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The differences between infrastructure support specialists and support analysts 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 a support analyst. Additionally, an infrastructure support specialist has an average salary of $94,997, which is higher than the $75,989 average annual salary of a support analyst.
The top three skills for an infrastructure support specialist include infrastructure support, troubleshoot and cloud. The most important skills for a support analyst are customer service, troubleshoot, and technical support.
| Infrastructure Support Specialist | Support Analyst | |
| Yearly salary | $94,997 | $75,989 |
| Hourly rate | $45.67 | $36.53 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 135,837 | 107,039 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| 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 role of support analysts is to resolve problems with hardware, computer programs, and peripherals. They may focus on a particular aspect of the information technology (IT) department or give technical support to end-users. They mainly detect issues with IT equipment and software and devise solutions to resolve these issues. Also, they are responsible for answering queries from users, preparing service records, and handling escalations. Support analysts also support the company's IT operations and best practices by creating and distributing relevant IT documents.
Infrastructure support specialists and support analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Infrastructure Support Specialist | Support Analyst | |
| Average salary | $94,997 | $75,989 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $130,000 | Between $50,000 And $114,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Barclays | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between an infrastructure support specialist and a support analyst in terms of educational background:
| Infrastructure Support Specialist | Support Analyst | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between infrastructure support specialists' and support analysts' demographics:
| Infrastructure Support Specialist | Support Analyst | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.4% Female, 10.6% | Male, 63.1% Female, 36.9% |
| 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, 12.2% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 12.9% White, 54.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |