Information Technology Salaries
Information technology (IT) refers to the use of electronic equipment, software, telecommunication devices, modems and other equipment to store, retrieve or deliver data and information. It is commonly used in the context of enterprise-wide computer network operations rather than personal or entertainment technology. IT is still regarded as a sub-field of engineering and information science. Some professional organizations view it as an add-on category to basic computer knowledge.
In the early days, information technology was primarily associated with desktop computers and the mainframe computer. Over time the size of mainframes has increased while the speed of processing computers has decreased. This trend toward a general purpose central processing unit has resulted in the development of various networks including the wide area network (WAN), cellular domain networks (NDN) and metropolitan area networks (MA Networks). Information technology experts divide the world of IT into two major segments namely enterprise resource planning (ERP) and network infrastructure. Within ERP networks are three main subsets namely business process oriented software (BPS), information systems and computer network hardware.
The term information technology is sometimes used in a wider sense which encompasses web services, computer network and software as well as telecommunications networking. There is rapid growth of cloud computing that refers to the delivery of information technology resources over the Internet which is accessed by end-users via a browser. Cloud service is a broad term that can include such offerings as application services via the internet, business process oriented software, client-server and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) clouds. In the PaaS cloud computing refers to the delivery of applications through a subscription model.
Information technology is also divided into two major subsets namely information systems used in businesses and information systems used in the public sector. Information technology in the business context refers to internal computer programming aimed at improving processes within an organization such as decision-making, sales management, accounting etc. This can also include designing of websites, email marketing etc. whereas information systems used in the public sector refer to computer networks used by various governmental agencies. Examples include e-healthcare, e-finance, e-trading, telematics etc.
Information technology professionals who specialise in one or more of these areas may work for one specific company. However, many information systems specialists work to freelance or contract basis from companies looking for someone to provide this specialized expertise. For example a software engineer who specialises in developing email client software may work as an independent contractor for a company that develops and manufactures information systems. Similarly the information systems professional who specialises in creating websites may work as an independent consultant for a company who develops websites.
Salaries of information technology professionals are influenced by a number of factors. For instance, those who specialise in one particular area (for example an e-commerce company may wish to pay more money) will command a higher salary. Those who specialise in several areas (for example a web developer who specialises in e-commerce may wish to command a higher salary.) will also command a higher salary.