There’s No "I" in a Great System Administration Team

[ Thanks to An Anonymous Reader for
this link. ]

“A great team of system administrators starts with
proficiency. Notice that I didn’t say technical proficiency. Of
course, technical skills are very important and serve as the basis
for hiring, assignments, and promotion. However, not every member
of a system administration team need be an expert in Linux,
Solaris, or what have you.There is a enormous value in having team
members who are subject matter experts in something only
incidentally related to the pursuit of system administration.

“For example, I once had a great team that included four very
different personas: a Unix expert, a great intermediate system
administrator with experience in varied environments, a guy who
used to raid drug boats for the United States Coast Guard, and a
former Apple Genius. The team worked because it “did things right”
and drew on varied expertise in some pretty cool areas. The Unix
expert served as an architect, while our all-purpose administrator
would tackle any and every weird request thrown at him (and there
were plenty) with great aplomb. The drug boat raider was able to
work quickly and efficiently under absurd levels of pressure and
whining from users, while our former Apple Genius wowed the users
with amazing customer service.”

Complete
Story