The textbook definition of a system administrator is someone who manages the maintenance, operation and configuration of a computer system. But you can think of yourself as a Sysadmin in any context.

For instance, you are a Sysadmin when you use your car. You could be a Sysadmin that shuttles passengers around and is responsible for their comfort and well-being. Do you keep your car clean and odor-free for them? If so, then you are a good Sysadmin because you manage your car well.

A Sysadmin is a service-oriented profession, so your main focus is to keep your clients happy. That is why a good Sysadmin should look for a career in the helpdesk department of a company. It is a way to assist people and solve their wants and needs. Meanwhile, you can prioritize the needs of your company in the process.

Just a word of advice. Try to suppress feelings of envy or superiority. There may come the point where you feel like crossing over into a management position, but try to avoid that. A management position will eliminate your motivation and make you feel miserable.

A better goal to focus on is to improve your education and knowledge. That is the best way to get your colleagues to notice you and your value to the company. If you follow this path, then you’ll feel energetic each day you wake up in the morning and come home at night.

As a Sysadmin, you are expected to provide a service and have a good attitude. But having a continuously good attitude can be difficult for some

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people. It may cause a problem at your job if you cannot get your attitude just right.

Some people become Sysadmins to inflate their egos and become other people’s saviors. They develop a “god almighty” attitude that is really annoying to everyone else around them. On the flip side, there are people who have the opposite attitude. They think of a “helpdesk” job as some inferior or low-level position in the company. This attitude makes them feel like they don’t know anything, so they typically escalate issues and let other people handle them.

Rather than doubting yourself, try to understand each issue more first. If you find out more information about the issue, then you might think of a solution that didn’t come to you originally. As you gain more experience as a Sysadmin, it’ll be easier for you to understand issues and to solve them.

Going back to the car analogy, would you like it if a mechanic talked down to you after you bring your car into the shop? This is the kind of “god almighty” attitude that is toxic to be around. A mechanic like that wouldn’t last very long on the job, and neither would a Sysadmin who does the same thing. Annoying people is a sure way to get terminated from your position.

Helpdesk is the first line of communication. It is not the driver of the car, but rather the co-pilot. The job of the co-pilot is to make everyone else in the car feel good. The co-pilot does things like alter the radio station or air temperature in the vehicle so that the passengers are more comfortable.

The co-pilot does not even need a driver’s license because they are not doing any driving. So, if helpdesk is like a co-pilot, then helpdesk should be helping people feel better and that is all. It should not

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be given any other responsibilities beyond that or else it could crash the company into a tree or wall.

Now what happens if the Sysadmin becomes the driver? Well, what does a good driver do? A good driver checks the tires, fuel gauge, and looks for any system warnings on the dashboard of the vehicle. These are basic things that most drivers know how to do. But if there ends up being a bigger problem somewhere with the vehicle, the driver won’t know how to fix the problem unless they have prior knowledge on how to do so.

The Sysadmin can listen to the requests coming from the passengers and co-pilot, but these requests don’t supersede the importance of maintaining the functionality of the car. The driver is the one who feels the behavior of the car and notices imminent dangers before anyone else.

That is why it is imperative for the driver to take on more responsibilities, such as obeying traffic laws and keeping the car in good condition. Because of this, the driver needs to make it a habit to learn about new technologies and driving practices. It will help them become better drivers if they do.

There are different types of cars just like there are different types of computer systems. You have small cars, electric cars and big trucks, while you have Windows systems, MAC OS systems, and Linux systems. One car or system requires you to get educated in how to use it.

To drive a car, you need to take driver’s education classes and get a license. If you want to be a Sysadmin for a particular operating system, then you need to take courses on how to maintain and configure workstations, network equipment and/or servers.

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You don’t necessarily need any kind of license, certification or degree to become a Sysadmin. Employers only care about your knowledge and experience as a Sysadmin. If you take courses online by watching YouTube or Udemy videos, then you can learn this information that way. It’ll cost you little to no money too.

A lot of jobs in the tech industry have different titles and descriptions to them. Since technology evolves quickly, so do the jobs. It is difficult to keep track of them all, but that’s okay. You don’t have to keep track of them. Just note that most tech companies have architects, server administrators, gurus, and other system professionals.

But in this book, I will focus specifically on the job of system administrator and what it is like for the system administrator to be in the driver’s seat of a car. Remember, I am referring to the “activity of an IT department” when I use the word “car.” Since most companies rely on their IT departments for sustaining their productivity, these departments have become the central command centers for them.

For instance, the internal IT department provides the equipment, training and whatever else passengers need to feel safe and comfortable as the driver transports them around. When you examine the car of a company carefully, you can see how employees treat each other from the inside and how well they represent the company on the outside.

No company should let their driver ride in a dirty or damaged car because that would make the car unsafe to drive. Not only would it put the driver’s life in danger, but it would put the passengers’ lives in danger as well.

As a result, the entire company suffers the consequences. It will have to pay for the damages

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and injures that were caused because it was too cheap to take care of the maintenance issues beforehand.