-- Storage networking

David Foote, CEO and chief research officer at IT workforce consultancy Foote Partners LLC in New Canaan, Conn., says he has been tracking storage-related salaries and certified and noncertified skills pay for more than two years, and 2006 is the first year his company started tracking storage certifications and their associated pay. Though data gathering for storage certifications is continuing, storage-area network (SAN) administrators are on Foote Partners' list of hot jobs for 2007.

Foote Partners finds that companies are desperate to get people with experience and certifications, and they are willing to pay handsomely for it. "In the last six months, we have seen 20 percent growth in pay for some SAN certifications. Moreover, salaries for senior storage network administrators are up 10 percent over the last 18 months, well beyond the average growth pay for IT jobs overall," Foote says.

Since companies cannot find experienced storage people, Foote finds some companies are willing to consider internal or external applicants with storage certifications. However, people with certifications are in short supply. According to Ralph Luchs, education director at the Storage Networking Industry Association, "There are only 1,000 SNIA certified professionals, and of those only 400 have gone on to obtain advanced certifications like the SNIA Certified Architect or SNIA Certified Storage Networking Expert."

In the absence of users possessing vendor-neutral storage certifications, vendor-specific storage platform certifications or training, such as EMC Corp.'s Proven Professional, Hitachi Data Systems Corp.'s Certified Storage Manager or Hewlett-Packard Co.'s StorageWorks training, top the list as to what companies are looking to reward in 2007.