Storage or backup engineers are in charge of the storage systems for organizations. They design and create storage configurations, using industry best systems in conjunction with specific organizational requirements. Additionally, they make sure that the right storage technology and setup is adequate. They may also come up with the methods and processes to be followed in order to run reports in the storage atmosphere.
Salary
According to the ComputerWorld 2017 salary survey, a storage/backup engineer who has worked for between one and fewer than five years in the information technology field earns an average of $70,000 per year, a figure that is inclusive of bonus and salary. For those with five to fewer than 10 years of experience, the 2017 average salary of a storage architect was $91,000 per year. This is a 3 percent increase over the 2016 figure of $88,350. For those with between 10 and 15 years of experience, the average salary was $123,000 in both 2016 and 2017. Backup/storage architects earned an average salary of $101,005 per year with 15 to fewer than 20 years of IT experience, compared to the 2016 figure of $73,851 per year, an increase of 36.8 percent. The national average for backup/storage architects was $110,553 annually. This was an increase of 4.2 percent from 2016, when the average was $106,109 per year. Keep in mind there were often not many respondents to the surveys for each of these categories.
While the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not have an occupational category just for storage/backup architects, the job description most resembles that of software developers (software architects). According the BLS, the median salary in the United States, as of May 2016, for systems software developers was $106,860 per year, or $51.38 per hour. Those in the 25th percentile earned $83,270 per year, or $40.03. Those earning in the 75th percentile earned $64.41 per hour, or $133,970 per year. The average yearly salary was $110,590, or $53.17 per year.
The highest paying industry was Radio and Television Broadcasting, where the annual mean salary was $135,680, or $65.23 per hour. The Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing industry was the second highest-paying industry at an average of $63.28 per hour, or $131,630. The Securities and Commodity Contracts Intermediation and Brokerage industry was the third highest-paying industry at $62.57 per hour, or $130,150 per year. The Securities and Commodity Exchanges industry was in fourth place with an average hourly annual salary of $62.01, or $128,970 per year. The Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services was in fifth place at $58.59 per hour, or $121,860 annually, on average.
These were the highest-paying states, from highest- to lowest-paying: California ($61.92 per hour, or $128,800 per year, on average), Colorado ($58.11 per hour, or $120,860 per year, on average), Maryland ($56.78 per hour, or $118,090 per year, on average), Virginia ($56.41 per hour, or $117,330 per year on average), and Delaware ($56.13 per hour, or $116,750 per year, on average).
