System Administrator Educational Requirements & Certification

Server or system administrator maintain the computer's network system in an office environment by monitoring server activity, updating software, maintaining computer hardware, solving technical problems, and improving efficiency by evaluating network functions of the system. Much of the work is done during normal business hours. With new system updates or server fixes, it is sometimes necessary to complete the job at odd hours at night or on the weekends. This is when traffic to a website or office activity is minimal and therefore has less impact on the business.

Job prospects

According to the US Department of Labor Statistics, job opportunities for network and IT systems administrators are expected to grow on average by 2028 by average. Options are best for those with a combination of training, work experience and professional certifications. In May 2018, BLS reported that workers in the 90th percentile or higher earned $ 130,720 or more per year, while the bottom 10th percentile earned $ 50,990 or less per year.

Educational requirements

Most employers are looking for system administrators who have a combination of training and experience. Those who have made their way from a lower position and have received professional certification are eligible for certain positions. However, it is becoming more common for employers to seek candidates with an associated diploma or higher and professional certification. Many universities in the community offer associated degrees in a related field, such as computer science or computer science. Lessons can include programming languages, scripts, network structures and information security.

Certification

Many system administrator receive professional certification, which gives them an edge over other job seekers. The most important IT certification exams are conducted by Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA and Redhat. Most of these tests test the applicant's ability to manage UNIX or Windows servers, including knowledge of RAID (redundant array of independent disks), system recovery, command-line tools, and troubleshooting related to failed networks .

Server administrators typically require at least an associate's degree in a related field. It may be necessary to obtain specific certification for the software or system they manage. The average annual salary for these positions is around $ 82,000.

Duties & Responsibilities of the Server Administrator

The role of the Server Administrator is in part a supervisory position. Although they have authority over junior IT staff, managing them is not their main task. They work with other IT partners to diagnose and resolve network problems as quickly as possible. According to the National Bureau of Labor Statistics, requests for IT administrators and network systems, which include server administrators, are expected to increase by 6% to 2024.

Server administrator job description

Keeping a company server running at maximum efficiency involves several tasks and responsibilities. We have analyzed the job description to develop the following list of functions and server administrator responsibilities.

User Administration

The server administrator is responsible for creating new user accounts for new employees and deleting former employee accounts. They are also responsible for recovering lost passwords and protecting user data. This part of the task requires that the server administrator help non-IT employees if a technical problem occurs.

Develop and implement standard network maintenance operating procedures

In order for the server to continue operating in the best condition, the server administrator must create and implement a network maintenance SOP. This involves updating the operating system and database regularly with the latest updates, as well as checking all the hardware in the employee's workstation for problems.

Diagnose and repair hardware and network damage

When employees have a problem with their workstation, they call the server administrator to find and resolve the problem. This involves running a diagnostic test to determine whether the problem is hardware or software. Sometimes it's as simple as a loose string, at other times the machine is completely fried. It is the server administrator's responsibility to determine the severity of the problem and respond to it.

Develop and implement network security strategies

In today's digital era, network security is very important. It is the responsibility of the server administrator to ensure that the security firewall is updated regularly and remains fully functional.

Continue to notify senior executives with regular reports

Top management doesn't need to know all the technical details involved in keeping your network up and running, that's what the server administrator pays for. Server administrators provide periodic reports to senior management that explain relevant information.

How Important is Help Desk?

1. Increase trust
It is very easy to find similar products in the sector because competition in each sector takes place day by day. These multiple choices for similar products allow customers to move from one company to another to meet their needs. The only thing that sets you apart from the competition is your service. Providing exceptional customer service helps to retain and retain customers and a loyal customer will always stay with their business / partner.

2. The service is superior to the price
According to a BI Intelligence survey, 66% of consumers said they would make or continue to buy from a customer support company, regardless of the price. It is the quality of an important service for any customer and the reason why companies must create a helpdesk.

3. Strengthen brand awareness
Providing good customer service equals exceptional customer experience and loyalty. Like the basic instinct of every loyal customer, it is better to refer your brand / company to others, your loyal customers would do the same. The power of word of mouth should not be underestimated. Offer exceptional service and find out how easily your customers will remember you and recommend it to others.

4. Processing of customer requests
Without a competent help desk for your business, it's difficult to quickly and quickly resolve customer questions. An adequate agent monitoring system with defined KPIs will allow efficient management of raised and closed tickets. When problems are resolved faster than expected, customers start talking well about the product, and these good reviews help companies.

5. Attract new customers
Every company needs new customers to continue progressing and developing. Old customers with good service act as a springboard to attract new customers looking for better service on everything. New customers should be treated like someone who can end up with the technical details of a new product and a support agent can help you easily.

Also read : outsourced help desk

Different Levels of Technical Support

Is there something strange in your neighborhood? What if there is something strange and it doesn't look right? When you see things going through your head? An invisible man sleeping in your bed? Who will you call ... What if you need to reset your password, the printer does not work, you cannot update Adobe Reader, you cannot access the network or your computer crashes? Who are you going to call? Ghost hunters ?! No! Thanks, Ray Parker, but no, you're going to call the help desk.

