Application Support Engineering is an IT niche that hasn't been saturated by coding bootcamps that promise to make you a full-stack developer. As of the time of this writing, I reviewed a bunch of these camps and I cannot find a single track for getting into application support. This area of IT focuses on the fact that enterprise-level applications exist and so does the need for a qualified custodian to look after them.

Application maintenance doesn't necessarily fall under the responsibilities of system administrators. We need professionals who have a solid understanding of how an application work in general as well as how the underlying systems and protocols function/interact. There are many application stacks and it's impossible to learn every single one of them. The idea is that you have enough system and application engineering knowledge that enables you to become the custodian of a large application.

I use the word custodian, but more precisely you'll have to get the app up and running. This involves the integration of such a system with one or more existing endpoints(probably I'm pushing the line a bit here). Such professionals might get involved with automation, testing, and other aspects of the enterprise app. Monitoring and responding to any errors that could cause a business impact becomes your day-to-day life. That said, your job will never be boring, as every day you have to deal with something new and in doing so you'll learn a bunch of new stuff.

Many of these jobs would pay a six-figure salary for a qualified application support engineer. Starting salary for an application support analyst in the Tri-State area is around 80K. While this salary could differ across different industries, an experienced application support engineer has the potential of making 160K+ yearly. This area is fast growing and currently faces a huge shortage as many are passionate to pursue a career in development.

In the following video, I get into a lot of detail about app support and what it is comprised of. I'll give you an example of what an enterprise application is and justify the increasing need for application support professionals. I hope you enjoy the content. Please don't forget to hit the like button and subscribe. Looking forward to reading your comments.