Do you know how many system administrators your company needs? One. One System Administrator!
That’s our policy and should be yours. Having multiple system administrators never ends well for the network or your business.
What is a system administrator (sysadmin):
A system administrator is the person in a company that ensures software is acquired and installed correctly and keeps the network and server infrastructure maintained. This person holds the keys to a company’s digital kingdom. A sysadmin monitors the network and proactively (hopefully) fixes issues before they become major problems. They usually troubleshoot problems and may hire specialists when necessary. They also maintain a plan for the IT security of the whole company. This raises a number of questions from both a security and a human resources standpoint. Below we offer the answers to the questions you should be asking yourself.
What is the downside of having more than one system administrator?
It may seem like a good idea to have staff redundancy as a corporate policy, however, more than one sysadmin creates problems. Multiple sysadmins can duel unintentionally by making changes and not communicating to each other. Without a sophisticated documentation system, multiple sysadmins create more chaos than efficiency. The owners or officers of the company should have a copy of the current admin password in their possession at all times, and this access should be periodically verified. Administrative functions for other technology staff members can be given and restricted to the specific items they are tasked with. If two people are going to have full system administrator access, there should be one designated as the ‘change officer’ all changes should go through that person.
What happens when you lose your system administrator unexpectedly?
Just like espousing a back-up for your system and all your data, you have to be wondering what happens if that one sysadmin takes a hike. Computer people can be capricious and some are unsophisticated. Things like 2-3 week notices may not always happen. Now you have to run your business and you don’t know how your computer system works or the passwords to access it. Companies that work with HD Tech are protected from this kind of IT tragedy. We use a sophisticated documentation system allowing us to catalog all important network information and then allows us to create a ‘runbook’ of documentation for the entire system. We can then give this to our clients for safe keeping.
How do I hire a system administrator?
HD Tech offers hiring services. Without you being an expert in technology how could you possibly know how to hire the correct employee? One that you can trust with all the company data? There’s no way! We’ll help you vet and hire the perfect candidate using our hiring process honed by 25 years of experience. Once we help you with the quality hire, we can then backstop the individual so you don’t have all your eggs in one basket. Click here for more information.
Avoid the situation where you only have one tech person and the chaos that ensues when that person leaves with no backup in place. Remember, assign ONE SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR. Then use a managed services provider like H&D to provide IT backstop capabilities to your business.
