Monday 9:00 AM
You return to work after a long vacation, the hills are on your mind, but probably not your account password.
Who do you call?
Wednesday 2:00 PM
You are at home prepping for a presentation 4, your boss just requested more data to be included, for which you would need to access a VPN.
Who do you call?
Friday 4:00 PM.
You are about to leave work for the weekend when you realize that you need to facilitate devices and apps for new employees who will be joining your team.
Who do you call?
Yes, we can hear you all say system administrator!
From resetting passwords, ensuring that the right users get access to the right apps, and to facilitating remote work, they are those who make work happen.
Since 2000, there's been an increase in recognition of the work that SysAdmins do, including the last Friday of July to be assigned as System Administrator Appreciation Day.
Going beyond cakes and flowers
System administrators rightly deserve their own day. We only wish it would go beyond well wishes and gift baskets to instead focus on making work better for them year round.
That's why we've gone ahead and listed three key steps we can all take to improve their work lives.
1. Reduce password resets with SSO
A Gartner report finds that anywhere from 30 to 50% of all calls to IT help desks are about passwords. Most of the time, resetting passwords is not easy. Each business has its own process for storing passwords and verifying user identity.
Adding Single Sign-On (SSO) to your organization would ensure that your employees need not remember multiple passwords. But more importantly, SysAdmins will clearly see a reduction in password reset requests, meaning system administrators can spend time on more productive efforts.
2. Enable easier authentication with MFA
Speak to any system administrator and they will tell you how ticket inflow has doubled since the switch remote work. Verifying user identity, provisioning apps, and assigning devices has become more difficult, and IT admins are faced with an environment in which they have less control.
Organizations can start by enabling Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for their employees. This process double-checks employee identities and improves security of remote networks.
3. Improve cloud app management with a directory
Modern workplaces use a number of cloud apps for their operations. Even conservative estimates of these apps run into three digits, and we certainly wouldn't want to be the small IT team tasked with the manual maintenance. In addition to general app management, system administrators also have to service the entire employee life cycle - from the time they join the business, change roles, request for a new set of apps or devices to the time when they leave the organization.
Thankfully, there are tools that now help manage the interactions between users and cloud apps. These cloud directories could also sync to existing on-premise directories and help IT admins manage cloud applications.
A highly responsive Sys Admin team, with the right processes and tools, powers a high-performing business.
If you are a business owner, we encourage you to try the above steps and empower your system administrators, not just on System Administrator Appreciation Day, but every day.
Liked this post? See how you can do more with Zoho Directory.
Comments