Survey Results & Executive Summary
DevOps Salary Survey 2015
Performed by Sponsored by
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what’s inside
DevOps Salary Survey 2015 1
1.1 Overview 3
1.2 Key Insights from this Survey 4
Company & Job Characteristics 6
2.1 General Survey Information 7
2.2 Industry verticals 8
2.3 Size of DevOps Team 9
2.4 Online Assets 10
2.5 Company Revenues 10
2.6 Company Location 11
Gender, Role, Experience, Education 12
3.1 A Real-World Look at DevOps Roles 13
3.2 Professional Experience 15
3.3 Level of Education 16
Salary Components, Trends & Job Stability 17
4.1 Salary Trends 18
4.2 Bonuses 19
4.3 Salary Expectations for 2015 19
4.4 Changing Job Requirements 20
4.5 Job Stability 20
Advancing Career & Market Value 21
5.1 Most Important General Skills 22
5.2 Most Important Technical Skills 23
About Incapsula 24
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1.1 Overview
This comprehensive salary survey for the emerging
DevOps segment was conducted by Incapsula in
December 2014.
Its objective was to examine the experience,
responsibilities, and compensation of individuals
responsible for DevOps activities in a wide range of
organizations.
DevOps is a hot field and there’s no shortage of
opportunities. But that doesn’t mean that every
software developer or IT manager should leave their
current job for a DevOps position.
This survey will help new and more established
DevOps professionals understand the key parameters
affecting today’s salary scales, learn which industries
pay top dollar for DevOps skills, and find out how
your salary compares with similar job titles in other
companies.
Methodology
Survey results are based on 442 responses collected
from worldwide DevOps professionals through a
standardized online questionnaire distributed in
December 2014 by DevOps.com. Salary figures
reflect the total annual compensation for each
respondent, including bonuses.
All survey results are presented in US dollars. Those
respondents paid in other currencies were asked to
convert their salary figures to US dollars according to
the representative exchange rates.
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1.2 Key insights frOm this survey
salaries are higher in north american companies
The median salary of
DevOps professionals
working for North
American companies is
almost 35% higher than
comparable salaries
for companies based in
Asia Pacific and Europe,
respectively.
salaries are highest in military/defense, government, and energy
Median DevOps salaries
are highest at companies
in military/defense,
government, and energy
verticals. The lowest are
for those working in retail,
professional services,
and consumer products
sectors.
the larger the team, the higher the salary
DevOps team size seems
to matter.
devOps is a male-dominated field
Almost 96% of those
choosing to identify their
gender were men.
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1.2 Key insights frOm this survey
The economic climate appears to have a mixed impact on the earnings and
forward-looking expectations of DevOps professionals:
salaries increased in 2014
Over 76% of respondents reported an increase
in 2014 earnings compared to 2013.
increases were more common in asia Pacific and the rest of the world
Substantial increases were more common for
DevOps pros working for companies based
in Asia Pacific (68%) and the rest of the world
(69%) than they were for those employed by
North American (51%) or European (40%)
companies.
almost half of devOps received a bonus in 2014
Almost half of the respondents (48%) received
a bonus in 2014. The average bonus was less
than 10% of total compensation.
most are expecting their salaries to increase in 2015
Looking ahead at 2015, the vast majority (85%)
of respondents are expecting their salaries to
increase.
most are not concerned about job stability
More good news—when asked if they are
concerned about job stability, 61.5% of
respondents indicated that they are not at all
concerned.
Company & Job Characteristics2.1 General Survey Information
2.2 Industry Verticals
2.3 Size of DevOps Team
2.4 Online Assets
2.5 Company Revenues
2.6 Company Location
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annual salary Breakdown
Over $180,000
$160,000 to $180,000
$140,000 to $160,000
$120,000 to $140,000
$100,000 to $120,000
$80,000 to $100,000
$60,000 to $80,000
Less than $60,000 21.7%
17.9%
18.4%
16.9%
11.6%
8.3%
2%
3.3%
2.1
general survey
infOrmatiOn
Based on the survey demographics,
DevOps professionals come in all shapes
and sizes. However, a generalization of our
results reveals the following typical profile:
male, somewhere between the ages of 25
and 44, having a bachelor’s degree with 1
to 6 years’ experience in their current role.
Overall, the median salary for DevOps
professionals is $105,600.
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median salary by industry
Transportation
Retail
Professional Services
Military/Defense
Manufacturing
High Tech
Healthcare
Government
Financial Services
Energy & Utilities
Education
Consumer Products
Communications
Aerospace $108,333
$105,641
$104,137
$106,666
$118,750
$110,476
$123,750
$110,256
$111,617
$110,000
$124,000
$102,222
$100,555
$114,285
2.2
industry verticals
When looking at the industries in which
respondents work, median salaries are the
highest for those working for companies
in the military/defense, government, and
energy verticals. Surprisingly, the high tech
sector was not even in the top three. The
lowest salaries are for those working in the
retail, professional services, and consumer
products sectors.
