How to Become an IT Manager

What an IT Manager Does

An IT manager plans, directs, and coordinates the technology work of an organization. You decide what systems the company needs, make sure they are installed and maintained, protect them from security threats, and lead the people who do the work. The role is less about doing the technical tasks and more about choosing which ones matter, funding them, and keeping the team effective.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) counts the job as Computer and Information Systems Managers (SOC 11-3021). Its Occupational Outlook Handbook entry notes that duties vary by organization. Some managers oversee the whole IT department, while others handle one area, such as infrastructure, support, or cybersecurity. Related titles include chief information officer (CIO), chief technology officer (CTO), and management information systems (MIS) director.

Daily Duties of an IT Manager

BLS lists the core duties.

• Analyze the organization’s IT needs and recommend upgrades.
• Plan and direct the installation and maintenance of hardware and software.
• Set up processes to detect, prevent, and reduce IT security threats.
• Assess the costs and benefits of projects and justify funding for them.
• Determine staffing needs and direct IT staff such as analysts, developers, security analysts, and support specialists.
• Negotiate with vendors and monitor their performance.

In practice, much of the week is meetings, budgets, and decisions. You review a vendor contract that is up for renewal, approve a project plan, interview candidates, and coach someone who is struggling. When something breaks, you manage the response and the communication to leadership instead of fixing it yourself. Many managers say the hardest adjustment is letting go of hands-on work and judging results through other people.

Skills Employers Want in an IT Manager

BLS names analytical, communication, computer, decision-making, leadership, and problem-solving skills. Technical depth still matters, because you can’t evaluate a proposal you don’t understand. But the skills that separate good managers are budgeting, project management, vendor negotiation, hiring, and the ability to explain technical tradeoffs to people outside IT. Employers also look for experience with security and compliance requirements, which have become a larger part of every IT leader’s job.

Some employers also require industry-specific experience. A hospital IT manager needs to understand health data rules, and a bank IT manager needs to understand financial regulation. Staying in one industry for several years builds that value.

Certifications for IT Managers

BLS says certification is typically optional for this role, although some employers prefer it, especially for security-focused management. Technical certifications such as CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, and Cisco CCNA are more useful earlier in your career, when they help you get the technical jobs that lead to management. Once you are managing, project management and security management credentials are the ones people tend to add.

How to Become an IT Manager: Education and the Typical Route

BLS lists the typical entry-level education as bachelor's degree, in computer science, information technology, or a related field such as engineering technologies. It says some employers require or prefer a graduate degree in computer science, IT, or business administration.

The degree is the minimum, and experience is the real gate. BLS says several years of experience in a related IT job is typically needed. A common route is to start in help desk or support, move into administration, analysis, or security, take on team lead responsibilities, and then step into a manager role. If your goal is management from the start, pick a bachelor’s program that includes business and project coursework in addition to technical courses. Our best online IT bachelor’s degrees ranking lists programs, and the online IT master’s degrees ranking covers the graduate route.

IT Manager Pay

The median annual wage for computer and information systems managers is $175,140, or $84.20 an hour, per the BLS May 2025 wage survey. The 10th percentile is $107,550 and the 90th is $297,510. The wide gap reflects the difference between a first-line manager of a small team and a CIO of a large company. Our IT manager salary page breaks it down.

IT Manager Job Outlook

BLS counts 670,570 workers in this occupation and projects 15.8% growth from 2025 to 2035. It also projects about 53,500 openings each year, the most of any of the eight IT careers we cover. The growth comes from organizations that depend more on technology and on securing it. Competition is real, since managers are promoted from a pool of experienced technical staff, but the openings number is large.

Which Online Degree Fits an IT Manager Career

Two routes make sense. If you are early in your career, an online bachelor’s in IT with project management and business coursework sets you up for the technical jobs that lead to management. If you already have several years of experience, an online master’s in IT management or a related field can help you move into a leadership role, and BLS notes some employers prefer a graduate degree. Our affordable online IT master’s degrees ranking lists lower-cost options, and most are designed for working adults.

Where an IT Manager Career Leads

IT manager is both a destination and a step. From a first-line manager role, you can advance to IT director, then to a vice president or a chief information officer role. Others specialize, becoming security managers or infrastructure managers. Some move to consulting. The pay rises through each step, and the best-paid titles are in the top range of the BLS wage data. See our IT careers overview for how this job compares with the rest.

The Hard Parts of IT Management

You are accountable for outcomes you don’t control directly. A system outage is your problem even when someone on your team caused it. Budgets are tight and requests are endless, so you will say no often. You will also handle people problems that no technical training covers: performance, conflict, layoffs. Some managers miss the technical work and go back to it. Others find that leading a team is the part they like most.

If you like building teams and shaping what a company does with technology, the pay and the openings support the move. If you are happiest solving technical problems yourself, there are senior technical tracks, such as network architect and senior security analyst, that pay well without people management.

How to Prepare for a Management Role

Start before you are promoted. Offer to lead a small project, mentor a new hire, or run the on-call rotation. Learn how your department’s budget works and how projects get approved. Ask your manager if you can sit in on vendor reviews. When a management role opens, the person who has already done pieces of it has the advantage over the person who is only the best technician.

Pair that with your education. A bachelor’s degree meets the BLS entry profile, and a business or management course, or a graduate degree later, strengthens your case for senior roles. Keep your technical skills current, because your credibility with the team depends on it.

IT Manager Compared with Other IT Careers

The IT manager median of $175,140 is the highest of the eight jobs in our IT careers overview, and it is the only one where the work is mostly leading people. A senior technical path pays well too. Network architects have a median of $134,050 and information security analysts have $129,180, both without people management.

The practical question is what you want to do all day. Managers spend their time on budgets, hiring, vendors, and decisions. Senior technologists spend theirs on design and hard technical problems. Both can lead to strong pay, and many people try a lead role before deciding. If you find you like teaching and organizing more than you like the technical work, management is the right move, and if not, you can stay technical without a penalty.

Where IT Manager Jobs Are

California has the most IT managers, about 94,720 of the 670,570 BLS counts nationally, and the top five states hold 43% of them. Size isn't the same as concentration: District of Columbia has the most of these jobs relative to its workforce, at 1.88 times the national share. Remote work loosens this for some employers, but local demand still shapes who is hiring near you.

The 10 largest of 52. Concentration compares the state's share of these jobs with the national share, so 1.00x matches the country. These figures are for computer and information systems managers, BLS May 2025.

IT Manager Jobs in Major Metros

Among the 50 metro areas in our city guides with a published count, New York City has the most, about 62,430 workers. San Jose is the most concentrated, at 3.90 times the national share.

The 10 largest of 50. These figures are for computer and information systems managers, BLS May 2025.

IT Careers Side by Side

Computer and Information Systems Managers rank first by median pay among the IT occupations we cover. Pay, projected change and openings don't always move together, so weigh all three against the education each job asks for.

Sorted by median pay. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, and Employment Projections, 2025-35.