As the world increasingly realizes the enormous value IT teams provide to businesses, this SysAdmin day, let’s appreciate the incredible people behind the ongoing digital transformations impacting the global workforce. Sarah Lahav, CEO of SysAid, explores the evolving role of system administrators and how that will fuel future growth in the IT sector.
The global workforce continues to migrate to remote, hybrid, and even work-from-anywhere environments. While this is an enviable situation for the many employees who can now work where and how they want, this trend poses some significant challenges to employees of every kind. Chief among them, the incomparable workload that now falls on the shoulder of IT teams.Â
Not only are we seeing a higher number of IT tickets and requests, but we are also seeing rising expectations by employees for faster, easier, and more intuitive service levels. This is partly due to the new power dynamics brought on by the “Great Resignation,†which put employee comfort at the forefront of retention policies. In fact, a recent surveyOpens a new window reflected this exact shift – the number one priority for IT this year is improving the employee experience. Â
IT workers are the ones who make things run smoothly and allow companies to go about their business. Alongside their high-value work, sysadmins also spend an inordinate amount of time on manual, repetitive tasks that other employees rarely see, like resetting passwords and onboarding, new employees. Without IT to keep the ship afloat, no business would succeed. From hospitals and factories to banks and universities, IT workers allow us all to enjoy the magic of technology and reap its benefits. Those IT workers deserve our praise and recognition, so we find a day like today to express our appreciation.Â
See More: National System Administrator’s Appreciation Day: A SysAdmin’s Guide to Easier Workload
The Business Perception of IT has Improved
Along with expanded roles and responsibilities of sysadmins, the true value of IT is becoming apparent to business executives. Pre-pandemic surveys showOpens a new window that only 4% of ITSM professionals felt their colleagues viewed IT costs as essential to the bottom line – that’s staggeringly low compared to a surveyOpens a new window from this year, which found that 61% of respondents said that IT had been prioritized in the past two years in terms of salaries, budget, and organizational recognition.Â
IT’s value to an organization’s bottom line is growing and becoming more apparent to executives. Even small gestures like the declaration of “System Administrator Appreciation Day†can go a long way.
A Bright Future for Systems Administrators
The move to remote work has shown business leaders the undeniable importance of IT. Concurrently, new technologies like AI and automation in ITSM have made solving repetitive, mundane issues exponentially more efficient and given sysadmins more time and resources, empowering them to further innovation and achieve their business objectives. Â
Such is the future of sysadmins in our new era of work – to be drivers of innovation and progress, offering up the skills to keep projects moving in development and running once released.Â
IT as the Facilitator of a Great Employee ExperienceÂ
Employees are looking for the proper tools, technology, and information to do their job. As such, companies looking to hire and retain quality employees need to look towards IT departments to facilitate this need. While this is not a new phenomenon, it is at a scale that has not been seen before. Employee satisfaction has become one of IT’s main KPIs in many organizations, which is a trend that will continue, grow, and evolve – along with employee expectations.Â
This is also an opportunity for IT to lead other departments within an organization. System administrators are experts in getting things “in order,†streamlining processes and optimizing efficiencies through automation or a more structured workflow.
How To Facilitate Further IntegrationÂ
One of the reasons we’ve had a more significant digital transformation in the last two and a half years than we’d seen in the previous decade is because organizations were forced to have more intra-team and cross-functional working. They needed more and better collaboration. And they’re required to do it remotely.
This is just the beginning. In order to facilitate the ongoing integration of IT into other aspects of the business, including product development, the implementation of enterprise software into the organization and a plethora of other areas, there needs to be proactive effort. For example, when testing new HR platforms, HR managers should call on system administrators and get their initial input, minimizing headaches in the long run.Â
See More: System Administration Appreciation Day: 5 Expert Perspectives
The “IT Factorâ€
The changes the pandemic incurred in the workplace were an incredible catalyst for digital transformation. Many of the changes we saw are going to be here for good. Blockbuster movies are still being released on streaming platforms despite movie theaters being opened. The ease of home deliveries has caused many to make the seemingly temporary shift permanent. Similarly, many IT back-end processes and other operational changes made in the workplace will stay as long as they allow organizations to serve their stakeholders better.Â
These shifts are only possible due to the hard work of our IT teams, and their burnout is apparent – 62%Opens a new window of IT professionals report being “physically and emotionally drained,†and 42% of IT workers with high levels of burnout are considering cutting ties with their respective companies within six months.
Investing in sysadmins and IT teams – both morale and budgetary support – can go a long way. System Administrator Appreciation Day gives us all a chance to change that reality and properly acknowledge, praise and appreciate those who are the backbone of any company.
One day a year to celebrate sysadmins may be a good place to start – but it’s certainly not enough. IT is the lifeblood of digital transformation around the world, and sysadmins are the heart that keeps it pumping. Let’s work together to fully appreciate and integrate the IT workers to whom we owe so much and allow them to bring their expertise to build better and more innovative projects. This is the future of work.
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