How Many IT Folks Do You Have On Staff...And What Is the Scope Of Responsibility?

Technology General
21

Thanks everyone for the additional data.

@eric.barclay - I agree that the survey needs some additional questions to provide more accurate / useful data. I appreciate you outlining what you see as some of the significant variables with your church. My thought is that if everyone offers up those sort of variables, I can go back and refine the questions…

Here is an update on what the stats look like with all of the responses up to this moment included:

(I’ve included both the old and new data separated by //, the new is on the left, the old on the right…the initial statistics were built on responses from 12 churches, the new results are from 18 churches)

Congregation Size
Median: 3650 // 5000
Average: 5336 // 6883

# of Campuses
Median: 2.5 // 3
Average: 3.3 // 2.4

IT Systems Staff
Median: 2 // 2.5
Average: 2.2 // 2.36

IT Systems Staff PT
Median: 0 // 1
Average: 0.4 // 0.7

Web / Developer FT Staff
Median: 0.4 // 2
Average: 0.5 // 2

(There are no PT Web / Dev Staff)

Combined IT FT Staff
Median: 2 // 2.5
Average: 2.7 // 3

Combined IT PT Staff
Median: 0 // 1
Average: 2.7 // 3

Note: I was providing numbers to two decimal places (e.g. 2.57), I’ve updated to use only one decimal place.

Some Other Thoughts

  • While the number of churches has increased by 6, the number of churches with 5+ FT staff (4) has not increased.
  • The number of churches with 3+ to 5 FT staff has increased from 2 to 3.
  • Additional data will continue to help clarify averages. Once we have enough data, I’ll go back through and add additional questions (e.g., @eric.barclay) and hopefully folks can update just on those they haven’t answered and we’ll be able to get a little more specific.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to share!

22
  1. Kansas (Kansas City Area)
  2. 3 Campuses (4 Buildings)
  3. AWA: 1050
  4. 2 (Director, Database Administrator)
1 Like
23
  1. Northern Virginia outside Washington DC
  2. 5
  3. 14,000
  4. 4 + 1 open position. 1 IT Director, 1.5 Applications Support, 1.5 Helpdesk

Those are the positions/titles but I and the applications side operate in an all hands on deck mode as we are currently under staffed. Up till about 8 months ago we had 6 full time in the department.

1 Like
24

Where is your church located (state is fine)?

  • Granger, IN
    How many campuses do you have?
  • 2 +1 downtown community center
    What is your current average weekly attendance?
  • 4k
    How many full-time IT staff do you have? What positions?
  • director, netadmin, helpdesk, and part-time Admin Asst. It’s worth noting that we were a 2 man shop until late 2016 when we became 4 :slight_smile:
    We are responsible for typical IT and ChMS/Data stuff, but not our website.
1 Like
25
  1. Cedar Falls, IA
  2. 4 campuses with 5 venues + two offsite ministry locations for Student Ministries
  3. 2000ish
  4. One. I handle all IT and video tech. Our worship team handles audio except when it involves networking
1 Like
26

Revised as of: 2/9/2017
I’ve updated @cmchamberlin’s submission, and added @MattPugh80, @jpowell, and @scottbehrends data to the spreadsheet, see below for the results.

How to Read

  • There are three values for each characteristic reported - these move from most-recent (left) to oldest (right).
  • The original calculations were based off 12 responses, the second from 18, this third from 21.

Congregation Size
Median: 3800 // 3650 // 5000
Average: 5526 // 5336 // 6883

Num of Campuses
Median: 3 // 2.5 // 3
Average: 3.3 // 3.3 // 2.4

IT Systems Staff
Median: 2 // 2 // 2.5
Average: 2.3 // 2.2 // 2.36

IT Systems Staff PT
Median: 0 // 0 // 1
Average: 0.3 // 0.4 // 0.7

Web / Developer FT Staff
Median: 0.4 // 0.4 // 2
Average: 0.4 // 0.5 // 2

(There are no PT Web / Dev Staff)

Combined IT FT Staff
Median: 2 // 2 // 2.5
Average: 2.7 // 2.7 // 3

Combined IT PT Staff
Median: 0 // 0 // 1
Average: 2.7 // 2.7 // 3

Concluding Thoughts
Thanks everyone for sharing. I feel like we may be seeing some stabilization in the numbers - you’ll note in most cases we either stayed the same as the last set of calculations or we reverted back to the initial calculations.