As you may already know, and I hope you know, help desk is a crucial part of customer service. These are the superheroes who solve the problems of your customers who are probably extremely frustrated. Resolving your customers' problems as quickly as possible greatly increases customer satisfaction, which has a positive impact on future sales. In other words: an excellent help desk influences the life of your business. Generally accessible via a free telephone number, technical support now uses the Internet to support customers via chat tools and social networks.

Businesses generally start with a single customer support system: a single point of contact for handling questions or solving problems. However, as the business grows, it needs more than just a single layer model. This means that they access a support system at several levels.

For example, if you are selling project management software to companies, you may receive questions such as: I forgot my username and password, what should I do? Or, how do I deal with a bug that prevents me from recording time on an iPad? In the latter case, you need experts to fix this problem with the bug. Whereas in the first case, a less complex question about usernames and passwords does not require a programmer. When you have set the correct levels in your technical support, it helps to allocate support resources to meet customer needs.

Also read : service desk support

Where does the IT service desk come from?

Where does the IT service desk come from?

The IT helpdesk function was born in the late 80s as a supporting ability to solve IT problems. That is a very technical feature that focuses on technology rather than the end user. Early IT Helpdesks do not have SLA concepts or time-based goals for problem solving. Not until ITIL entered the stage in the 1990s, capturing the best IT service management practices, the concept of a user-centered IT service desk began to emerge. The service desk is seen as an important part of "managing IT as a service".

In the mid-1990s, research by Robert Gordon University Iain Middleton found that value comes not only from responsive responses to user problems, but also from the unique position of the help desk to communicate every day with many customers or employees. Information obtained about technical issues, user preferences and what satisfies the user can be useful for planning and developing IT services.

With the release of ITIL v2 in 2001, the Service Desk function and its role in managing incidents and applications is an important element of IT service operations in many organizations. As the decade progressed, many organizations have centralized IT Service Desk functions with many third party support partners to help them, as a result of globalization and increased pressures. The outsourcing of IT service functions has resulted in further standardization of processes and growth in the helpdesk ticket software market.

As a result of modern technology trends, including cloud services, widespread use of third-party components in the IT ecosystem and progress in discovery and monitoring capabilities, autonomous desktop ticket systems have been integrated into their fuller ITSM platforms. which acts as an operating hub not only for the IT service desk, but for the full IT function. As companies seek to modernize and further develop digital transformation initiatives, the IT Service Desk is re-emerging to focus more on the business, with greater awareness of business processes and data, and in many cases . an integral part of business operations.

Also read: it help desk support

What is the difference between Service Desk vs Help Desk: ?

Why should I worry about the difference?

Service Desk vs Help Desk: enough, the answer depends on the type of products you sell, the scope of the support you provide and what your customers are. But, above all, how do you want your services to perceive your problem solving services? As a 21st century IT service provider, customer support has become more inclusive and extensive. Today, many tend to view the Help Desk as an old school term, while the Service Desk is treated as a modern version of a support portal. However, it is important to know the details of what distinguishes them and use the appropriate term for technical support.

Help desk: instantly solve technical problems for the user

Basically, the job of a help desk analyst or front-line support agent is to communicate efficiently with customers who come to them for immediate help, solve their problems or take them further, if necessary .

A quick glance at IT support where they need to take the customer to operations without wasting much time.

They usually use several live chat programs or CRM software to simplify support operations. Comprehensive help desk software has become popular among IT support providers as an incident monitoring solution that offers the complete set of features needed to provide a consistent level of quality 1 (sometimes even level 2) IT support.

At the help desks, a single support agent coordinates with the integration manager, network engineer, server support, quality tester and everything else until the problem is resolved.

To be quick, it helps services store informed problems and their solutions to maintain a centralized knowledge base, along with answers to many frequently asked user questions.

All in all, a help desk can be viewed as a subset of a complete IT service desk.

Service desk: larger than a help desk, manages IT as a service

ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) establishes de facto detailed practices for managing IT services that focus on aligning IT services with business needs. According to ITIL terminology, a Service Desk is the only point of contact between the service provider and users. A typical service desk handles incidents and service requests and also manages communications with users. In a nutshell, service tables are not only there to help users, but they also provide well-ordered customer service.

Also read : managed helpdesk

What is a Service Desk?

The IT service desk is generally a broader, more strategic and inter-organizational function. A service desk examines broader needs and the business environment instead of focusing solely on solving the needs of users, as does a help desk.

The ITIL definition of the service desk is the only point of contact between the service provider and the users. A typical service desk handles incidents and service requests and manages communications with users. The service desk generally has a help desk component, but its overall objective is to be proactive in improving IT and business processes within the organization. The best service tables are constantly looking for opportunities to execute all IT processes more efficiently, including the help desk.

Some key features of the service desk are:

• Full integration with other ITSM processes
• Operate as SPOC for all areas of IT, applications and business processes.
• Monitoring compliance with service level agreements (SLA)
• Provide self-service capabilities for incidents and service requests, with an integrated service catalog.
• Integration and communication with the configuration management database (CMDB)
• A more mature organization with complex IT systems, integrations with third-party providers and a fundamental dependence on your IT infrastructure will almost certainly need a complete ITSM solution with an integrated service desk function.

Best practices to choose the right tools

If you go to several groups on LinkedIn or other forums, you will find many passionate discussions on this topic. These conversations often differentiate the type of software you can use to facilitate the work done on your desktop. In my experience, these are the best practices for choosing the right help desk / service tools for your organization.

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