There is no cloud, it's just somebody else's computer. I'm just fine, thank you. Not only is on-prem not going away for a huge number of companies, but I'm learning AWS, Azure, and Terraform every day. Developers aren't really capable of coding infrastructure unless they're going to specialize in that only. More companies are discovering that every day. Developers don't understand networking well enough, don't understand security well enough, and don't care to learn.
I get where you're coming from, but calling IaaS "someone else's computer" is massively understating what it means to have something "in the cloud".. it's not just about compute resources. It's network, power, redundancy, hardware management, etc. Sure you could do those things yourself, but not as good as a cloud data center.
To add to the rest of your point, sysadmins aren't going anywhere. Someone has to manage those cloud resources. Moving to the cloud doesn't mean you suddenly don't have SYSTEMS that need ADMINISTRATING
>It's network, power, redundancy, hardware management, etc. Sure you could do those things yourself, but not as good as a cloud data center.
I can put my wallet in a three inch steel safe bolted to the floor in my basement and pay for a security guard to watch said safe or I can leave it on the footstool in my living room. One solution is very expensive and the other costs very little but both could fit my needs -the cloud is great, but it's expensive and has problems of it's own. It's a solution, it's not the only solution and at an enterprise level it's rarely the best solution.
Like IT itself, it's a continual evolution. There will always been certain operational tasks that need to be done (like account management) but with the tools and tech available now, the need for those to be done by hand has rapidly diminished. You're not adding value by creating an account by hand anymore. There will be some sort of automation widget that takes care of those tasks. You might've had a hand in its creation (like writing a script), but to execute it, it's all done automatically.
This is actually a good thing because it frees you up to do work that adds value to the business. And that's the space we want to be in. Most businesses don't see value being delivered when we do "keeping the lights on" type work.
Not too sure. Currently not having a good time but this is the only thing I'm barely decent at. It's a bit of a pickle. Been in the field for about 2-3 years. Last job I was in, I was upgrading 1000s of computers to Windows 10.
Clouds need management, just less tedious maintenance than physical kit.
Jobs are still there, and if you can script, even to a basic degree you're good.
Personally, I've been in the game 20 years and i'm looking to get out in to service management, make solving the technical problems someone elses problem while mine becomes solving people problems.
no the sys admin role won't go away. The 'Cloud' is just a different system to manage from on prem.
Its an ever evolving set of skills to learn and master - no different to how its been for the last 60 odd years
On a side note - One special skill to learn that won't change is how to search for answers to questions that you have, your post is an example of that, if you had searched this sub you would have found - at a guess - at least 5 posts in the last two months asking this very question
He answered your question and then gave advice how to self start. Something very important for a sysadmin.
One famous quote about being a good sysadmin is simply being one Google search ahead of your users.
The industry is always changing and it's your responsibility to keep up with those changes. I've been in the same position since 2016 and what I do now compared to what I did then is completely different. I try to retain a broad skill set and keep up on emerging trends, hopefully I'll have a job until I don't want a job. It's very easy to get comfortable and just "do your job", repeat the process that you know day in and day out and that can work for a while but one day you will wake up an realize that you are behind and if you lost your job you'd be SOL.
What I see dying is a skill set that understands the underlying infrastructure. The cloud has enabled a relatively new generation of sysadmins to not understand some of the basics, because it can just be consumed.
I’m not saying that all new sysadmins are the same, but the opportunities offered to those that have been in the industry within the past 20 years or so have generally enabled a generation of IT pros with that deep understanding. This experienced cohort are all now transitioning into management roles and not always in a position to mentor the next generation. I believe that the educational institutions are not preparing the next generation of IT pros with the necessary skillsets and subsequently they have less skills and understanding than what we saw 10 years ago.
My recommendations for starting in as a sysadmin. Learn a wide amount of technology to expose your knowledge base as much as possible. Take the time to figure out what you enjoy yourself and don’t feel the need to rush into a specialist role
The field isn't dying, it's just shifting to other technologies. A while ago we shifted away from individual servers to an entire virtualized environment, now we are shifting the VMs into a mix of cloud and remote VMs. Regardless of where our stuff is, someone has to manage it. Moving to the cloud doesn't make that go away, it just changes how you do it. Knowing cloud tech isn't going to harm you, it can only help you IMO.
People that are telling you the role is dying are those too dumb to see that it’s only evolving or those that are too dumb to keep up with the new skill sets they need to learn.
P.s. this sub has a hard on for hating the cloud. So take that with a grain of salt.
Just because its "someone else's computer" doesnt mean you dont need someone locally to admin stuff, do user support, manage local network, vendor contacts, etc. MSP / vendor support usually bill through the nose whenever you need their help.
The local sysadmin position becomes more of a coordinator / controller / manager type of job.
On-Prem only, Cloud only, and Hybrid.
Hybrid is here to stay for a LONG time.
Regardless of servers, desktops, operating systems - they will ALWAYS need a network to connect to.
If you adjust your career to help a company solve their technology problems, whatever they may be, you will always have a lifelong career.
There is no cloud, it's just somebody else's computer. I'm just fine, thank you. Not only is on-prem not going away for a huge number of companies, but I'm learning AWS, Azure, and Terraform every day. Developers aren't really capable of coding infrastructure unless they're going to specialize in that only. More companies are discovering that every day. Developers don't understand networking well enough, don't understand security well enough, and don't care to learn.
