5 Best and 5 Worst Cities for IT Salaries

Want to know where IT professionals make the highest -- and the lowest -- salaries? We dig into Kforce's 2014 Salary and Employment Guide to see where today's tech workers make the most and the least, the top paying IT roles in each city, and the cost of living for each community.

IT professionals are in high demand. As an expert in your field you deserve to be paid what you're worth, but the highest salary doesn't always equate to the best compensation. Factors such as cost of living, commuting time and more all play a part in the decision to pack up and try somewhere new.

Each year Kforce, a professional staffing firm, releases its Salary and Employment Guide that looks at what IT skills are most in demand and what cities are paying them the most.

Cost of living index numbers are courtesy of the Council for Community and Economic Research based on based on 307 urban areas. The national average for cost of living index is based on a score of 100.


5. Los Angeles, California
The City of Angels begins our look at the top 5 highest paying cities. In LA tech workers on average make $109,000 annually and the top paying roles are no surprise.

Role................................................................. Average Salary
CIO.................................................................. $309,400
VP/Director of Systems Engineering..................$185,500
Systems Engineering Director...........................$152,900
ERP Application Architect...................................$149,900
Quality Assurance Director................................$144,800

ERP makes several appearances in the countdown and LA is no different. That skillset clocks in at the 4th highest paying role.
Cost of Living Index: 129.8


4. New York, New York
Next in Kforce's rankings is the Big Apple. In New York City IT Pros, on average, earn $100,100 a year, according to Kforce numbers. These are the 5 top paying roles there.

Role................................................................. Average Salary
CIO...................................................................$248,900
VP/Director of Systems Engineering..................$167,500
Quality Assurance Director............................... $149,500
Database Architect........................................... $148,100
Applications Development Manager..................$136,400

This is the first city where database architect showed up in the Top 5, and New York is the only place where applications development manager makes an appearance.

Cost of Living Index: 183.1


2. San Diego, California
San Diego, also known as the City in Motion, came in at number 2. On average, IT pros in this city make $116,200 annually. Here are the roles leading the pack in San Diego, in regards to salary, for 2013.

Role................................................................. Average Salary
CIO...................................................................$250,000
VP/Director of Systems Engineering..................$200,000
Business Application Director............................$160,000
Systems Engineering Director...........................$160,000
Technical Service Director..................................$160,000
Infrastructure Director.......................................$160,000

Cost of Living Index: 130.8


1. San Francisco/ Silicon Valley/San Jose, California
California is home to the two cities that tie for the number 1 spot. In both San Francisco and San Jose the average IT professional makes $118,300 annually. According to the Kforce's 2014 Salary and Employment Guide these are the fives roles that top the salary list in this part of the country.

Role................................................................. Average Salary
CIO...................................................................$265,000
Mobile App Developer.......................................$155,000
ERP Application Architect...................................$152,000
Applications Development Manager..................$151,000
Quality Assurance Director................................$147,000

San Francisco Cost of Living Index: 162.7
San Jose Cost of Living Index: 151.9


5. Atlanta, Georgia
The Big Peach is where we start our look at the lowest paying cities. It's the 5th lowest paying city, according to Kforce's research. IT workers in this region earn an average $86,900 a year. Here's a look at the top paying roles within Atlanta.

Role................................................................. Average Salary
CIO...................................................................$215,400
VP/Director of Systems Engineering..................$132,400
Technical Service Director..................................$126,400
Applications Development Manager..................$115,800
ERP Application Architect...................................$115,700

Cost of Living Index 95.0


4. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Steel City is number 4 on our list. Here IT professionals earn an average $85,100 annually. The

Roles that earn the highest salaries here include the following:

Role................................................................. Average Salary
CIO...................................................................$204,400
ERP Application Architect...................................$131,100
NOC/SOC Designer............................................$130,000
Technical Service Director..................................$126,100
VP/Director of Systems Engineering..................$125,100

Network on a Chip (NOC) and System on Chip (SOC) designers makes their premiere in the Top 5 highest paying roles in this region coming in at number 3 for Pittsburgh.