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2.3
size Of devOps team
More than 69% of respondents work in
organizations employing between 1 to
10 DevOps pros, while over 11% work in
teams numbering between 11 to 50. About
14% reported that their employers do not
have a DevOps team.
Interestingly, it appears that salaries are
directly tied to the size of the DevOps
team. The larger the team, the higher the
salary.
size of devOps team
There is noDevOps team
Over 100
51 to 100
11 to 50
1 to 10 69.3%
10.6%
2.5%
3.3%
14.3%
median salary by team size
No DevOps team
1 to 10
11 to 50
51 to 100
Over 100
$104,210
$104,000
$110,000
$110,000
$129,230
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2.4
Online assets
To understand the scope of online operations for which
DevOps teams are responsible (both internal and customer-
facing), respondents were asked about the type of online
assets their company operates. Some 79% of the teams
operate websites, while 55% also operate Software-as-a-
Service (SaaS) applications.
company Online assets
Social Network
Website
eCommerce
SaaS 55.1%
35.1%
78.7%
17.7%
median salary by company revenues
Less than $1M
$1M to $10M
$11M to $50M
$51M to $100M
$101M to $500M
$500M to $1B
Over $1B
$87,058
$94,520
$103,714
$104,500
$106,956
$111,428
$118,867
2.5
cOmpany revenues
DevOps pros work at companies of all sizes. A total of 26% of
respondents work for companies with annual revenues of less
than $10 million, while another 26% work for those having
revenues exceeding $1 billion dollars.
As expected, salaries steadily increase in proportion to
company revenues.
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2.6
cOmpany lOcatiOn
Some 65% of respondents work for
companies based in North America, while
23% work for European companies.
Twelve percent work for companies based
in other parts of the world.
The median salary of DevOps pros
working for North American companies
is almost 35% higher than comparable
salaries in Asia Pacific and Europe,
respectively.
company location
64.7%
23.1%
6.8%
1.8%
3.6%
median salary by company location
$115,057
$77,142
$85,454
$86,086
$102,500
Gender, Role, Experience, Education3.1 A Real-World Look at DevOps Roles
3.2 Professional Experience
3.3 Level of Education
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3.1
a real-wOrld lOOK at
devOps rOles
Generally speaking, DevOps embodies an
agile approach to software development
that stresses communication,
collaboration, and integration between
software developers and IT operations.
As DevOps is a relatively new field and
means different things to different people,
we thought it would be enlightening to
see how our respondents defined their
own roles within their organization.
When asked to describe their specific
role or function, respondents provided
no less than 26 different job titles. It is
interesting to note that many respondents
with DevOps responsibilities do not have
“DevOps” in their title (e.g., Director of
Infrastructure, Security Engineer).
devOps roles
Director of Operations
Web Developer
Security Engineer
QA Engineer
Platform Engineer
Director of IT
QA Manager
VP Engineering
Back-end Developer
Director of Infrastructure
Security Manager
CTO Director of Security
CIO Systems Analyst
1.3%
1.3%
1.1%
1.1%
0.8%
0.5%
0.5%
0.5%
0.5%
0.3%
0.3%
0.3%
0.3%
DevOps Engineer
System Administrator
System Engineer
Operations Engineer
Infrastructure Engineer
DevOps developer
Software developer
Operations Manager
Director of DevOps
IT Manager
Software Architect
Project Manager
VP DevOps
38.5%
8.3%
7.5%
6.1%
5.1%
4.8%
4.5%
3.7%
3.5%
3.5%
2.1%
1.9%
1.6%
median salary by devOps role
DevOps Developer
DevOps Engineer
Director of DevOps
VP DevOps
$90,000
$101,159
$141,538
$163,333
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The graph on the right depicts the salaries
of all respondents claiming to have some
DevOps responsibilities, regardless
of their title. Comparing these median
salaries to those for “pure” DevOps roles,
we can see that DevOps developers
($90,000) are earning slightly more than
web developers ($88,000) but significantly
less than back end developers ($110,000).
DevOps engineers ($101,159) report
salaries higher than the average salaries
of other engineering positions , while
DevOps directors ($141, 538) earn
less than operations ($152,000) and IT
director ($170,000) positions.
median salary by Job title
Project Manager
System Administrator
Web Developer
Platform Engineer
Security Engineer
Operations Engineer
Infrastructure Engineer
Back-End Developer
Director of Infrastructure
Software Architect
Operations Manager
Security Manager
Director of Operations
Director of IT
$76,666
$86,000
$88,000
$90,000
$90,000
$90,000
$108,421
$110,000
$110,000
$117,500
$128,571
$130,000
$152,000
$170,000
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3.2
prOfessiOnal experience
As in other fields, DevOps job experience
plays a role in determining salary levels.
The median salary for respondents with
more than 10 years’ experience is 33%
higher than for those with 1 to 6 years’
experience.