That said, I’d love to do one of these at a conference, etc. with more detailed questions. :slight_smile:

Feel free to continue to add your data and I’ll update the spreadsheet and share the calculations on a semi-regular basis.

Dave

27
  1. San Antonio Texas
  2. 7 campuses + online
  3. 10,000 ±
  4. 2-1/2 (IT director, Support spec, support tech
  5. About 180 staff not including PT childcare

Do not handle web; database or AV

1 Like
28
  1. Texas
  2. 2 + online
  3. 6k
  4. 3 - school help desk, church help desk, director with other responsibilities, outsourced network support
    Our main campus has 4 main buildings, all connected via fiber. So while we have 2 campuses, one is quite large. We also run a K-12 school with 75+ employees + 600 students with tablets, and 60+ church staff. The school help desk employee doesn’t touch any network devices besides their PCs and tablets.
1 Like
29

Where is your church located (state is fine)?

  • Newburgh, IN
    How many campuses do you have?
  • 1 with # 2 launching Sept 9 and Online soon as well
    What is your current average weekly attendance?
  • 3.5k
    How many full-time IT staff do you have? What positions?
  • IT Director and as of yesterday 1 IT specialist for the first time in 15 years YAY :grinning:
    Staff of 90+
1 Like
30

Revised as 7/21/17
I’ve added @Tim, @mdewit, and @kmiles submissions. I also added to the report stats on which states have contributed how many submissions. I’d like to analyze on a per state basis and per region basis (e.g. Northeast, Southwest, etc.) but don’t have enough data yet.

Congregation Size
Median: 3900 // 3800 // 3650 // 5000
Average: 5648 // 5526 // 5536 // 6883

Num of Campuses
Median: 3 // 3 // 2.5 // 3
Average: 3.2 // 3.3 // 3.3 // 4

IT Systems Staff
Median: 2 // 2 // 2 // 2.5
Average: 2.3 // 2.3 // 2.2. // 2.36

IT Systems Staff PT
Median: 0 // 0 // 0 // 1
Average: 0.3 // 0.3 // 0.4 // 0.7

Web / Developer FT Staff
Median: 0.3 // 0.4 // 0.4 // 2
Average: 0.3 // 0.4 // 0.5 // 2

(There are no PT Web / Dev Staff)

** Combined IT FT Staff**
Median: 2 // 2 // 2 // 2.5
Average: 2.6 // 2.7 // 2.7 // 3

Combined IT PT Staff
Median: 0 // 0 // 0 // 1
Average: 2.6 // 2.7 // 2.7 // 3

Submissions By State

  • New Jersey: 1
  • Ohio: 1
  • California: 3
  • Georgia: 1
  • Illinois: 4
  • New Mexico: 1
  • Arkansas: 2
  • Kansas: 2
  • Mississippi: 1
  • Tennessee: 1
  • Texas: 3
  • Virginia: 1
  • Indiana: 2
  • Iowa: 1

Concluding Thoughts
Thanks everyone for sharing. We are definitely seeing stabilization in the numbers. That said, my conclusion is either (1) churches are generally significantly understaffed when it comes to IT or (2) the lack of factoring in contracted/outsourced help in various domains in significantly lowering the numbers.

Sorry it has been so long since an update…Would love to hear your thoughts. :slight_smile:

Still think we need to get one of these put together at a significant venue where we could have representatives from each state as well as maybe 100-200 contributors to really give us a solid number.

Feel free to add your numbers and I’ll try to add them in the near future.

Dave

31

My opinion is, most churches are significantly understaffed when it comes to IT and/or tech. There is a lot of reasons for this.

I definitely think contract/outsourced labor would help balance the numbers more but I feel that #1 is the bigger issue.

