Most certifications get you a 8.5 percent bump in pay on average, while top ones, like Cisco's CCIE, will get you well beyond that with about a 10 - 15 percent pay premium.

There's an issue that's going to be going on for a lot of vendors and for the standards bodies. What's going to be the best framing technology for 10-Gbit/s PON?

That's where the money is being diverted.

You don't set out in your career to do storage. It's not a sexy place and, until recently, there was no ROI you could point to.

This is unprecedented since our firm began surveying tech skills pay in 2000.