It's Who--Or What Vendor--You Know That PaysIt's Who--Or What Vendor--You Know That Pays

What you earn is directly associated with who--or which vendor--you know, according to a salary survey released by Certification magazine, a technical training and certification publication.

The annual survey of approximately 10,000 certified technicians shows that the average IT worker certified by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium 2, a nonprofit organization dedicated to training and certifying information systems security professionals worldwide, earns $83,333 per year. Those certified by Nortel Networks on average earn $80,403, and Hewlett-Packard/Compaq and Oracle certification holders earn more than $70,000 annually. According to the magazine, vendors look at the average salary of the certified IT workers to benchmark the quality of their products.

Of course, tenure helps. The magazine's study reports that the average salary of a certificate holders with less than five years in IT is $38,434, while those with 15 or more years of experience average $76,752 annually.