Closing the chasm between systems and applications, and why the salary survey is moving to July.
Know It All
Closing the chasm between systems and applications, and why the salary survey is moving to July.
- By Linda Briggs
- 01/01/1999
As I hope you've noticed, our logo, cover, and table
of contents have a spruced-up new look for 1999. Our cover
story to kick off the new year has a special twist also.
Why a cover story on programming, you might ask, in a
magazine that primarily targets systems administrators,
network and enterprise managers, and NT systems engineers
of all stripes? Don't you have enough to do trying to
keep the network up, make users happy, fend off viruses
and hackers, integrate and update and backup and still
get home for dinner?
So why delve into coding, of all things? I'll let Contributing
Author Jeff Honeyman answer that one for me. In the course
of writing our cover story, he sent over some thoughtful
e-mail about the topic of programming skills for MCSEs.
"I've always been big on diversification
.
As I shook off my newbie status in IT, I began to wonder
whether I might be able to accomplish some tasks quicker
or better if I could custom-code solutions. I began by
writing batch files, and moved on to learning VB.
"There's a logical process to programming, much
as there's a logical flow to how systems function. You
have to be able to zero in on minute details while not
losing track of your overall objectives. Are you comfortable
with this? Do you enjoy it? If so, there's a lot of training
material available free on the Internet. You can pick
up VBScript and JScript tutorials from Microsoft; you
can get the Java Developer's Kit from Sun. Before you
decide on making a significant time, money, and brain
cell investment in programming, spend some time with these
free materials and see whether you enjoy the process."
As Jeff points out in his article, "Crossing
the Chasm: Leverage Your Networking Skills with Programming,"
a convergence is taking place. Programming skills are
merging with networking skills at some level, especially
as Microsoft products dominate on both the desktop and
network. Perhaps the best systems experts will spend some
time on both sides of the chasm, which is gradually narrowing
(and may soon no longer be such a chasm at all). If you're
an MCSE, let me know what you think of Jeff's story, and
whether you want to read more articles on the topic.
Mid-Summer Salary Survey
MCP Magazine's annual salary survey, in which
we measure compensation among Microsoft Certified Professionals
throughout the U.S., has become a highly visible compensation
survey in the industry. For the past three years, survey
data has appeared in the first issue of each year. But
each year, we receive comments from readers telling us
that the information in the survey reaches them just after
the budget and salary negotiation process is complete.
This year, we're moving the salary survey to midyearthe
July issueto make it more valuable in your budget
planning and compensation negotiations. In the July issue,
we'll look at compensation for MCPs for both 1998 and
1999; we'll also include additional information from hiring
managers on what they're paying MCPs. As an MCP or a hiring
manager (or both), is there other information that would
make the survey more useful? Send me suggestions at [email protected].
About the Author
Linda Briggs is the founding editor of MCP Magazine and the former senior editorial director of 101communications. In between world travels, she's a freelance technology writer based in San Diego, Calif.