins to automate most of the build relate tasks.
  • Manage windows file servers, messaging, and SQL databases.
  • Lead the project which integrate internal DNS into the corporate LDAP infrastructure for end user host management prior to deployment.
  • Lead business-critical information security initiatives involving encryption of customer data.
  • Authore and maintain shell and Perl scripts to automate administration tasks for infrastructure management.
  • Configure & manage all switches and servers responsible for providing WLAN connectivity and authentication services.
  • Show more

Infrastructure consultant vs systems administrator skills

Common infrastructure consultant skills
  • Cloud, 14%
  • Architecture, 10%
  • PowerShell, 7%
  • Project Management, 7%
  • Azure, 6%
  • Linux, 4%
Common systems administrator skills
  • Linux, 7%
  • Troubleshoot, 7%
  • Windows Server, 6%
  • Database, 5%
  • Technical Support, 4%
  • PowerShell, 3%

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