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Demand for employees experienced in storage software and storage protocols has increased along with the demand for more data storage space.
Software engineers have opportunities to specialize in storage systems and networks in the growing data storage market.
See below to learn all about storage software roles and what it takes to work in the field:
The Market for Storage Software Positions
- Storage Software Engineer Job Market
- Storage Software Job Types
- How Do You Become a Storage Engineer?
- Job Openings in Software Storage
- What is the Salary of a Storage Engineer?
- Conclusions
Storage Software Engineer Job Market
Storage software engineering falls under the broader category of software development when the field is measured by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The BLS estimates a 22% increase in software development, quality assurance analyst, and tester positions over the 2020-2030 period. The bureau also predicts around 189,200 job openings in the sector.
IMARC Group predicts a 9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the global storage software market over the 2021-2026 period.
2022 will see demand for teachable storage workers, including software engineers, and soft skills, said Molly Brown, VP of engineering at the data storage platform Qumulo.
“Communication and collaboration skills will be especially important in the hybrid work setting of 2022,” Brown said. “These skills can take more effort in a more distributed, less face-to-face environment of remote work.
“For organizations without the ability to hire people with existing skills, it can be a savvy move — and potentially more valuable in the long run — to instead invest in training and coaching hires who have the soft skills to learn fast and work effectively with the team.”
Also read: Top 5 In-Demand Enterprise Storage Jobs
Storage Software Job Types
The most common roles for storage engineers in the technology industry focus on various segments of the software and storage fields.
| Position | Focus |
| Software engineer (infrastructure) |
|
| Software engineer (full stack) |
|
| Software engineer (back end/frameworks) |
|
| Software engineer (mass storage) |
|
| Software engineer (open source/distributed storage) |
|
| Cloud storage engineer |
|
Storage engineers may work at a company’s physical location, managing on-premises software, developing and deploying private clouds, or configuring small-scale storage systems. They may also work in a large data center, migrating workloads between cloud environments or setting up storage networks. Some storage engineer positions can also be mostly remote.
Enterprises expect storage engineers to have experience and abilities that include:
- Knowledge of programming languages
- Ability to code or design within software back-end environments
- Ability to work with MySQL databases
- Knowledge of NoSQL databases
- Experience with file systems
- Experience with public cloud environments
- Knowledge of storage protocols, such as Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) and Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA)
Also read: SAS vs. SATA | What Is the Difference & Which is Better?
How Do You Become a Storage Engineer?
Most storage software positions require a computer science degree of some type, usually at least a bachelor’s degree. Other possible degree paths include:
- Information systems management/information technology management
- Information science
- Systems and network administration
- Information security
Other educational possibilities for storage engineers include certifications, such as:
- Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) certification
- Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) and Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Data Center certification, offered by Cisco
- NetApp Certified Data Administrator (NCDA), offered by NetApp
Job Openings in Software Storage
There are about 18,400 open jobs in the U.S. for storage software engineers, according to LinkedIn.
A sampling of open positions in storage software includes:
- Software engineer (storage and infrastructure)
- Software engineer (storage services)
- Staff software engineer (online frameworks and storage)
- Software development engineer
- Software engineer, data platform (storage and compute)
- Infrastructure software engineer
- Software engineer (full stack)
- Senior software engineer (storage)
- Hardware systems engineer (storage)
What is the Salary of a Storage Engineer?
The following table lists the estimated median salaries for multiple positions that fall under the storage software umbrella, according to Glassdoor.
| Position | Median Salary |
| Systems administrator | $76,000 |
| Storage administrator | $91,000 |
| Software engineer, storage | $109,000 |
| Cloud engineer | $111,000 |
| Systems software engineer | $127,000 |
| Senior cloud engineer | $131,000 |
| Senior storage software engineer | $131,000 |
| Storage architect | $136,000 |
(Source: Glassdoor)
Conclusions
Many storage software engineers will have the opportunity to specialize in field-specific areas within the data storage industry, particularly as enterprise storage needs increase. New software solutions will also require specialization, such as focus on cybersecurity or data center networking.
Examples of potential specialized roles include edge storage engineers and IoT data and storage specialists. Edge engineering would require either onsite or remote configuration, and IoT data management requires a new type of security focus because it’s naturally unsecured. The next five or so years will see an increased need for edge and IoT storage experts.
Read next: Hardware & Storage Engineer Job Market