Almost 96% of respondents who chose
to identify their gender were men, which
in and of itself says something about the
DevOps field. However, given such a
sampling, it is problematic to use gender
as a gauge for salary differences (as can be
seen in the chart below).
median salary by gender and experience
Less than1 year
1 to 6years
7 to 10years
MALE
FEMALE
$91,304
$65,000
$101,698
$111,111
$109,047
<$60,000
MALE
FEMALE
MALE
FEMALE
More than10 years
$135,087
$150,000
MALE
FEMALE
median salary by professional experience
Less than 1 year
1 to 6 years
7 to 10 years
10 or more years
$91,304
$101,698
$109,047
$135,087
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3.3
level Of educatiOn
Over half (52%) of respondents have a
bachelor’s degree, while 25% have earned
their master’s degree.
Based on survey results, it does not seem
that education level is a determining factor
regarding DevOps salaries. In some cases,
professionals with high school diplomas
are earning salaries comparable to those
with master’s degrees.
median salary by level of education
High School
Associates / Some College / Cert.—Voc.
Bachelor’s degree
Master’s degree
Ph.D.
Other
$106,734
$90,000
$105,544
$105,000
$110,000
$90,000
Salary Components, Trends & Job Stability4.1 Salary Trends
4.2 Bonuses
4.3 Salary Expectations for 2015
4.4 Changing Job Requirements
4.5 Job Stability
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4.1
salary trends
About 76% of respondents reported
a salary increase in 2014 compared to
2013, while 22% reported no change.
Less than 2% reported a decrease.
While three-quarters of all
respondents received a salary increase
in 2014, certain DevOps roles stood
out in relation to above-average
increases. These included operations
managers (36%), operations engineers
(32%), and system engineers (32%).
Roles with prominent salary decreases
were software architect (13%) and
infrastructure engineer (11%).
salary change from 2013 to 2014
Increased by more than 10%
Increased by 5 to 10%
Increased less than 5%
Stayed the same
Decreased
27.9%
22.6%
25.9%
22.1%
1.5%
change in salary in 2014 by company location
Europe
NorthAmerica
Rest ofthe world
Higher
Same
Lower
94%
6%
0%
80%
20%
0%
73%
18%
9%
63%
33%
3%
Higher
Same
Lower
Higher
Same
Lower
Higher
Same
Lower
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4.2
BOnuses
Almost half of the respondents (48%) received a bonus in
2014. While a lucky 8% received bonuses exceeding 20% of
their annual salary, most bonuses (43% of those who received
one) fell in the 5 to 10% range.
Bonus as percent of total compensation
Less than 5%
5 to 10%
11 to 20%
More than 20%
28.1%
42.7%
21.1%
8.1%
anticipated change in salary in 2015
Increase by more than 10%
Increase by 5 to 10%
Increase less than 5%
Stay the same
Decrease
28.1%
42.7%
21.1%
8.1%
23.3%
33.3%
28.5%
14.4%
5%
4.3
salary expectatiOns fOr 2015
Perhaps due to the uncertain economic outlook for the
remainder of this year, DevOps pros were slightly less optimistic
about salary raises in 2015. One-third of the respondents
anticipate a modest increase of between 5 to 10%.
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4.4
changing JOB requirements
When asked how their job requirements and/or work
environment have changed over the past year, the majority
(5%) cited that they have more responsibilities. Another
common response was more freedom (13%), while 12%
reported no change in their job requirements.
changes in Job requirements in 2014
More responsibilities
Less budget
More budget
Longer hours
More freedom
More competition
Tighter supervision
No change
28.1%
42.7%
21.1%
8.1%
55.1%
4.4%
3.6%
4.9%
13.3%
2.6%
3.8%
12.3%
concern about Job stability
Very concerned
Somewhat concerned
Not concerned at all
11.8%
26.6%
61.5%
4.5
JOB staBility
There is good news here. Approximately 62% of respondents
reported that they have no concerns about their job stability,
while less than 12% claimed they were very concerned.
Advancing Career & Market Value5.1 Most Important General Skills
5.2 Most Important Technical Skills
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5.1
mOst impOrtant general
sKills
Survey respondents have some insightful
advice for advancing your DevOps career:
• Understand the business side
• Develop your communication skills
• Keep up to date with new technology
• Be flexible and open to change
According to respondents, the general
skills most important for securing higher
pay and additional job options are
operational (51%), communication (49%),
and analytical (38%) skills.
most important general skills
32.4%
50.8%
38.2%
49.5%
23.4%
33.5%
8.8%
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5.2
mOst impOrtant technical
sKills
According to respondents, the most
valuable technology skills are cloud
deployment and virtualization (31%),
programming and systems architecture
(27%), and configuration management
(22%).
most important technical skills
8.5%
26.6%
2.5%
30.8%
1.9%
21.7%
1.6%
4.7%
1.6%
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