Cost of Living Index 93.9


3. Kansas City, Kansas
The Heart of America sits at number 3 on the list of cities where IT pros make the least on average. The average for all IT workers in this region is $83,500 and here are the top paying roles.

Role................................................................. Average Salary
CIO...................................................................$156,400
Quality Assurance Director................................$119,100
ERP Application Architect...................................$116,500
Data Center Manager........................................$112,500
Technical Service Director..................................$107,200
Cost of Living Index 99.2


2. Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, sometimes referred to as Circle City, is number 2 on the list of cities that pay tech workers the least. Workers here earn an average of $82,900 in salary annually. Here is what those at the top of the food chain in IT are making in Indianapolis.

Role................................................................. Average Salary
CIO...................................................................$142,400
Mobile App Developer.......................................$132,200
IT Director.........................................................$127,100
VP/Director of Systems Engineering..................$127,100
ERP Application Architect...................................$106,800

Cost of Living Index 92.6

1 . Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Mich., also known as “Furniture City” because it was the first place in the U.S. to mass produce furniture, is the lowest paying city for IT professionals, according to Kforce numbers. Tech workers in this region average $79,300 annually and the following roles are the highest paid roles in this city.

Role................................................................. Average Salary
CIO...................................................................$169,300
ERP Application Architect.................................$102,700
Business Application Director...........................$101,300
Technical Service Director.................................$100,200
IT Director.........................................................$98,000

IT Director makes its first appearance on our list in the city of Grand Rapids.

Cost of Living Index 91.5

---

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com

10 Dumbest Things Tech CEOs Have Said and Done

As a rule, CEOs in the technology industry tend to be a pretty bright group. Their vision, passion and leadership have changed the world. BUT they also have moments that leave the rest of us wondering, "Are they really that dumb?"


Elite tech CEOs of Silicon Valley live rich and powerful lives – and they work hard for it. Like rock stars, all-star athletes and high-ranking politicians, they are a special breed. Yet sometimes their status leads them to get out of touch with the commoner. Who are we kidding? They can be downright clueless when it comes to the rest of us. It would be easy to highlight all their accomplishments and contributions to business and society, but it's so much more fun to focus on these 10 really futile and stupid gestures on the part of tech's top executives.

Larry Ellison: Start the Keynote Without Me
In September, thousands of Oracle customers and partners came to Oracle OpenWorld in San Francisco, in part to hear CEO Larry Ellison deliver the daily keynote. Ellison, though, skipped his duties to watch Oracle Team USA stage a thrilling comeback in the America's Cup sailing race. Many attendees got up and left the room. Sure, Ellison has spent a lot of dough on Oracle Team USA – but it's still just a hobby. If anyone else put their hobby in front of their job, they might not have a job to come back to.

Meg Whitman: Everybody Ought to Have a Maid
Between stints as CEO of Ebay and Hewlett-Packard, Meg Whitman made a run to be the next California governor – and she could have won it, too, if not for that meddling illegal maid. Whitman, who poured $119 million of her own money into her campaign, had been calling for harsh penalties for companies that hire illegal immigrants. Turns out, she had employed an illegal immigrant housekeeper for nine years. Then she got caught trying to cover up her knowledge about it. Oh, the illegal immigrant was fired.

Meg Whitman: Everybody Ought to Have a Maid
Between stints as CEO of Ebay and Hewlett-Packard, Meg Whitman made a run to be the next California governor – and she could have won it, too, if not for that meddling illegal maid. Whitman, who poured $119 million of her own money into her campaign, had been calling for harsh penalties for companies that hire illegal immigrants. Turns out, she had employed an illegal immigrant housekeeper for nine years. Then she got caught trying to cover up her knowledge about it. Oh, the illegal immigrant was fired.

