Things System Administrators Forget to Do

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O’Reilly Network has posted a list of the top seven things system administrators forget to do. The list varies from forgetting to delete former users’ accounts to not searching for rootkits on a regular basis.

I could cite many reasons why they forget some critical tasks. Those reasons include doing jobs that normally take two or more people, having to provide break-fix services on hardware, covering for absentee help desk personnel or getting involved in pre-sale activities. Regardless, here is the compilation of the top seven things system administrators forget to do.
 
8. Failure to Assume the Worst
On every employee computer case is a sticker with two phone numbers to corporate's IT help desk and the computer's serial number and specs. These phone numbers don't have a 1 in front of the phone numbers on the IT support stickers on computer cases. Alas, some people don't know to dial that pesky (but necessary) 1. Mind you, we have hundreds of branches in the US, and we operate worldwide as well.

I know for a fact that at least one poor guy with a wireless number very close to one of the IT help desk's numbers averages five calls a day with people asking, "Are you IT?" Even at 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning. :( :D
 
#7 is a sticking point for me...

I've been known to be a Mean SOB at work. And while it is a Good Thing to keep a positive attitude, there are sometimes when it just doesn't cut it.

Of course, there is a way to be assertive while still being courteous. Of course then you look like an Arrogant SOB instead of a Mean SOB.
Either way I'm still an SOB ;)
 
and in Education
2. Underfunded.

Most of the tools I use in my private professional practice I use at work too. Most of them are free tools or free for me to use. Even though it could be worse I've still got a lot of people and alot of things to do that make it easy to push things back into oblivion. I never forget to be nice to higher ups and I'm a generally nice person however it can also eat into your work time. I'm fortunate that most of the things I do can stop when the whistle blows however it still can make a bad impact in the long run.

P.S. Who seriously has the time to stop and run checks for rootkits regularly, especially for user systems.
 
i am guilty of all of these :D

except for courtesy....im always a big kiss ass to clients (they give me free shit then)...but yea...especially the scanning/rootkit stuff....i rarely do it on mine, but seriously, i have never had a problem that didnt reveal itself within a day (ie pop-ups), and usually i knew i was going to get it cuz i was surfing some dark alleys of the internet.
 
i am guilty of all of these :D

except for courtesy....im always a big kiss ass to clients (they give me free shit then)...but yea...especially the scanning/rootkit stuff....i rarely do it on mine, but seriously, i have never had a problem that didnt reveal itself within a day (ie pop-ups), and usually i knew i was going to get it cuz i was surfing some dark alleys of the internet.

one more thing i forgot....all of my users tho will get a STERN talking to if the are late on anyt kind of maintance (ie, scans, defrags, updates:)
 
Thankfully, our IT staff is courteous and professional. I've never seen them get so much as flustered. And that's despite our rather permissive systems policy. But then again, since we're a development house, most employees could probably serve as system admins in a normal office...
 
one more thing i forgot....all of my users tho will get a STERN talking to if the are late on anyt kind of maintance (ie, scans, defrags, updates:)

Uhm.. doesn't sound courteous to me..isn't maintenance YOUR job? I'd be afraid to trust end-users to doing scans, defrags, & updates, especially updates.

So
You are guilty of all of these things, right?
 
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