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The differences between production supports and applications support engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a production support, becoming an applications support engineer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an applications support engineer has an average salary of $89,928, which is higher than the $49,480 average annual salary of a production support.
The top three skills for a production support include java, unix and troubleshoot. The most important skills for an applications support engineer are java, application support, and database.
| Production Support | Applications Support Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $49,480 | $89,928 |
| Hourly rate | $23.79 | $43.23 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 117,902 | 222,780 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 42 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
Production support is in charge of communicating with clients, assisting them with their needs to ensure client satisfaction. Their role is to identify the needs of clients, coordinate with staff, perform research and analysis, prepare and process documents, and address issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. There are also instances where they must provide assistance to production staff in manufacturing operations and conceptualizations. Furthermore, as production support, it is essential to function while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
An applications support engineer is responsible for monitoring the efficiency and optimal performance of the application and network systems to support business operations and functions. Applications support engineers work on the installation of updates, upgrade system infrastructure, and resolve technical process issues and gaps. They also analyze the condition of existing applications and modify procedures to improve stability and configuration. An applications support engineer must have excellent communication and technical skills to identify failure sources and create resolution manuals to prevent downtime reoccurrence.
Production supports and applications support engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Production Support | Applications Support Engineer | |
| Average salary | $49,480 | $89,928 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $92,000 | Between $67,000 And $120,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | California |
| Best paying company | Bloomberg | ICE Mortgage Technology |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a production support and an applications support engineer in terms of educational background:
| Production Support | Applications Support Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between production supports' and applications support engineers' demographics:
| Production Support | Applications Support Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 64.8% Female, 35.2% | Male, 80.8% Female, 19.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 16.0% White, 54.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 30.0% White, 52.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 8% |