Is System Administration a Dying Profession?
Just like data entry clerks and bank tellers, the traditional system administrator also seems to be disappearing. Not because the work is less important, but because the way we manage systems is fundamentally changing. The classic administrator of a single system has made way for specialists who oversee entire platforms: from operating systems to firewalls and from infrastructure to applications.
From Reactive to Proactive: The Changing Role
According to our Platform DevOps experts Johan Buijser, Bert Jan Meinders, and Tiago de Amorim Rocha, system administration hasn’t disappeared—it has completely transformed. Where the work used to revolve around solving incidents, it now focuses on preventing them. The core questions have shifted to:
- What risks are we facing?
- How do we identify the root cause of an incident?
- How do we automate the detection, analysis, and resolution of a problem?
Johan says: “In recent years, I’ve become increasingly responsible for an entire chain. This means I now also gain much more knowledge of business processes and can directly see the impact of my work. Close collaboration and mutual trust are important. In that, proactive work and communication with our clients are essential. This is how we improve our services and brainstorm new ideas. I automate to increase efficiency, improve quality, and ensure reliability and security.”
Bert Jan says: “The most important part of my job is solving problems structurally. Due to the multitude of systems, this task has become more challenging and interesting. Analyzing a new and unknown problem requires specific expertise and experience. Once I’ve found a solution, it gets automated. This ensures that the problem is handled automatically the next time. System administrators ensure stable IT environments and remain calm when systems don’t function properly. They develop robust solutions. The 24/7 availability of systems is no coincidence—it’s the result of craftsmanship.”
AI as a Colleague, Not a Replacement (Yet)
Tiago, who belongs to a younger generation of technology specialists, sees it differently. According to him, AI will eventually take over all operational tasks. We’re not there yet, but we’re well on our way.
Tiago explains: “If we want to deliver highly available services 24/7, we need to embed our knowledge and experience into an AI model. That model must be able to respond proactively to disruptions. For now, with human oversight, but in the near future, many functions will become autonomous. Then the classic system administrator can pack up.”
According to Tiago, a new type of team is emerging: the Platform DevOps team. In it, designers, developers, AI specialists, and operations experts work together toward one goal: stable, scalable, and maintainable platforms that are always available. They are the executors of a reliable operation and a predictable change process.
From System Administrators to Platform DevOps Engineers
We see this shift internationally as well. Solution Architect Ise Douwes explains the difference between System Administrators and Platform DevOps Engineers: “System Administrators mainly focus on managing IT infrastructure: hardware, networks, and systems. Platform DevOps Engineers build and maintain reliable software systems. They use automation and software engineering to make systems scalable and robust. Platform DevOps Engineers are therefore more involved in the software development cycle. System Administrators ensure everything keeps running.”
The System Administrator Disappears, Long Live the Platform DevOps Engineer
The conclusion? The classic image of the system administrator is disappearing. But the essence—ensuring everything keeps running—remains. It just happens now with different tools, in different teams, and with different competencies. AI is changing the nature of the work and making environments more stable. High-level expertise remains essential. Behind every stable IT environment are still skilled professionals, even if they go by a different name.