Eric Schmidt: What? My Emails Leave a Trail, Too?
The no-poaching pact didn't stop with Steve Jobs. Google CEO Eric Schmidt showed his clueless side in an email exchange with other Google execs about the firing of an HR employee who violated the no-poaching pact. One of the execs wrote, "Please make a public example of this termination with the group. I want it clear that we have a zero-tolerance policy for violating our policies." Now here's the clueless part: Schmidt responded, "I would prefer that Omid [Kordestani] do it verbally, since I don't want to create a paper trail over which we can be sued later?" Yup, no paper trail there.

Scott Thompson: I Really Meant to Get That Degree
It takes a lot of brass to put a computer science degree on your resume when you don't have one. But that's exactly what Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson did, only to be caught and ousted last year. When the lie first surfaced, Thompson stayed mum. Then he tried to dismiss it, shift blame onto the recruiting firm and rustle up support to keep his job. "When he didn't get it, he tried to silence people," a board member told the New York Times. On his way out, he issued a non-apology apology, and now he's CEO of ShopRunner. Message to Yahoo engineers who actually earned a computer science degree: Suckers!

Marissa Meyer: In-Office Nurseries Aren’t Standard for Every Working Mom?
One of the first decisions Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer (who replaced Scott Thompson) made was to ban working remotely. The decision itself isn't what landed Meyer on this list. Rather, Meyer's sudden mandate seemed a little heartless to working mothers who were left scrambling for daycare. After all, Meyer had accepted Yahoo's top post while six months pregnant and was considered to be an ally for working mothers. Then again, CEOs aren't subject to the troubles of the working class. Meyer had a nursery built in her office so she could bring her child to work.

Mark Hurd: Chicks Dig Me ...
Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd got caught up in a sexual harassment scandal involving a former Playboy model and HP contractor, Jodie Fisher, which eventually led to his ouster. The full depth of his hubris can be summed up in a letter sent to him by Fisher's attorney, Gloria Allred, later published by the New York Times. The letter provides some of the uncomfortable details, such as Hurd "telling [Fisher] about many different women that were crazy about [him]… including Sheryl Crow." Can you say Superman complex?

Mike Lazaridis: Forget Siri, This Keyboard Thing Rocks
The co-CEO of RIM isn't from Silicon Valley, nor does he have a juicy story to tell. Nevertheless, he was a tech chief profoundly out of step with the rest of us, which not only led to his resignation but the downfall of a multi-billion-dollar company. When asked in 2008 what he thought was the most exciting mobile trend, Lazaridis said: "Full Qwerty keyboards. I'm sorry, it really is. I'm not making this up." Here, in a nutshell, is why the company formerly known as RIM lost everything in the smartphone market.

Mark Zuckerberg: Maybe 30 Is the New 20
Silicon Valley is full of amazing talent from every generation, from super-smart GenX computer engineers to millennial marketing geniuses to Baby Boomer visionaries. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is one of the smartest guys around. But he must not have had his thinking cap on when speaking to a crowd at a venture capital conference in 2007. The then-22-year-old said with a straight face: "Young people are just smarter. Why are most chess masters under 30? I don't know. Young people just have simpler lives." If true, Zuckerberg is now 29 and fast approaching idiocy.

Big Three Auto CEOs: I Told You We Should Have Flown Coach
Okay, so these guys aren't really "tech" CEOs, although their companies' cars are pretty technical. But if we're talking about dumb, out-of-touch CEOs, we just have to put them on the list. In 2008, General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner, Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli and Ford CEO Alan Mulally came to Washington D.C. with hat in hand. They had fallen on tough times and needed a $25 billion bailout from taxpayers. They promised to streamline their businesses. There was just one problem with their message. Clueless, each of them had flown private luxury jets to the meeting to ask the commoner for a handout.

---

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com

How Microsoft invented, or invisibly runs, almost everything

Microsoft was credited with inventing practically everything first, directly through innovation before its time, or indirectly and invisibly because everything runs on Microsoft software.

Well, it seems as if Microsoft is being credited with inventing almost everything.

