DEVOPSdigest

Market demand for DevOps skills is growing, and DevOps engineers are among the highest paid IT practitioners today, according to the DevOps Salary Report, based on salary data gathered from Puppet Labs' industry-recognized State of DevOps Report.

DevOps demand is high because IT organizations are grappling with how to be more agile and responsive to the business, while maintaining the stability of their infrastructure. DevOps practices, such as continuous delivery and strong cross-team collaboration, are proven to increase both agility and reliability: High-performing IT organizations are deploying code 30 times more frequently with 50 percent fewer failures. These results are driving accelerated adoption of DevOps practices and aggressive hiring of people with DevOps expertise.

The DevOps Salary Report shows that DevOps engineers earn more than most other IT practitioners. More than half (58 percent) of DevOps engineers make $100,000 per year or more, while 47 percent of all IT practitioners earn that much. This finding underlines that DevOps adoption continues to accelerate, as more organizations that have implemented DevOps practices talk publicly about the strong competitive edge they've gained. The acceleration of DevOps adoption also correlates with market data: A recent report by Dice.com showed that experience with Puppet, a technology that helps organizations implement a DevOps culture and practices, is the fastest-growing technical skill that businesses are hiring for today.

"Our DevOps salary findings underscore the urgency with which organizations are investing in DevOps tools and practices to become faster, more agile organizations," said Nigel Kersten, CIO of Puppet Labs. "Every company has become a technology company, and those that do it well win. As the leader in IT automation, Puppet Labs is at the epicenter of this trend, and is helping our customers win in the marketplace by enabling them to make rapid change a competitive advantage."

Among the findings:

■ The highest percentage of IT practitioners earning $100,000 or more annually are employed in the media and entertainment industries, where 58 percent fall into this salary band.

■ The lowest percentage of IT practitioners earning $100,000 or more annually are employed in the education sector, where only 17 percent earn at this level.

■ California is home to the highest concentration of practitioners making $100,000 a year or more (65 percent), followed by New York (58 percent), Texas (41 percent) and Oregon (37 percent).

Tim Zonca is Director of Product Marketing for Puppet Labs.