BI Developer vs Software Devs salaries

danewguy

New Member
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Oct 15, 2015
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BI Developer vs Software Devs salaries in south Africa(estimate)
who gets more?
 

OHNO

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Oct 24, 2011
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Please don't give to much info in your question, we like short cryptic questions.
 

diabolus

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Feb 4, 2005
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You are literally asking "Cardiologist or a Doctor , who earns more?"

BI Devs (good ones) are still software devs , they just specialised.....i'm sure if a software dev specialised in any language/product that is in demand right now the same apply...

Also "BI Dev" can be vastly different per technology, if you are a SAP BW Dev (A "BI Dev" on SAP) , you are probably rolling in the cash, while if you are a Microsoft BI Dev, you are most likely earning the same as a senior C# dev.

Same applies with "Software Dev" , Java vs C# vs Web vs Mobile vs Database vs Front End vs Senior vs Junior ...all different salary brackets.
 
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shauntir

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Sep 11, 2013
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You are literally asking "Cardiologist or a Doctor , who earns more?"

BI Devs (good ones) are still software devs , they just specialised.....i'm sure if a software dev specialised in any language/product that is in demand right now the same apply...

Besides in "BI Dev" can be different per technology, if you are a SAP BW Dev , you are probably rolling in the cash, while if you a Microsoft BI Dev, you are most likely earning the same as a senior C# dev.

^This.

I was both...still am, not exactly sure lol.

I would say specialize. Don't become too much of a generalist unless you want to try your hand at doing a startup without much funding.
 

diabolus

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Feb 4, 2005
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And another note, if you are a SAP BW (BO) Dev and already working at a company with SAP Devs, it is definitely worth considering exploring SAP ABAP if you want to be more of a "software dev" without overturning the apple cart . Almost anything SAP costs a fortune for the clients, and means big money for you, the dev.

Catch is, the moment you end up at clients that don't have SAP, you might need to start all over in a new tech, although SAP ABAP is at least a fully object orientated language resembling Java.
 
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krycor

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Aug 4, 2005
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18,546
Specialist dev people earn tons but they also have a huge risk factor i.e. only a handful companies employ people with a specific skill set and when the tool is costly we talking 5-10 corporates in SA max all of which will unlikely employ you directly and so this leaves you will smaller dev houses which will margin squeeze for max profit.

All in all.. albeit general java/c++ devs are numerous, decent to great ones aren't, so job security is better in a market like Sa and i suspect this is more important here. In e.g. the UK market where the numbers are skewed in your favour, being a specialist dev for a product or tool works in your favour as then the number of great generalists are high.

Another factor to look at before deciding if specialising in a particular toolset/framework etc is the number of Indian devs doing it in India. Quite often the specialist toolsets only have a training hill to climb and then if you look eastward you will find a huge amount of dev talent wanting work.. in this case your orgainisation usually goes one of two ways.. outsource and u manage or you do support and minor projects.. either way you always should keep an eye on this as it drops the value of your skill set or lets you climb the ranks fast.
 
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