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Service desk manager vs information technology director

The differences between service desk managers and information technology directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a service desk manager and an information technology director. Additionally, an information technology director has an average salary of $138,906, which is higher than the $101,229 average annual salary of a service desk manager.

The top three skills for a service desk manager include customer service, ITIL and ITSM. The most important skills for an information technology director are customer service, project management, and cloud.

Service desk manager vs information technology director overview

Service Desk ManagerInformation Technology Director
Yearly salary$101,229$138,906
Hourly rate$48.67$66.78
Growth rate16%16%
Number of jobs69,99087,765
Job satisfaction-4
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 58%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age4747
Years of experience88

What does a service desk manager do?

In the information technology industry, a service desk manager resolves technical issues and concerns, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. They typically focus on addressing systems and application errors, troubleshooting problems, providing step-by-step solutions, or referring clients to other services. They may also provide administrative support to offices by managing schedules, preparing and processing documents, and providing technical support. Moreover, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage teams to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

What does an information technology director do?

An information technology (IT) Director is an individual responsible for the management, strategy, and execution of an organization's IT infrastructure. He/She supervises a team of workers while working with the organization's management and external vendors and advisors. Aside from managing workers, an IT director should possess problem-solving skills and an aptitude for organizational thinking. An IT director must also identify new market opportunities and should lead an effort to improve the organization's IT process.

Service desk manager vs information technology director salary

Service desk managers and information technology directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

Service Desk ManagerInformation Technology Director
Average salary$101,229$138,906
Salary rangeBetween $72,000 And $141,000Between $97,000 And $197,000
Highest paying CityCarson City, NVSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyCLEAResultThe Tipping Point
Best paying industryFinanceTechnology

Differences between service desk manager and information technology director education

There are a few differences between a service desk manager and an information technology director in terms of educational background:

Service Desk ManagerInformation Technology Director
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 58%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeCarnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon University

Service desk manager vs information technology director demographics

Here are the differences between service desk managers' and information technology directors' demographics:

Service Desk ManagerInformation Technology Director
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 64.2% Female, 35.8%Male, 88.1% Female, 11.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% Asian, 12.6% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 12.7% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between service desk manager and information technology director duties and responsibilities

Service desk manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage key financial relationships, working with VIP reps in various institutions.
  • Ensure efficient allocation of resources and skills to achieve contractual KPIs within financial constraints.
  • Deploy and manage environmental controls, backup strategies, ITSM software, and monitoring systems.
  • Manage staff and activities necessary to effectively coordinate the service request fulfillment life-cycle of base on ITSM best practices.
  • Manage all incident and service requests and oversee all change management, configuration management, and release management ITIL processes.
  • Manage LAN software/hardware installation and upgrade efforts.
  • Show more

Information technology director example responsibilities.

  • Lead the implementation of the ServiceNow ITSM solution.
  • Work with customers and internal management to create and manage acceptable SLA standards and measurements.
  • Manage the migration of email system for 400 plus users from Novell GroupWise to Google Gmail.
  • Manage the QA department and oversee the support of all storage for the company and its outsource customers.
  • Perform resource planning for a portfolio of projects via prioritizing the demand queue and successfully managing business relationships.
  • Lead the prototyping of a Microsoft SharePoint implementation that customize the look & feel to support the organizational requirements.
  • Show more

Service desk manager vs information technology director skills

Common service desk manager skills
  • Customer Service, 15%
  • ITIL, 8%
  • ITSM, 5%
  • Infrastructure, 4%
  • Technical Support, 4%
  • Service Delivery, 4%
Common information technology director skills
  • Customer Service, 10%
  • Project Management, 7%
  • Cloud, 6%
  • Network Infrastructure, 6%
  • Disaster Recovery, 3%
  • Windows Server, 3%

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