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Infrastructure manager vs systems manager

The differences between infrastructure managers and systems managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both an infrastructure manager and a systems manager. Additionally, an infrastructure manager has an average salary of $119,630, which is higher than the $107,156 average annual salary of a systems manager.

The top three skills for an infrastructure manager include cloud, project management and incident management. The most important skills for a systems manager are customer service, project management, and patients.

Infrastructure manager vs systems manager overview

Infrastructure ManagerSystems Manager
Yearly salary$119,630$107,156
Hourly rate$57.51$51.52
Growth rate16%16%
Number of jobs57,583145,551
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age4747
Years of experience88

What does an infrastructure manager do?

An Infrastructure Manager is responsible for maintaining and overseeing an organization's network systems' performance and stability and ensuring efficiency to support business functions and operations. Infrastructure Managers work closely with the system engineers to design operating systems, enhance network infrastructure, and conduct regular configuration to prevent downtimes and system failures. They also develop techniques to keep information security for the databases to avoid unauthorized access and data leaks. An infrastructure manager must have excellent communication and technical skills to set technical solutions to maximize the staff's productivity and operational accuracy.

What does a systems manager do?

A systems manager is responsible for monitoring the operations of the information technology department, evaluating staff performance, developing strategic procedures to maximize productivity, and identifying business opportunities that would generate more revenues and profitability for the company. Systems managers inspect company networks to ensure the efficiency of the technology systems, conducting regular diagnostic tests, and installing upgrades to boost optimization. A systems manager must have excellent knowledge of the technology industry, as well as a strong command in programming languages and system codes to maintain the security of the company's database.

Infrastructure manager vs systems manager salary

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

Infrastructure ManagerSystems Manager
Average salary$119,630$107,156
Salary rangeBetween $88,000 And $161,000Between $75,000 And $152,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyMetaMeta
Best paying industryTechnologyTechnology

Differences between infrastructure manager and systems manager education

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

Infrastructure ManagerSystems Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common majorComputer ScienceBusiness
Most common collegeCarnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon University

Infrastructure manager vs systems manager demographics

Here are the differences between infrastructure managers' and systems managers' demographics:

Infrastructure ManagerSystems Manager
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 91.0% Female, 9.0%Male, 76.8% Female, 23.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% Asian, 12.6% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.1% Asian, 12.6% White, 65.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between infrastructure manager and systems manager duties and responsibilities

Infrastructure manager example responsibilities.

  • Define managed services, draft SLAs, and develop and manage new vendor partnerships.
  • Project manage the cross-divisional technology team that implement the first centralize Citrix XP farm in the firm.
  • Manage a team of 10 providing support for the UNIX fleet of 300 servers for all headquarters applications.
  • Create proposal to move hosting environment from a manage service provider to a local co-location facility build on VMware ESX.
  • Manage a team in the design, implementation and maintenance of data center, LAN, and desktop services globally.
  • Manage scrum teams across multiple regions working towards coordinate deliverables.
  • Show more

Systems manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage development teams which programme Java software applications to scan bar-code shipping labels and automate receipt and inventory processes.
  • Manage AutoCAD upgrades and tools.
  • Manage all aspects of PC and Macintosh technical support.
  • Install and manage small office computer network system running AutoCAD.
  • Define and manage execution of testing require for resolving FDA findings.
  • Lead cross-organization team to align company structure to employee base in PeopleSoft.
  • Show more

Infrastructure manager vs systems manager skills

Common infrastructure manager skills
  • Cloud, 11%
  • Project Management, 9%
  • Incident Management, 4%
  • VMware, 4%
  • SAN, 4%
  • Azure, 4%
Common systems manager skills
  • Customer Service, 12%
  • Project Management, 10%
  • Patients, 6%
  • Management System, 4%
  • Data Entry, 4%
  • Client Facing, 4%

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