Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between server technicians and software support 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 server technician and a software support technician. Additionally, a software support technician has an average salary of $79,670, which is higher than the $55,884 average annual salary of a server technician.
The top three skills for a server technician include customer service, troubleshoot and windows server. The most important skills for a software support technician are customer service, troubleshoot, and java.
| Server Technician | Software Support Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $55,884 | $79,670 |
| Hourly rate | $26.87 | $38.30 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 134,665 | 117,059 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Server technicians are information technology (IT) professionals who are responsible for installing, maintaining, and troubleshooting the server systems of an IT organization. These technicians must manage both Unix and Windows-based systems to ensure reliability and stability for the clients. They are required to manage data center hardware by providing total diagnosis and repair on hardware issues. Server technicians must also perform regular backups for the organization's server while providing technical support to follow up inquiries and problems on system servers.
A software support technician is responsible for resolving software application issues, diagnosing related system failures, and writing resolution reports for reference. Software support technicians must be highly-familiarized with the system's infrastructure and interface to immediately diagnose malfunctions and identify maintenance techniques to prevent the reoccurrence of downtimes and delays. They also assist the system engineers in the configuration and optimization of networks, including the installment of upgrades and patch updates. A software support technician must have excellent organizational and communication skills, especially in navigating computer tools and applications to create support tickets and fix the customers' issues efficiently.
Server technicians and software support technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Server Technician | Software Support Technician | |
| Average salary | $55,884 | $79,670 |
| Salary range | Between $32,000 And $94,000 | Between $55,000 And $113,000 |
| Highest paying City | Daly City, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Amd | RSM US |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a server technician and a software support technician in terms of educational background:
| Server Technician | Software Support Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between server technicians' and software support technicians' demographics:
| Server Technician | Software Support Technician | |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.8% Female, 11.2% | Male, 73.8% Female, 26.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 9.7% White, 63.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 12.4% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 11% |