Happy System Administrator Appreciation Day!
System Administrator Appreciation Day, also known as SysAdmin Day, is an event created by System Administrator, Ted Kekatos. It all started when Kekatos saw a magazine advertisement in which a System Administrator was presented with flowers and fruit-baskets by grateful co-workers as thanks for installing new HP printers. Kekatos had just installed several of the same printers at his workplace. He wanted to celebrate too and thus, on July 28, 2000, the first System Administrator Appreciation Day was celebrated. This year marks the 22nd annual celebration, occurring on the last Friday of each July, and over the years has also grown to include other IT professionals, like Network Administrators or System Engineers, who keep our organizations up and running.
Now, you’re probably wondering why you should celebrate SysAdmin Appreciation Day. What are System Administrators and what do they do? System Administrators, or SysAdmins, are a vital part of the IT team responsible for the configuration and operation of a company’s network and computer systems. Here are just a few of the tasks System Administrators perform daily: ensure performance, uptime, resources, security, installs, upgrades, automate tasks, troubleshoot, provide technical support, along with meeting the needs of the user (YOU!) and the company they’re working for, with strict limits on resources and budget to keep in consideration.
- Ever wonder why or how that keycard lets you into the building each morning?
- Thank your SysAdmins who keeps the security system working correctly.
- How about those emails that autoMAGICally continue to fill your inbox?
- Thank your SysAdmins who keeps the email system running 24×7.
- Need to print out a report for a meeting?
- Thank your SysAdmins who make sure the printer functions properly. Oh and don’t forget, it’s probably your SysAdmins who replaced the toner too!
- Happen to be reading this blog at work?
- Thank your SysAdmins for ensuring the internet works.
- Enjoy working remotely and the work-from-home environment the pandemic has graciously gifted us?
- Thank your SysAdmins for the laptop and VPN that’s configured properly, making it possible for you to work in your pajamas (Don’t try to fool us – we know you’re in your PJs.)
- Curious if Linda from Finance is able to see what you’re searching for on the internet while you’re supposed to be working?
- Thankfully, she can’t because security works thanks to your SysAdmins. Thank them again, because they most likely can see what you searched!
- Did you hear about how the network went down on Christmas Eve and somehow it miraculously got fixed?
- Thank your SysAdmins for sacrificing their holiday to troubleshoot and repair the outage. Oh wait, you didn’t hear about the network going down? Thank your SysAdmins for getting it back up so quickly too.