1 Like
32

Lincoln, NE
1 Campus
4,000 weekend attendance
IT Staff 2: 2 FT (IT Director and Network Admin) We both do the same things, I just get to do the paperwork :slight_smile:

1 Like
33

1: California
2: 1
3: 12,000 - 14,000
4: 5 Fulltime: Pastor of Technical Ministries, Video Director, IT Sys Admin, Video Editor, Grahpic Arts
2 Part Time: Web Developer, Maintenance

1 Like
34

NC
1 physical + online
3,000 +
0 full-time IT Manager. Some outsourcing to an IT company twice per month. 1 PT Volunteer (me)

1 Like
35

Dallas, TX area
4 campuses at 3 geographic sites + online campus
~6,000
1-FT - IT Director (+ campus serve teams of 5-10 people/campus)

  • outsource MSP for helpdesk
1 Like
36

Raleigh-Durham, NC Area
11 physical campuses.
~10,000
2 full time* - 1 IT Director and 1 Helpdesk/Support Technician (me)
*Also have a 1 full time web developer who is managed by another team.

1 Like
37

Revised as 9/20/17
I’ve added @mrock, @adrian_ccgs, @ericr, @mjbaldwin3, and @oliviab’s submissions to the results.

Congregation Size
Median: 4000 // 3900 // 3800 // 3650 // 5000
Average: 5916 // 5648 // 5526 // 5536 // 6883

Num of Campuses
Median: 3 // 3 // 3 // 2.5 // 3
Average: 3.2 // 3.2 // 3.3 // 3.3 // 4

IT Systems Staff
Median: 2 // 2 // 2 // 2 // 2.5
Average: 2.1 // 2.3 // 2.3 // 2.2. // 2.36

IT Systems Staff PT
Median: 0 // 0 // 0 // 0 // 1
Average: 0.3 // 0.3 // 0.3 // 0.4 // 0.7

Web / Developer FT Staff
Median: 0.3 // 0.3 // 0.4 // 0.4 // 2
Average: 0.3 // 0.3 // 0.4 // 0.5 // 2

Web / Developer PT Staff
Median: 0
Average: 0

** Combined IT FT Staff**
Median: 2 // 2 // 2 // 2 // 2.5
Average: 2.4 // 2.6 // 2.7 // 2.7 // 3

Combined IT PT Staff
Median: 0 // 0 // 0 // 0 // 1
Average: 2.4 // 2.6 // 2.7 // 2.7 // 3

Submissions By State

New Jersey: 1
Ohio: 1
California: 5
Georgia: 1
Illinois: 4
New Mexico: 1
Arkansas: 2
Kansas: 2
Mississippi: 1
Tennessee: 1
Texas: 4
Virginia: 1
Indiana: 2
Iowa: 1
North Carolina: 2
Total Submissions: 29

Concluding Thoughts
Numbers are remaining stable. Feel free to add your church info. below and I’ll add it to the next update of this survey.

Dave

38

A few thoughts.

  1. Not clear whether responses include or exclude various ministry tech positions/duties like sound, lighting, a/v planning and support, video production, streaming podcasts and the like. I’ve seen lots of variations on where churches put these items and how they perceive them.
  2. To me, # of campuses and AWA doesn’t adequately capture the demands put on IT. One church may have several campuses that use leased space on Sundays only. Another might have campuses with tons going on there 7 days a week, 6 am to 10 pm. The demands on IT will be very different.
  3. We need a way to get a much larger sample size.
1 Like
39
  1. Cranberry Twp, PA
  2. 1 Campus
  3. 2800 AWA
  4. 1 FT IT, 2FT ChMS, 1FT Web Designer, 1PT social media specialist
1 Like
40

In case you wanted updated numbers… + 1 PT Database Coordinator, transitioned to IT this year.

UPDATE from what was already submitted above:

  • Savannah, GA (South)
  • 6 physical, 1 Hispanic Service worshiping in one of the buildings on our main campus. This ministry has two worship services on Sunday mornings like all of the other campuses.
  • 9,000 (approx, ±)
  • 6 total - 4 FT, 2 PT: 1x IT Director, 2x Systems Administrators, 1x Client Systems Administrator, 1x Database Coordinator, 1x Admin Assistant.

Plus an IT volunteer ministry of 10 volunteers.

1 Like