Becoming an Information Systems Manager via Online Education?

At the very least, online education can help you lay a foundation and/or open up alternate career paths. Kaplan University, one of the highest ranking online schools, is a US school (accredited) offering information systems courses to train individuals to become top-notch information systems consultants, network engineers, network specialists, information technologists, information systems specialists, network administrators, network security analysts, computer networking developers, information systems workers, etc. Currently, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics there are 287,210 people employed as computer and information systems managers alone in America, and their average annual salary is $120,640. Database administrators make on average $74,290 per year and there are about 108,080 of them employed today. Colleges and universities like Kaplan University that provide online education are successfully launching workers into this field.

Typical Work Locations for an Information Systems Manager
  • agricultural and environmental organizations
  • arts, entertainment, sports, and recreation centers
  • business and communication centers
  • construction and manufacturing companies
  • hotels and resort corporate headquarters
  • educational and scientific institutions
  • government institutions
  • health care centers and hospitals
  • retailer and wholesaler outlets
  • engineering companies
Potential Advantages and Benefits of Working as an Information Systems Manager
  • work with interesting people
  • make a great salary
  • use state of the art technology for your company
  • help your company succeed using technology
  • unify a company through technology
  • coordinate with many different people
  • be creative in your systems implementation
  • oversee many people and projects at once
  • report to upper management
  • plenty of room to succeed with new technologies
Potential Drawbacks
  • when the systems go down you will be the first person that gets called and has to deal with it
  • at the mercy of software vendor support services
  • work under the rules put down from management
  • move from one place to another frequently
  • be held responsible for solving all the networking problems
  • available all the time in the office
  • held directly responsible for the information systems that are too much for any one person to understand
  • will be forced to constantly be learning new technologies
  • will be expected to troubleshoot all systems related problems
  • have to deal with software vulnerabilities that are out of your control
Related Professions to Consider
  • IT Project Manager
  • IT Program Manager
  • Sr. IT Project Manager
  • Partnership Manager - IT
  • IT Project Coordinator
  • IT Delivery Manager
  • IT Infrastructure Manager
  • Business IT Project Manager
  • Sr. Business Manager IT
  • Director of IT Development
Possible Interview Questions When Applying to be an Information Systems Manager
  • Please rate your Interpersonal Skills on a scale of 1-10.?
  • How are your written communication skills with non-technical people.?
  • Please rate your PL/SQL development skills 1-10.?
  • What do you know about ORACLE?
  • Can you design a database?
  • What is your approach to learn a new software or system?
  • How do you lead the effort to plan and jump-start a new IT project?
  • How do you resolve conflicts and issues when there is a disagreement among different parties involved in the project?
  • Based on your experience please describe 3 factors that are the most critical to the success of an IT project?
  • If you have completed all of your tasks in daily work what would you do?
Common Collaborating Professions
  • System Analyst
  • Database Manager
  • Database Administrator
  • Computer Engineer
  • Hardware Engineer
  • Computer programmer
  • Computer Tutor
  • Computer Operator
  • Data Entry Operator
  • Computer Mechanic
Information Systems Manager Training books Information Systems Manager (More) Popular books Potential Companies to Work For Common College Majors
  • Database design
  • Ecommerce
  • Emerging Technologies
  • Financial Information systems
  • Managing information systems
  • Networks and telecommunication
  • Programming for systems development
  • Project Management and Practice
  • Systems analysis and Design
  • AP Computer Science

Information Systems Manager Salary Information

Category: Computer and information systems managers

Total # Employed in the US 287,210
Average Hourly Wage: $58.0/hr
Hourly Wage Range
PERCENTILE
10%25%50%75%90%
$33.61 $42.9 $54.67 $69.03 $0.0
Average Yearly Salary $120,640
Yearly Salary Range
PERCENTILE
10%25%50%75%90%
$69,900 $89,240 $113,720 $143,590 $0
Employment Demographics
% OF WORKERS WITH
< High School Diploma High School Diploma Some College Associate Degree Bachelor Degree Master Degree Doctoral Degree
0.6% 4.5% 15.7% 9.2% 45.6% 22.2% 2.2%
Computer and information systems managers — WAGES BY STATE, SORTED BY SALARY
STATEAverage Hourly WageAverage Annual Salary
North Dakota $67.25/hr $139,880
Oklahoma $66.36/hr $138,020
Colorado $65.73/hr $136,720
Missouri $63.92/hr $132,950
Florida $62.41/hr $129,820
District of Columbia $62.29/hr $129,560
Connecticut $60.66/hr $126,160
Mississippi $60.15/hr $125,110
Utah $58.75/hr $122,200
Virginia $57.9/hr $120,440
North Carolina $57.89/hr $120,420
Wyoming $57.85/hr $120,320
Hawaii $57.32/hr $119,230
Nebraska $56.97/hr $118,490
Oregon $56.47/hr $117,470
Tennessee $55.96/hr $116,390
Kansas $54.69/hr $113,760
Delaware $54.6/hr $113,570
Idaho $54.19/hr $112,720
South Carolina $53.76/hr $111,820
Arkansas $51.07/hr $106,220
Montana $50.7/hr $105,460
New York $50.68/hr $105,410
New Hampshire $50.25/hr $104,530
Puerto Rico $50/hr $104,000
Indiana $49.84/hr $103,660
Alabama $49.15/hr $102,230
Louisiana $48.35/hr $100,580
California $47.75/hr $99,320
Guam $47.67/hr $99,150
New Mexico $47.62/hr $99,040
Maine $46.92/hr $97,590
Ohio $46.75/hr $97,230
Kentucky $46.15/hr $95,990
Washington $46.06/hr $95,810
Maryland $45.12/hr $93,850
New Jersey $44.77/hr $93,120
West Virginia $44.44/hr $92,430
Michigan $44.25/hr $92,030
Alaska $43.3/hr $90,050
Wisconsin $42.62/hr $88,650
Iowa $42.54/hr $88,480
South Dakota $41.12/hr $85,530
Massachusetts $38.85/hr $80,820
Pennsylvania $38.46/hr $80,000
Nevada $37.32/hr $77,630


