Hello, I am in need of some career advice. Let me explain my situation. I graduated in 2004 with a MIS degree. I have been working since my graduation as a "Systems Analyst" basically doing helpdesk, support and at the same time am working on my MSCE. In school, I studied known of this, in school my classes were programming, DB's, Mgmt. stuff and etc. Now, we hired a "developer" about a year ago to come in and do some sharepoint things and stuff like that and he just left us to make $70,000 doing nothing but developing. So, may already know where I am going with this. What should I do, I know for a fact if I want to stay in Infrastructure that I MUST get my MSCE or else I will never get out of support which is quite frankly the low in of the barrell for IT, or should I go with developing, which by the way since at my current job I do none of, and try to get an entry level job at programming and start over again or keep pursuing the MCSE and stay in infrastructure?

Programming fetches good money if you are comfortable with it, and believe me, not many people are. They just jump on the IT bandwagon, thinking that if everyone can do it, so can they, but alas, lack of interest kills everything.

It doesn't matter where you are, the only thing that matters is that you should have an interest in that field and be the best.

That being said, if you seriously think that programming is for you, going that way wouldn't harm you in any way. After getting an entry level programming job life would be tough for a few months/ years, but once you get the hang of things, it can be pretty rewarding. Considering that you still haven't got your MCSE, trying your hand at programming wouldn't harm you.

But do keep in mind the competition out there. The above applies only if you completely understand the development scenario at your place and already know what it takes to get into programming.