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The differences between senior data center engineers and system technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a senior data center engineer and a system technician. Additionally, a senior data center engineer has an average salary of $103,215, which is higher than the $43,410 average annual salary of a system technician.
The top three skills for a senior data center engineer include windows, vmware esxi and nexus. The most important skills for a system technician are customer service, hand tools, and preventative maintenance.
| Senior Data Center Engineer | System Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $103,215 | $43,410 |
| Hourly rate | $49.62 | $20.87 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 139,255 | 137,121 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Associate Degree, 40% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A senior data center engineer specializes in designing and developing systems and networks to optimize data center operations. It is their responsibility to set guidelines and objectives, identify and understand the needs of facilities, conduct research and analyses, develop prototypes and test structures, troubleshoot problems, perform installations and repairs, and conduct regular maintenance checks on systems. Moreover, a senior data center engineer oversees projects and leads junior engineers to reach goals, all while implementing the company's data security policies and regulations.
A system technician is an individual responsible for supporting users with issues related to the computer system. System technicians conduct appropriate diagnostics on computer issues and must be able to explain technical issues to clients or team members. They should carry out tests on the system so that they can generate error reports to identify and fix any computer system problems. System technicians also can write and maintain computer programs and work with computers and electronics, including circuit boards, computer hardware and software, and computer processors.
Senior data center engineers and system technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Data Center Engineer | System Technician | |
| Average salary | $103,215 | $43,410 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $140,000 | Between $27,000 And $67,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Idaho | Washington |
| Best paying company | CDW | Bristol-Myers Squibb |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Government |
There are a few differences between a senior data center engineer and a system technician in terms of educational background:
| Senior Data Center Engineer | System Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Associate Degree, 40% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northeastern University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between senior data center engineers' and system technicians' demographics:
| Senior Data Center Engineer | System Technician | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 97.9% Female, 2.1% | Male, 90.0% Female, 10.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 11.0% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 8.8% White, 64.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |