Under appreciated but connected: Event marks the role of the System Administrator

Russia is one of the world’s largest crypto-mining nations, but the activity could soon be banned. — © AFP

System Administrator Appreciation Day is coming up on Friday, July 29, 2022. This is an annual event created by system administrator Ted Kekatos. The event exists to show appreciation for the work of sysadmins and other IT workers with a variety of different organisations.  Administrators are responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer systems.

Looking into the event and what it means for what is a critical role in most firms for Digital Journal is Andrew Kahl, CEO at BackBox.

Kahl begins by outlining why the event is important to those who work in IT, and in a leadership role in particular: “System Administrator Appreciation Day serves as the perfect day to thank system administrators for their tireless efforts to keep IT services running and networks secure.”

Continuing with the main achievements of the job, Kahl continues: “It’s no small feat, as today’s networks are more complex than ever thanks to environments that span across cloud and hybrid settings, numerous vendors that make up an IT infrastructure, and the ongoing talent shortage in both IT and security industries that likely mean your Sys Admins are shouldering more work than ever.”

Kahl adds that looking after System Administrators is a win-win, for companies benefit considerably. He notes: “To help make system administrators’ lives easier beyond just today, organizations should look to adopt tools that will save time, resources and headaches.”

Kahl says that IT roles are at the forefront for protecting firms from malicious attacks. As examples, he draws upon: “As the threat landscape continues to evolve, new and advanced attacks are constantly threatening networks. Compounded by network complexity, system administrators are under more pressure than ever to deliver service and maintain a secure posture.”

In terms of how these threats can be combatted, Kahl says: “With tools like network security automation, system administrators are able to automate critical tasks such as disaster recovery and backups, OS upgrades, patch and vulnerability management, remediation and attack surface management.”

On drawing on other examples, Kahl adds: “Automating network security is not only good for increasing security posture, but it can also mitigate risks caused by human error. With the ongoing security and IT talent shortage, manual processes coupled with smaller teams means errors are easily introduced, patch management falls behind and it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with best practices for routine backups.”

Other advantages of automation are: “Additionally, many of the routine but critical management procedures can become scheduled and automated, providing organizations with peace of mind and saving time for system administrators to focus on high priority tasks.”

In returning to the forthcoming event, Kahl opines: “System administrators carry the weight of their organization’s network, bearing daunting tasks and spending long hours to ensure networks run smoothly and securely. We should all be thankful to have them on our teams and do what we can to ensure their success. Organizations should leverage tools that not only make the lives of system administrators easier but also ensure stronger network security posture. After all, a system administrator’s success is your company’s success.”