Category: Database administrators

Total # Employed in the US 108,080
Average Hourly Wage: $35.72/hr
Hourly Wage Range
PERCENTILE
10%25%50%75%90%
$19.61 $25.71 $34.4 $44.83 $54.9
Average Yearly Salary $74,290
Yearly Salary Range
PERCENTILE
10%25%50%75%90%
$40,780 $53,470 $71,550 $93,260 $114,200
Employment Demographics
% OF WORKERS WITH
< High School Diploma High School Diploma Some College Associate Degree Bachelor Degree Master Degree Doctoral Degree
0.4% 4.3% 16.6% 9.6% 47.4% 19.5% 2.2%
Database administrators — WAGES BY STATE, SORTED BY SALARY
STATEAverage Hourly WageAverage Annual Salary
Mississippi $40.53/hr $84,300
District of Columbia $40.17/hr $83,560
Oklahoma $39.56/hr $82,290
Colorado $39.41/hr $81,970
North Dakota $39.14/hr $81,410
Virginia $38.98/hr $81,080
North Carolina $38.92/hr $80,950
Nebraska $38.23/hr $79,520
Florida $38.12/hr $79,300
Missouri $37.71/hr $78,430
Alaska $37.17/hr $77,320
Oregon $36.82/hr $76,590
Delaware $36.58/hr $76,090
Tennessee $36.14/hr $75,180
Guam $36.13/hr $75,150
Kansas $35.9/hr $74,670
Idaho $35.57/hr $73,990
Connecticut $35.42/hr $73,680
New York $34.99/hr $72,790
New Mexico $34.53/hr $71,810
Utah $34.53/hr $71,820
Wyoming $34.22/hr $71,170
Montana $33.6/hr $69,890
Hawaii $33.48/hr $69,640
South Carolina $33.36/hr $69,390
Michigan $33.23/hr $69,120
Louisiana $32.63/hr $67,860
Arkansas $32.46/hr $67,520
Maine $32.35/hr $67,280
Wisconsin $31.95/hr $66,460
Indiana $31.72/hr $65,970
New Hampshire $31.4/hr $65,320
Ohio $31.35/hr $65,200
Iowa $31.32/hr $65,150
Pennsylvania $31/hr $64,490
West Virginia $30.84/hr $64,150
Washington $29.7/hr $61,770
Alabama $29.59/hr $61,540
Massachusetts $29.43/hr $61,220
Kentucky $29.37/hr $61,090
California $29.31/hr $60,960
South Dakota $28.4/hr $59,080
Maryland $28.17/hr $58,590
Puerto Rico $26.75/hr $55,630
Nevada $24.85/hr $51,680
New Jersey $24.05/hr $50,020


Category: Network and computer systems administrators

Total # Employed in the US 338,890
Average Hourly Wage: $34.1/hr
Hourly Wage Range
PERCENTILE
10%25%50%75%90%
$20.16 $25.45 $32.55 $41.26 $50.95
Average Yearly Salary $70,930
Yearly Salary Range
PERCENTILE
10%25%50%75%90%
$41,940 $52,940 $67,710 $85,830 $105,970
Employment Demographics
% OF WORKERS WITH
< High School Diploma High School Diploma Some College Associate Degree Bachelor Degree Master Degree Doctoral Degree
0.7% 8.4% 25.2% 15.5% 39.0% 10.2% 1.0%
Network and computer systems administrators — WAGES BY STATE, SORTED BY SALARY
STATEAverage Hourly WageAverage Annual Salary
North Dakota $39.02/hr $81,160
Mississippi $38.51/hr $80,100
Colorado $38.38/hr $79,830
Florida $38.06/hr $79,170
Oklahoma $37.96/hr $78,960
Missouri $37.31/hr $77,600
Connecticut $36.59/hr $76,110
Kansas $36.19/hr $75,260
Delaware $35.29/hr $73,400
Utah $34.54/hr $71,840
Idaho $34.13/hr $70,980
Virginia $33.9/hr $70,520
Nebraska $33.67/hr $70,040
Hawaii $33.42/hr $69,520
Oregon $33.05/hr $68,750
Wyoming $32.52/hr $67,630
Tennessee $32.46/hr $67,520
New Hampshire $32.32/hr $67,220
Montana $31.98/hr $66,520
Arkansas $31.91/hr $66,380
Alaska $31.73/hr $65,990
North Carolina $31.64/hr $65,800
District of Columbia $31.49/hr $65,500
Indiana $30.93/hr $64,340
Guam $30.67/hr $63,790
Alabama $30.48/hr $63,390
New Mexico $30.27/hr $62,960
Wisconsin $30.2/hr $62,810
New York $30.08/hr $62,560
Washington $30.07/hr $62,540
South Carolina $29.96/hr $62,310
Louisiana $29.66/hr $61,700
Puerto Rico $29.66/hr $61,690
Maine $29.13/hr $60,590
Michigan $28.77/hr $59,830
California $28.46/hr $59,200
Kentucky $28.29/hr $58,850
Iowa $27.77/hr $57,750
Ohio $27.52/hr $57,230
Massachusetts $26.89/hr $55,930
South Dakota $25.93/hr $53,930
Nevada $25.17/hr $52,360
West Virginia $25.11/hr $52,230
Maryland $24.97/hr $51,940
New Jersey $24.85/hr $51,690
Pennsylvania $24.84/hr $51,660


Information Systems Programs by State & City