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The differences between infrastructure support specialists and operations support specialists 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 support specialist and an operations support specialist. Additionally, an infrastructure support specialist has an average salary of $94,997, which is higher than the $44,233 average annual salary of an operations support specialist.
The top three skills for an infrastructure support specialist include infrastructure support, troubleshoot and cloud. The most important skills for an operations support specialist are operations support, customer service, and data entry.
| Infrastructure Support Specialist | Operations Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $94,997 | $44,233 |
| Hourly rate | $45.67 | $21.27 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 135,837 | 176,034 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
An infrastructure support specialist generally plays a support role in the IT world, with "support" here not referring to an auxiliary role. They also help with the management and usability of organizational data and information. Their primary responsibility is to make sure the business goals of the company or enterprise are met by ensuring all data centers are functional, including elements such as network systems, software, hardware, and data storage facilities. They may also have to carry out complex technical evaluations and suggest proposed physical architectures along with elaborate designs.
The duties of an operations support specialist depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around addressing issues and concerns, troubleshooting, and conducting corrective measures, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations. They may also evaluate the processes in a company, identifying vulnerabilities, and recommending improvements. Furthermore, an operations support specialist must also perform clerical tasks such as producing progress reports and presentations, arranging schedules, assessing workforce performance, and maintaining accurate records.
Infrastructure support specialists and operations support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Infrastructure Support Specialist | Operations Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $94,997 | $44,233 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $130,000 | Between $27,000 And $71,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Barclays | KLA |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Automotive |
There are a few differences between an infrastructure support specialist and an operations support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Infrastructure Support Specialist | Operations Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between infrastructure support specialists' and operations support specialists' demographics:
| Infrastructure Support Specialist | Operations Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.4% Female, 10.6% | Male, 44.0% Female, 56.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.6% Asian, 13.4% White, 53.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |