In today’s digital age, businesses rely on their technology every day, so when something goes down it can cause a major headache. But, in every business there are those employees who work in the background, ensuring that every device and system stays up and running as much as possible, solving problems quickly if anything does go wrong. Each year, System Administrator Appreciation Day reminds us of the importance of these vital team members, eight industry experts highlight the myriad ways in which SysAdmins support businesses.
Boosting SysAdmins through tools and training
One of the best ways to support your SysAdmins (System administrators) is by ensuring that you have the best quality tech in place to make their jobs easier as Gijsbert Janssen van Doorn, Technology Evangelist, Zerto, believes. He continued: “The SysAdmin is directly responsible for the uptime, performance and security of the systems they manage that the business depends on. It’s no mean feat, but the best thing a SysAdmin can do for your business is keep you online – and prevent outages. In some ways, they are the gatekeepers of IT resilience, so it’s important to recognise the role they play.
“It’s a tough job and most systems administrators are all too familiar with the middle-of-the-night call to come in and fix things when the systems mysteriously go down. Organisations looking to support their SysAdmins should ensure that they are investing enough in resilient infrastructure – across backup, disaster recovery and cloud mobility. This will allow your SysAdmins to focus on building and managing systems for always-on and agile services, rather than constantly fighting to get the systems back online.”
“SysAdmins have a variety of different responsibilities, but ensuring a businesses’ IT data infrastructure is maintained and ready to deliver insights and faster time to value is one of the most important,” said Neil Barton, CTO, WhereScape. “The role of the SysAdmin is proving even more crucial as business needs drive ever increasingly more frequent changes to data infrastructure, particularly in the deployment process and for keeping systems online and operating. Because of this, as a business, you don’t want your SysAdmin bogged down trying to prevent roadblocks. Automation solutions can help your SysAdmins by reducing the time, cost and risk of deploying changes to data infrastructure by eliminating manual tasks. SysAdmins can then ensure the data infrastructure is delivering results.”
Once you have the tech in place, Jon Lucas, Co-director at Hyve Managed Hosting, considers the importance of training SysAdmins to deal with every scenario. He said: “When it comes to hosting, SysAdmins are not only central to our business, but our customers’ businesses too. So, the question isn’t what do they do for our business – but rather, what don’t they do. SysAdmins handle all aspects of IT, keeping systems up and running and mitigating risks of downtime, meaning people in this role are required to have a very broad range of skills and knowledge. Obtaining and nurturing talent of this kind is something we take very seriously as suitable candidates for the job are often hard to find. Because of this, we should definitely be taking time to appreciate all of the work they do, as well as considering how we can continue to nurture future generations to ensure that the job is always lucrative and rewarding.”
Gregg Mearing, Head of Managed Services, Node4, agreed with Lucas that knowledge equals power. He said: “SysAdmins fulfil a vital role that is growing in importance. For many organisations, the impact of cloud and the increasing investment in managed services means IT teams in general need to work more effectively with external providers on a regular basis. For these organisations, SysAdmins are really important experts in the delivery of an effective cloud-based IT strategy. From the Managed Service Provider point of view, SysAdmins often become part of a wider cooperative team – their intimate knowledge of their company and its IT infrastructure remains as important as ever.”
Money matters for good maintenance
Everyone is uncomfortable talking about finance – but your SysAdmin must address it as an issue every day, says Hubert Da Costa, Senior Vice President and GM, EMEA and APAC, Cybera. He continued: “As the people charged with maintaining network security and uptime, SysAdmins also have to balance increasing demand for bandwidth with (often) very lean budgets. If you think about costs associated with managing legacy WAN technology, for example, it’s enough to make your eyes water. And then if you layer on the rapid adoption of cloud IT and the significant number of applications being deployed within a business, you’ll appreciate that today’s SysAdmin has a really tough job on his – or her – hands.
“The good news is that technology is available to help alleviate a big chunk of the pain associated with both the performance and budget aspects of their job. A great example is modern, software-based networking which can reduce the deployment and operational complexity associated with traditional solutions. That said, although technology can go a long way to helping SysAdmins do their job, there’s one thing it can’t always solve – the unpredictability of users. But that’s another story….”
Keeping a cool head under pressure
“Consistent, reliable and responsive, system administrators are the backbone of our industry,” said Alan Conboy, Office of the CTO, Scale Computing. “Without them, we would be more susceptible to a number of issues, such as server failures, downtime and problems with upgrades and capacity.
“Even in the midst of a crisis, SysAdmins maintain the team’s momentum to overcome IT challenges, with a plan of attack for the next time.”
“SysAdmins spend a lot of time putting out fires,” said Brett Cheloff, VP for ConnectWise Automate. “Whatever the issue, taking a reactive approach to problems is far less efficient than working proactively. Indeed, a proactive approach to solving internal or client-based infrastructure issues is far superior, allowing you to fix IT systems before they develop into serious problems.
“From managing security and ticket flow to conducting routine maintenance and proactive network monitoring, SysAdmins require expert efficiency to stay at the top of their game. Yet common pitfalls create time traps and extra work, and even the most seasoned technicians struggle to stay on top of everything a modern IT infrastructure requires.
“The right software can help make this process that much easier. This will give you valuable insight into workflow and efficiency. Second, search for software that facilitates system response monitoring. This will help improve overall response time, so you’ll spend less time putting fires out. The right product and processes in place means you’ll gain a firmer grip on proactive operations — and be more prepared to tackle reactive situations.”
To conclude, Agata Nowakowska, AVP at Skillsoft, praised the ability of SysAdmins to work efficiently, despite the challenging role they hold.
“There is a huge amount of pressure on SysAdmins to respond quickly and perform under pressure. By its very nature, the position is byzantine with the specific requirements for technical fluency varying greatly from one company to another. SysAdmins need to continually upskill – either on the job or by studying for an official IT certification to keep up with the constant evolution of technology.
“Furthermore, the demand for qualified SysAdmins usually far exceeds supply, making it highly beneficial to the company to ensure their SysAdmin feels appreciated.”
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