We'll start with the post by TechRadar defending Microsoft and crediting the company with inventing practically everything, including the wheel - the mouse wheel. The did-you-know flavored list begins with Google TV, but pointed out that Microsoft did that first in 1997 by acquiring WebTV, then renaming it MSN TV, and eventually using the technology for Xbox and Xbox 360. WebTV was first to allow web access with a computer, but let's toss in the little-known fact that in 1996, before it became Microsoft's product, the U.S. government classified WebTV as "munitions (a military weapon)" due to its use of strong encryption. It was a change in law, not Microsoft touching the technology, that stopped the military weapon classification.

The TechRadar article goes on to credit Microsoft with being the first to invent its version of the iPad, dubbed the Tablet PC, which shipped in 2002, but were "too big, bulky and expensive." Facebook's walled garden was credited to Microsoft's 1995 version of MSN. The Redmond giant was first to market smart watches (Smart Personal Object Technology, or SPOT) which took advantage of mobile data. In 2000, the Redmond giant put out the first eReader; also in 2000, Microsoft invented the first smartphone, Microsoft's Pocket PC platform. In fact, TechRadar compared Microsoft Bob, released in 1995, to the earliest version of today's Siri and Google Now. The lack of success of Microsoft's many invented products was attributed to them coming before their time or having no killer apps.

But those examples of what Microsoft invented are just a drop in the bucket if you use the "invisible" supportive structures reasoning presented by Microsoft's Matt Wallaert, Behavioral Psychologist for Bing. Wallaert, who recently defended Microsoft's Bing it on challenge claims, mentioned that fight in his Forbes article, before describing the worst part about working at Microsoft. "Every time you take a pot shot at Microsoft just to be a jerk, you distract us from doing the work that makes the world better."

It is safe to say that most people reading this probably don't respect Microsoft very much. Asked to name the most innovative tech company, they'll say Apple or Google. And they'll do it with a straight face, while sitting in a chair made by Microsoft.

Wait, Microsoft makes chairs? No, not directly. But the part of that chair? Manufactured in facilities running on, you guess it, Microsoft software. Transported in trucks built by Microsoft software, on roads built by Microsoft software, sold by companies running Microsoft software.

Imagine you got out of that chair for a second. Walked across the street to get a cup of coffee. Got hit by a bus. The ambulance that picks you up? Microsoft. The hospital that saves you? Microsoft. The doctor? Trained at a school running Microsoft, using delicate instruments running Microsoft. If you prefer not getting hit by a bus, think about the role that Microsoft has had in making sure your baby was born healthy.

So there you have it; if you consider the "invisible" supportive structures, then, hey, Microsoft can be credited with inventing pretty much everything and we apparently underrate its value.

How Microsoft invented almost everything

By the same token, if you consider the "invisible" argument of Microsoft software being behind all good things, would it also have to be behind all the bad? If you fell out of your computer chair -- because you didn't rest well the night before on the mattress manufactured in a factory running Microsoft software -- and decided to go across the street to fetch a cup of coffee, what caused the accident?

Your mobile phone rings as you step onto the street. It's your distressed non-techy mom describing how Windows crashed, so you close your eyes briefly and smother a curse word. The bus driver, who is busy texting on his Windows phone, doesn't see and therefore hits you; but no worries because a Microsoft-built ambulance picks you up and transports you to the hospital filled with doctors trained at schools running Microsoft. The delicate instruments running Microsoft software save you, despite running on an OS infected with malware. Your doctor, who is looking down at notes on his Surface tablet, greets you in the recovery room and tells you that your sex change operation went great. But before you can freak out, elsewhere Chinese Army hackers exploited a zero-day to break into government computers running Windows and stole classified codes to launch nukes. The world, running on Microsoft, ends.

Just kidding, but that's the problem with the "invisible" supportive structures argument; it can be used in far-out scenarios for good and for bad.

