by Information technology is dynamic. That is one of the reasons it is such an exciting field. But that also means that system administration is dynamic. And so we see the needs of the system administration community changing. That’s why I am running for the LOPSA board.
I would love to tell you I have this all figured out, but I don’t. I have some ideas, though, and I think they’re pretty reasonable. Ultimately, I have more questions than answers. How do you feel about your profession and your job? Are you facing limitations that seem to be common throughout the field? What kind of professional development do you want and how can you get it? Who do you turn to for professional guidance? How do you interact with other system administrators, both professionally and socially?
If elected, I want to build upon the excellent work of the current and past boards by pursuing those questions. My primary goal is to see the ideas and concerns you have about system administration and LOPSA understood and addressed. My secondary goal will be to foster the progress and growth of the organization. Finally, I will offer my own contributions and experiences as input to the growth and direction of LOPSA.
Some of that input:
- Communication. The nature of distributed online communication has been changing dramatically over the past several years. I am a huge fan of the email lists and the IRC channel. However, are there additional ways of creating productive dialogue within our community?
- Taking LOPSA to specialized communities. There are a number of very popular sysadmin specialties that are apparently underrepresented in LOPSA, including Windows, database, security, network, etc. We cannot expect these specialties to come to us; we must find ways to offer value to them and enrich the system administration field as a whole through a diverse membership.
- Regional efforts. Whether it is regional training or starting local chapters, I feel that LOPSA is on the right path in building regional/local involvement. We should take a close look at our successes in that area, build on it, and apply it to new markets and groups.
- Improving the visibility of system administration. I love that television show, the IT Crowd. Great show. I think it is hilarious. But I think the days of that stereotypical sysadmin are numbered. It is decreasingly viable to shield yourself from the non-IT aspects of organizations. We need to look at building relationships between the technical and business functions of organizations in the interest of system administrators, their organizations, and the field as a whole. Whether it is providing expert resources or simply starting discussions on how to understand business processes, we have a lot of work to do here.
I have been on a fascinating career journey, working in varied environments such as dot-coms, Fortune 500, higher education, and government research. I started as a student assistant system administrator, went on to be a professional UNIX/Linux admin, then I supervised sysadmins, and now I’m a security team lead. I cut my sysadmin teeth on SunOS and Solaris and now work in a Linux world. And I actually have a masters degree in network and system administration. I have published researched papers. I went to my first USENIX conference in 1998, later started running BOFs and workshops at LISA every year, and now am on the LISA organizing committee. While I certainly still enjoy attending technical talks, I also frequently give technical talks and training myself, some of those for LOPSA-affiliated events.
That progression in my career has been facilitated by others who guided me along the way, including many in LOPSA. I am very grateful for that and feel it is both a responsibility and privilege to pay that generosity forward to the system administration community. Thank you for the part you play in LOPSA, large or small, and for your consideration.