Common Positive Roles

The Installer

Installs “stuff” • Role that customers see most often

The Repair Person

Called when a computer breaks • Also repair bigger and more nebulous things such as the internet and database

The Maintainer

Keeps previously built systems going • Very good at following instructions presented to them • Either in a written manual or through training • They do not seek to improve the system but to maintain it.

The Problem Preventer

Invisible to most customers • Looks for problems and fixes them before they become visible • Behind-the-scenes planning and preventive maintenance • A good problem preventer collects metrics to find trends but also has an ear to the ground to know what future problem may arise.

The Hero

Saves the day during system failures or crises • Gains recognition for solving critical problems

The “Go To” Person

A little like Heroes, but are more coordinated and more infrastructure-related • Gained reputation to solve any problem • person management will go to when large- scale deep knowledge issues are involved.

The Infrastructure Builder

Builds unseen core systems (DNS, databases, switches, etc.) • The larger the company, the more valuable they are

The System Clerk

Have very little power of decision-making responsibilities • Follows specific instructions (e.g., creating accounts, assigning IPs) • The value to the company of System Clerks comes from performing the tasks that would otherwise distract senior SAs from more specialized tasks and providing coverage for SAs when they are away. • Supports senior SAs; good entry-level role

The Lab Technician

SA for highly specialized equipment • Manages networks/equipment in research or specialized labs responsible for installing new equipment, integrating systems together for ad hoc projects • usually has a small network or group of networks that connect to the main corporate network and depend on the main corporate network for most services • Installs and integrates lab devices; connects to main network

The Product Finder

Researches and recommends software/tools • Keeps up with new technologies and sources

The Solution Designer

play a key role in a company. • On hearing of a problem, they soon have a solution that is better than anyone would have expected.

The Ad Hoc Solution Finder

Quickly solves urgent or “impossible” problems • Emergency basis

The Unrequested Solution Person

Provides unasked-for solutions (can be good or bad)

The On-Call Expert

Always available to give advice • This person has established herself as knowledgeable in all or most aspects of the system. • Has a narrow focus; other times, she is an all-around expert.

The Educator

teaches customers to use the services available. • Trains users and writes documentation • Turns fixes into teaching moments

The Policy Enforcer

responsible for saying no when someone wants to do something that is against policy and also shuts down violators.

The Disaster Worrier

Thinks about risks and failure modes • Balances caution with progress • When a solution is being proposed, this person asks, “What is the failure mode?”

The Capacity Planner

makes the system scale as it grows. • This person notices when things are getting full, running out, or becoming overloaded. • Good Capacity Planners pay attention to utilization patterns and are in tune with business changes that may affect them. • Great Capacity Planners install systems that do this monitoring automatically and produce graphs that predict when capacity will run out.

The Customer’s Advocate

can help a person speak up for her needs. • Represents user needs to management • Helps users communicate and justify requests

The Technocrat

the advocate for new technology • When a system needs to be repaired or replaced, he puts more value in the new system because it is new, even if it still has bugs. • Balances the Disaster Worrier’s caution

The Salesperson

is not limited to tangible items. She may be selling a particular policy, new service, or proposal. She may be selling the SA team itself, either to upper management or to the customers. • concerned with finding the needs of customers and then convincing them that what she has to sell meets those needs. • New services are easier to sell if the customers were involved in the specification and selection process.

The Vendor Liaison

maintains a relationship with one or more vendors • She may know a vendor’s product line better than anyone else the in the group and be privy to upcoming products. • She is a resource for the other SAs, thus saving calls to the vendor’s salesperson.

The Visionary

looks at the big picture and has a vision of where the group should go. • keeping the group focused on what’s next.

The Mother

nurtures the customers. • Fixes small issues, checks in regularly

The Monitor

notices how well things are running • Sometimes, the Monitor uses low-tech methods, using the same services that his customers use. • Uses same systems as users to “feel their pain” • he automates his monitoring but then watches the monitoring system’s output and takes the time to fix things rather than simply clear the alarms.

The Facilitator

has excellent communication skills. • turn impromptu discussion into decision-making meetings. • He is often asked to run meetings, especially large meetings in which keeping focus can be difficult. • adds value by making processes run more smoothly.

The Customer/SA

A user who also performs SA duties • Provides backup when main SA is unavailable

Customer Support

views his job as being centered on the human customer making the request rather than on the technical processes that he is involved with. • views his job as helping customers with the system • Handles requests with a customer-first mindset

Policy Navigator

understands the rules and regulations of the bureaucracy and can help others navigate through or around them. • can help someone get through a process or work around a policy without violating it.