---

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com

Study: Most CEOs lack vision, leadership on new computer tech

They don't guide their companies towards transformative uses of digital technology, according to a study from MIT and Capgemini

IDG News Service (Miami Bureau) — A majority of CEOs are failing to steer their companies toward effective use of new computer technologies, which precludes their organizations from making major business improvements.

That's the conclusion of a new study released Tuesday by the MIT Sloan Management Review and Capgemini Consulting titled "Embracing Digital Technology: A New Strategic Imperative."

The study was based on a survey of more than 1,500 executives and managers worldwide and its authors sought to examine the concept of "digital transformation," which they define as the use of new digital technologies to trigger significant improvements.

Digital transformation is a required goal for companies and involves the revamping of business processes through the use of social media, mobile, analytics and embedded devices, according to the report.

"But the CEO and senior leadership must develop a vision to articulate to the staff, create a roadmap and commit to it, and then rally the organization with measurable goals and incentives to reach them," reads the study.

The authors -- Michael Fitzgerald, Nina Kruschwitz, Didier Bonnet and Michael Welch -- state that digital transformation "needs to come from the top," and they recommend appointing an executive or committee to lead the efforts.

"Companies should take small steps, via pilots and skunkworks, and invest in the ones that work," they wrote. Company leaders need to adjust the digital transformation road map, vision and strategy based on the results of these small, initial projects, according to the authors.

How important is the leadership of the CEO? It's crucial, according to the study. In companies where CEOs have outlined and communicated their vision for digital transformation, almost 95 percent of employees are on board with the plan. Unfortunately, only 36 percent of the CEOs have done this.

Having a strategic view of technology has always been a responsibility of CEOs, but the stakes in this respect are now higher than five years ago, Welch said in an interview.

CEOs must evaluate how their companies stack up against competitors in the use of new digital technologies and then craft a strategy based on a clear vision, specific goals and concrete metrics. That way they'll be able to decide where they should and should not invest.

A good starting point is for the CEO and their executive team to identify the company's strongest assets and ask themselves how they can be further enhanced and strengthened through digital tools.

A pitfall to avoid is the seductive power of shiny digital services and wares that prompt many companies to pursue technology for its own sake. "Technology can be a siren song. Without a focused approach, it's easy to be led astray," said Welch, a visiting scientist at MIT's Center for Digital Business and a Capgemini managing consultant.

The survey also found that almost 80 percent of respondents believe that it'll be critical for their companies to go through a digital transformation in the next two years. But 63 percent described the pace of technology change in their companies as "too slow," largely due to complacency.

MIT Sloan Management Review and Capgemini Consulting rated only 15 percent of the companies at which the survey respondents workedA as "Digirati," the highest level of technology sophistication. These companies' executives share "a strong vision" for the potential of new technologies, invest in and manage these digital technologies quickly, and their companies reap the most rewards.

Six percent were ranked as "Fashionista," the second tier in the rankings. These companies adopt new technologies aggressively but have trouble coordinating their efforts and fine-tuning their digital-business vision.

Next came the group ranked "Conservative," which consisted of 14 percent of companies. Those in this group are shy and reticent toward new technologies, but their executives have a vision and there's an appropriate tech governance structure in place.

Most companies -- 66 percent -- fell into the "Beginner" level. They use email and the Web, along with enterprise software, but they've kept social media, analytics and other tools at arm's length, due to skepticism and a lack of a sense of urgency.

The "Digirati" benefit from their effective use of new technologies in various ways, including by delivering better customer experiences and engagement, streamlining operations and creating new business lines and models.

Even if their companies are considered laggards in this area, CEOs need to get their act together. "The only wrong move for executives, then, would be not making any move," the authors wrote.

---

Microsoft MCTS Certification, MCITP Certification and over 3000+
Exams with Life Time Access Membership at http://www.actualkey.com

Not even Microsofties trust Microsoft’s approach to privacy

A former privacy policy guru for Microsoft said he no longer trusts Microsoft or its software; he added that Microsoft's corporate strategy is to grind down your privacy expectations.

