Rainer Heilke wrote: > Nicolas Williams wrote: >> There are other examples of sysadmins I know influencing purchasing >> decisions. > > This is a continual part of my (and my co-workers') job, actually, > influencing which server models we buy and why, etc. Recommending > software, which servers need 8x5 support, which 24x7, which none at all. > The list goes on.
By all means, the technical-recommendation role will continue. It is the *administration* part of the role that I think will be subject to continual cost reduction. I think businesses would be delighted to have purchase and setup decisions made by a team of highly paid IT architects, and actual operations done by machines and a small number of operators whose primary job is to plug in cables. I think that, in the long run, assuming the day-to-day involvement of highly technical administrators is a doomed strategy, both for the vendors and for the administrators themselves. Businesses are interested in paying their payroll and selling their products, and the vendors that let them do that for a lower overall cost will win.
