System Administration Fact 2: It’s the Data, Stupid.

System Administration is important. Data and Information Security, System Uptime, Throughput, Configuration, and Processing Capability, all are the primary responsibilities of the System Administrator. They have a huge impact on corporate productivity and the bottom line. Wait! Did I just say, “Information Security is a Systems Administration function?!”

Yes, I did.

Who else is going to manage it?  Not Product Development.  Certainly not Engineering.  Larger corporations have a program called “InfoSec” that is responsible for managing the data security environment in general; from contractual language supporting intellectual property protections, to ensuring that the system data-processing capabilities of the enterprise are robust.  But they don’t manage the systems.  That’s left to System Administration roles. Which means that the System Administrator is the monitor, manager, first responder, communicator, bottle-washer, and chief of the information security infrastructure.

System Administration is a critical role.

This blogpost from ComputerWorld goes into specific detail about why data security management and responsibility is often misplaced, and shows some of the implications of letting Product Development manage Data Security.  More to the point, in my opinion.

See our blog or read more System Administration facts at these blog posts: