Systems administration skills include knowledge of information systems and how people use them within an organization. This encompasses both a certain understanding of operating systems and application software, as well as hardware and software troubleshooting.
However, the most important skill for a system administrator is incident resolution. An administrator is often called upon when an information system malfunctions or stops working; they must be able to quickly and accurately diagnose the problem and then find the best way to fix it.
System administrators are not software architects or developers. They are generally not tasked with designing and implementing new applications. However, they must understand software behavior in order to deploy it and troubleshoot various issues. Knowledge of different scripting and automation programming languages (PowerShell, Bash, Perl, or Python) is often necessary.
For internet-connected systems or critical business systems, an administrator must be proficient in IT security. This includes not only deploying patches but also preventing outages and other security issues. While some organizations have a dedicated security administrator who manages firewalls and intrusion detection systems, administrators are generally responsible for security within their respective departments.
This article was modified on April 14, 2016