Compiling The Data

A total of 1,014 individuals were surveyed by CRN in three job categories,managers, salespeople and technical staff. CRN received 298 responses from managers, 190 responses from salespeople and 526 responses from technical staff.

MANAGERS WERE EVALUATED AT FOUR DIFFERENT LEVELS, OR JOB CLASSIFICATION:

• Company CEO, CFO, CIO or president
• Technical manager
• Sales manager
• Corporate manager (financial, administrative, operations or planning)

SALES STAFF WERE EVALUZTED AT TWO DIFFERENT LEVELS:

• Senior salesperson (defined as an individual with at least five years of experience in sales and who handles the largest and highest-profile accounts)
• Junior salesperson (an individual with less than five years of experience in sales and who handles smaller accounts)

TECHNICAL STAFF WERE EVALUATED ON THE BASIS OF CERTIFICATION(S), RATHER THAN SPECIFIC JOB TITLES. SEVEN DIFFERENT CERTIFICATION LEVELS WERE SURVEYED:

• Certified Novell Engineer (CNE) only
• Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) only
• Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) only
• CompTIA PC Technician Certification (A ) only
• CNE and MCSE
• MCP and A
• MCSE and Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)

These were chosen as being the ones most likely to be encountered in the field and the ones most effectively marketed by the vendors. Anywhere from 70 to 85 surveys were completed for each of the 13 job classifications or certification levels listed above.

The percentage of total revenue coming from e-business solutions was determined for the employer (solution provider) of each respondent to allow for comparisons of how compensation varies with e-business sales.

In addition, the age, gender, education and years of experience also were asked of each respondent to allow the data to be broken out in more detail.