Its annual survey of more than 200 technology organizations found that project managers rose from an average 3.4 percent of the typical information technology staff in 2007 to 4.7 percent in 2010.
The "growing reliance on project management is even more apparent considering that during this period many IT organizations were placing capital projects on hold and reducing headcount,'' the Irvine, Calif., company said.
The reason: while project managers are generally senior employees, their time is less expensive than that of the typical IT operations manager. This, Computer Economics said, is because "they are not directly managing people or operations."
The median base pay and bonus pay for IT project mangers in the U.S. now stands at $91,837, it said. This ranges from $72,068 at the 25th percentile to $115,959 at the 75th percentile. Salaries also differ by metropolitan area.
Not all organizations have project managers, the research firm said. In a few cases, project managers report directly to a corporate project management organization, rather than the IT department and are, as result, technically not part of the IT staff.
This story originally appeared on Securities Technology Monitor.
Tom Steinert-Threlkeld is the editor-in-chief of Securities Technology Monitor.
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