What it means to be a system admin
I ran a live training recently about being a Confluence Space Admin. In the context of Confluence, a Space Admin has specific privileges to do things like control access to a space, modify features, etc. The session covered the technical aspects of what admins can do (e.g. features to help manage everything, access controls, etc) but also discussed a more important topic to me - the non-technical responsibilities of a system admin.
Non-technical importance
Frequently I find that individuals forget about the non-technical side of being an admin… after all, it is very exciting to get admin access to something. It means you get something special, something extra, that most folks never get. It also, however, means you accept a large responsibility - ensuring your system runs effectively and supports its users.
Personally I’ve been caught up in the excitement of being given extra access. There’s new buttons to go push, new things to learn and a big sense of power. Depending on the system the amount of power can be on the smaller end (resetting passwords and the like) to extremely sensitive (access to home addresses or social insurance numbers). Being an admin means being trusted with that access - and by extension to power and responsibility that comes with it.
The best advice I was given about being an admin was in the context of managing a human resources system that had social security numbers (United States government ID numbers). The senior admin told me that “Our job is to make sure the numbers are correct, not to use the numbers”. This had a huge impact on me as it highlighted the importance of making sure the system was accurate, regardless of what the information was.
“Our job is to make sure the numbers are correct, not to use the numbers”
For me this is what is important about being an admin. You don't only need to consider what the system does (serve up info, support collaboration, etc) you need to understand why you need to do those things and keep an eye on everything around the system. This includes things like planning, maintenance and leadership. Typically one, or all, of these things is forgotten, resulting in systems that are 'broken' (if you ask their users).
What should admins spend their time on?
For me, admins should be spending most of their time planning out how their system can be successful. This doesn’t mean we ignore the tools or features we have, but it does mean we think about the best way to use those tools to help our team. It also means we have to understand what our team needs to do and why they need to do it. For Confluence this could be thinking through an optimal structure, or figuring out what content is missing and how to get it. That said, it also means understanding what our team is trying to accomplish. For example if they need to onboard new hires they’ll have different needs than if they need to support customers.
Maintenance is another area that admins need to be very active in. It's not glamorous, it won't win awards, but it will ensure your system supports the people using it and that it is relevant to them. Maintenance means regularly review how the system is used, digging through content to ensure it’s updated and similar activities. In my experience most of the complaints about Confluence not working related to stale or content that is hard to find - two things that fall squarely on admins to manage.
Active Admins
Being an admin isn't a passive job (although it's easy to fall into that mindset!). Instead admins need to be active and lead their team in how their system is used. In general this should take the form of getting training on the system, reading manuals and talking with your team. For Confluence this can take the form of training users in best practices, building onboarding documentation and showing folks how things can work.
There is a lot that goes into being an admin, and it's incredibly easy to think it's only about the technical side or things or the extra access. For me, however, being an admin is a privilege and a burden. Admins enable their teams. Admins keep things running. Admins allow others to excel.