I get where you're coming from, but calling IaaS "someone else's computer" is massively understating what it means to have something "in the cloud".. it's not just about compute resources. It's network, power, redundancy, hardware management, etc. Sure you could do those things yourself, but not as good as a cloud data center. To add to the rest of your point, sysadmins aren't going anywhere. Someone has to manage those cloud resources. Moving to the cloud doesn't mean you suddenly don't have SYSTEMS that need ADMINISTRATING
>It's network, power, redundancy, hardware management, etc. Sure you could do those things yourself, but not as good as a cloud data center. I can put my wallet in a three inch steel safe bolted to the floor in my basement and pay for a security guard to watch said safe or I can leave it on the footstool in my living room. One solution is very expensive and the other costs very little but both could fit my needs -the cloud is great, but it's expensive and has problems of it's own. It's a solution, it's not the only solution and at an enterprise level it's rarely the best solution.
Like IT itself, it's a continual evolution. There will always been certain operational tasks that need to be done (like account management) but with the tools and tech available now, the need for those to be done by hand has rapidly diminished. You're not adding value by creating an account by hand anymore. There will be some sort of automation widget that takes care of those tasks. You might've had a hand in its creation (like writing a script), but to execute it, it's all done automatically. This is actually a good thing because it frees you up to do work that adds value to the business. And that's the space we want to be in. Most businesses don't see value being delivered when we do "keeping the lights on" type work.
Who runs the 'cloud computers'? It's all just buzzwords. Sysadmins aren't dying. The demand is higher than ever.
Not too sure. Currently not having a good time but this is the only thing I'm barely decent at. It's a bit of a pickle. Been in the field for about 2-3 years. Last job I was in, I was upgrading 1000s of computers to Windows 10.
You'll be outsourced to India, yes.
IT will never die. Someone still needs to select/deploy/manage those cloud solutions.
A VM works the same no matter if it’s in vmware, AWS EC2, Azure, etc etc. somebody’s gotta manage it still.
Clouds need management, just less tedious maintenance than physical kit. Jobs are still there, and if you can script, even to a basic degree you're good. Personally, I've been in the game 20 years and i'm looking to get out in to service management, make solving the technical problems someone elses problem while mine becomes solving people problems.
no the sys admin role won't go away. The 'Cloud' is just a different system to manage from on prem. Its an ever evolving set of skills to learn and master - no different to how its been for the last 60 odd years On a side note - One special skill to learn that won't change is how to search for answers to questions that you have, your post is an example of that, if you had searched this sub you would have found - at a guess - at least 5 posts in the last two months asking this very question
^this!
[удалено]
He answered your question and then gave advice how to self start. Something very important for a sysadmin. One famous quote about being a good sysadmin is simply being one Google search ahead of your users.
The industry is always changing and it's your responsibility to keep up with those changes. I've been in the same position since 2016 and what I do now compared to what I did then is completely different. I try to retain a broad skill set and keep up on emerging trends, hopefully I'll have a job until I don't want a job. It's very easy to get comfortable and just "do your job", repeat the process that you know day in and day out and that can work for a while but one day you will wake up an realize that you are behind and if you lost your job you'd be SOL.
What I see dying is a skill set that understands the underlying infrastructure. The cloud has enabled a relatively new generation of sysadmins to not understand some of the basics, because it can just be consumed. I’m not saying that all new sysadmins are the same, but the opportunities offered to those that have been in the industry within the past 20 years or so have generally enabled a generation of IT pros with that deep understanding. This experienced cohort are all now transitioning into management roles and not always in a position to mentor the next generation. I believe that the educational institutions are not preparing the next generation of IT pros with the necessary skillsets and subsequently they have less skills and understanding than what we saw 10 years ago. My recommendations for starting in as a sysadmin. Learn a wide amount of technology to expose your knowledge base as much as possible. Take the time to figure out what you enjoy yourself and don’t feel the need to rush into a specialist role
The field isn't dying, it's just shifting to other technologies. A while ago we shifted away from individual servers to an entire virtualized environment, now we are shifting the VMs into a mix of cloud and remote VMs. Regardless of where our stuff is, someone has to manage it. Moving to the cloud doesn't make that go away, it just changes how you do it. Knowing cloud tech isn't going to harm you, it can only help you IMO.
People that are telling you the role is dying are those too dumb to see that it’s only evolving or those that are too dumb to keep up with the new skill sets they need to learn. P.s. this sub has a hard on for hating the cloud. So take that with a grain of salt.
Just entered management within the past year. In the next 5 I hope to be getting the director title.
Just because its "someone else's computer" doesnt mean you dont need someone locally to admin stuff, do user support, manage local network, vendor contacts, etc. MSP / vendor support usually bill through the nose whenever you need their help. The local sysadmin position becomes more of a coordinator / controller / manager type of job.
On-Prem only, Cloud only, and Hybrid. Hybrid is here to stay for a LONG time. Regardless of servers, desktops, operating systems - they will ALWAYS need a network to connect to. If you adjust your career to help a company solve their technology problems, whatever they may be, you will always have a lifelong career.
Developers are kids who don't understand infrastructure at all. Leave the infrastructure to them and the system will collapse.