System Administration = Activities which directly support the operations and integrity of computing systems and their use and which manage their intricaces. These activities minimally include system installation, configuration, integration, maintenance, performance management, data management, security management, failure analysis and recovery, and user support. In an inter-networked computing environment, the computer network is often included as part of the complex computing system.

By definition, System Administration is a skill-set that provides support services, guarantees reliable operations, promotes an efficient use of the system and ensures that service-quality objectives are met. A System Administrator supports a company's computer systems and internal networks troubleshooting the computer network to make sure it's functioning properly. This can mean installing new software, adapting software to the existing system, running system backups and recovering lost data. A System Administrator is therefore a policeman, doctor and a fireman all in one.

As you can see, Systems Administration is a very complex task, requiring a lot of knowledge and experience. Despite this, many small to medium size companies do not use the services of a Systems Administrator, they think that one of their computer literate employees can do the job well enough and much cheaper, yet at the same time they rely extremely on the well functioning of their computer systems. Linux Systems maintained by a professional will keep running month after month. No downtime, no blue screens, no viruses, no surprises. It can however be argued, that this takes the excitement out of computing and this is maybe the reason that most businesses neglect the maintenance of their systems.

The deployment of OpenSource Software means:

Can you, as a small business, afford not to use it?

SOPAC(WA) is a member of SLPWA, the Society of Linux Professionals of Western Australia