System administrators

System administrator

A professional system administrator working at a server rack in a datacenter
Occupation
Names	System administrator, systems administrator, sysadmin, IT professional
Occupation type	Profession
Activity sectors	Information technology
Description
Competencies	System administration, network management, analytical skills, critical thinking
Education required	Varies from apprenticeship to Masters degree

A system administrator, or sysadmin, is a person who is responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer systems; especially multi-user computers, such as servers.

The system administrator seeks to ensure that the uptime, performance, resources, and security of the computers he or she manages meet the needs of the users, without exceeding the budget.

To meet these needs, a system administrator may acquire, install, or upgrade computer components and software; provide routine automation; maintain security policies; troubleshoot; train or supervise staff; or offer technical support for projects.

Many organizations staff other jobs related to system administration. In a larger company, these may all be separate positions within a computer support or Information Services (IS) department. In a smaller group they may be shared by a few sysadmins, or even a single person.

There are multiple paths to be part of becoming a system administrator. Many system administrators have a degree in a related field: computer science, information technology, electronics engineering, computer engineering, information systems, or even a trade school program. On top of this, nowadays some companies require an IT certification. Other schools have offshoots of their Computer Science program specifically for system administration.

An alternate path to becoming a system administrator is to simply dive in without formal training, learning the systems they need to support, as they do other non-IT work. This is a common route for informally trained system administration, and is often the result in small organizations that lack IT departments but have gradually growing needs and complexities. For example, a shared desktop computer also acting as a file server becomes too slow for the needs of everyone, so someone decides to take on the job of setting up a dedicated server, and they learn the specific requirements to perform that task without formal training. This then spreads to other staff asking this person for help, and them finding solutions to those problems as needed, and them slowly becoming the generally relied-upon person to do systems management for the organization. These informally trained system administrators could be regarded as hackers, but they do their work in support of the needs of their organization and customers.