"Your privacy is very important to us," Microsoft is fond of saying. But if a former Microsoft Privacy Chief ​no longer trusts Microsoft, should you?​

"I don't trust Microsoft now," stated Caspar Bowden. Although you've heard people say that before, the difference is that, from 2002 to 2011, Bowden was the man in charge of Microsoft's privacy policy for 40 countries. The United States was not one of those countries, and Bowden said he did not know about the PRISM data-sharing program.

Bowden's statements were made during a conference about privacy and surveillance that was held in Lausanne, Switzerland, and reported on by the Guardian. At one point, Bowden's presentation slide showed a "NSA surveillance octopus" to help illustrate the evils of surveillance in the U.S. cloud; but this was not a PowerPoint presentation. He was using LibreOffice 3.6 because he doesn't trust Microsoft software at all anymore. In fact, he said he only uses open source software so he can examine the underlying code.

An attendee pointed out that free software has been subverted too, but Bowden called open source software "the least worst" and the best option to use if you are trying to avoid surveillance. Another privacy tip...the privacy pro also does not carry a personal tracker on him, meaning Bowden gave up on carrying a mobile phone two years ago.

No privacy in the cloud: zero, zippy, none

According to Bowden, "In about 2009 the whole industry turned on a dime and turned to cloud computing - massively parallel computation sold as a commodity at a distance." He said, "Cloud computing leaves you no privacy protection." However, "cloud computing is too useful to be disinvented. Unlike Echelon, though, which was only interception, potentially all EU data is at risk. FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) can grab data after it's stored, and decrypted."

Bowden authored a paper about "the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programs (PRISM) and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) activities and their impact on EU citizens' fundamental rights." While it mostly dissects how "surveillance activities by the U.S. authorities are conducted without taking into account the rights of non-U.S. citizens and residents," it also looks at some "serious limitations to the Fourth Amendment for U.S. citizens."

"The thoughts prompted in the mind of the public by the revelations of Edward Snowden cannot be unthought. We are already living in a different society in consequence," Bowden wrote [pdf]. He again pointed out the dangers to privacy in cloud computing. "The scope of FAA creates a power of mass-surveillance specifically targeted at the data of non-U.S. persons located outside the U.S., including data processed by 'Cloud computing', which eludes EU Data Protection regulation."

Data can only be processed whilst decrypted, and thus any Cloud processor can be secretly ordered under FISA 702 to hand over a key, or the information itself in its decrypted state. Encryption is futile to defend against NSA accessing data processed by US Clouds (but still useful against external adversaries such as criminal hackers). Using the Cloud as a remote disk-drive does not provide the competitiveness and scalability benefits of Cloud as a computation engine. There is no technical solution to the problem.

He concluded that there is an "absence of any cognizable privacy rights for 'non-U.S. persons' under FISA."

Microsoft's strategy: Grind down people's privacy expectations

It was Bowden's position over privacy policies for Microsoft that makes his point of view important. This man, a privacy expert, no longer trusts Microsoft as a company, nor its software.Microsoft 'your privacy is our priority' Yet Microsoft (and most all other companies) love to publicize the quote, "Your privacy is very important to us." But does Microsoft really care about your privacy?

During an interview with Bowden, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) asked, "Do you think the general public understands how much privacy they have in the digital world?"

Bowden replied, "There's been a grinding down of people's privacy expectations in a systematic way as part of the corporate strategy, which I saw in Microsoft."

Regarding the Guardian's report that Bowden does not trust the Redmond giant, Microsoft sent this PR-damage control statement to CNET:

"We believe greater transparency on the part of governments - including the U.S. government - would help the community understand the facts and better debate these important issues. That's why we've taken a number of steps to try and secure permission, including filing legal action with the U.S. government."

About that transparency...LSE asked Bowden, "What's your view on the transparency policies of tech-companies?"

Bowden replied, "It is purely public relations strategy - corporate propaganda aimed at the public sphere - and due to the existence of secret mass-surveillance laws will never be truly transparent."

---

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com