Systems administration is a critical component of nearly all modern organizations. We asked industry experts for one piece of advice they would give to organizations looking to improve their systems administration practices. Here are the areas they recommend prioritizing to help you streamline processes, boost efficiency, and stay ahead.
- Prioritize Proactive Cybersecurity and Device Management
- Implement Automated Monitoring and Cloud Migration
- Focus on Maintenance, Security, and Disaster Recovery
- Set Clear Project Guidelines and Budgets
- Treat Systems as Dynamic, Evolving Entities
- Automate, Document, and Monitor Your Infrastructure
- Build Scalable Systems and Streamline Operations
- Engineer for Resilience with Disaster Recovery Planning
- Improve Internal Tools Like Customer-Facing Products
- Manage Infrastructure as Code with Version Control
- Embrace Automation and Proactive Monitoring Strategies
- Prepare for Failure with Regular Drills
- Prioritize Automation and Continuous Learning
13 Top Tips for Improving Systems Administration
Prioritize Proactive Cybersecurity and Device Management
If I could give just one piece of advice to organizations looking to improve their systems administration practices, it’s this: proactive cybersecurity must be your foundation, not an afterthought. We’ve seen countless businesses recover from preventable breaches that cost them 3-4 times more than implementing proper security measures would have.
Prioritize comprehensive endpoint security and regular employee training. I implemented mandatory quarterly cybersecurity training for all our clients, which reduced successful phishing attempts by over 70% within six months. The reality is that your employees are both your greatest vulnerability and your strongest defense.
Device lifecycle management is another critical area that’s often neglected. We helped a mid-sized accounting firm implement a structured approach to device management, from procurement to decommissioning. This reduced their unexpected hardware failures by 82% and saved them approximately $45,000 in emergency replacements and downtime costs last year.
When facing limited resources, focus on building resilient, redundant systems for data protection first. During COVID-19, clients who followed our recommendation for implementing proper backup solutions with 3-2-1 redundancy were operational within hours of disruptions, while others faced weeks of recovery efforts. Disaster rarely announces itself—your systems should be ready regardless.
Mitch Johnson
CEO, Prolink IT Services
Implement Automated Monitoring and Cloud Migration
I’d say prioritize proactive monitoring before anything else. Most businesses wait until systems fail to address issues, but implementing automated performance tracking across your network identifies bottlenecks before they cause downtime. We’ve helped clients reduce emergency IT calls by 67% just by implementing basic monitoring tools.
Cloud migration is another overlooked opportunity. Many organizations still run critical applications on aging on-premise servers when they could improve reliability while reducing costs. One manufacturing client saved $43,000 annually by moving their inventory management system to the cloud, while eliminating weekend maintenance windows.
Don’t underestimate the impact of employee training on system stability. Even with perfect technical implementation, untrained staff can undermine your infrastructure. We implement regular 30-minute “micro-training” sessions for clients rather than overwhelming day-long courses, resulting in significantly higher information retention and fewer security incidents.
Follow the 3-2-1 backup rule religiously—three copies, on two different media types, with one copy offsite. After ransomware hit a healthcare client who had only local backups, we implemented this strategy across their network. Six months later, when they experienced another attack, they were operational within hours instead of weeks.
Randy Bryan
Owner, tekRESCUE
Focus on Maintenance, Security, and Disaster Recovery
Modern organizations rely heavily on technology, making robust systems administration crucial. For smooth, efficient operations, prioritize proactive maintenance. Think of your IT infrastructure like a car: regular tune-ups prevent major breakdowns. Patching software, updating systems, and monitoring performance are key preventative measures.
Next, focus on security. Just as you lock your car doors, implement strong cybersecurity practices. This implementation includes firewalls, intrusion detection, and regular security audits.
Finally, plan for disaster recovery. A spare tire is essential for a car; a solid disaster recovery plan ensures business continuity in case of data loss or system failure. Organizations can prevent problems, protect valuable data, and provide long-term stability by prioritizing these areas.
Steve Fleurant
CEO, Clair Services
Set Clear Project Guidelines and Budgets
It’s crucial for all organizations to give clear guidelines on projects at the start to their system administrators. This means having a clear idea of how much a project should cost to put some guardrails up on the overall project and save admin time. The worst thing a company can do is have an admin spend company time and money developing a solution that is out of budget before the budget has even been shared. Engineers thrive on constraints, and making sure those constraints are clear from the start allows the admins and engineers to build solutions that are right the first time. Right-sizing solutions is more important than ever, and clear budget and project guidelines can help make the project a win right from the start.
Joe Van Ert
System Architect
Treat Systems as Dynamic, Evolving Entities
If I had to give one piece of advice to organizations looking to take their systems administration to the next level, it would be this: Consider your systems living, breathing creatures, not stationary machines. Too many teams build infrastructure as though it’s a “set it and forget it” situation. The truth is, your systems are only as solid as your ability to develop them—quickly, securely, and without drama.
Begin with simplicity and visibility. If your tech stack resembles spaghetti and just one individual knows how it operates, you are one vacation away from catastrophe. Standardize where possible, automate where it’s sensible, and invest in documentation as if it’s a part of your brand (which it is).
And don’t overlook the human layer. Train people, not systems. Good systems admins aren’t button-pushers—they’re anticipators, bridge-builders, and internal educators. The smoother your internal tools and protocols are, the more energy your team has for actual work.
If your systems admin work is invisible most of the time, you’re probably doing it right.
Vasilii Kiselev
CEO & Co-Founder, Legacy Online School
Automate, Document, and Monitor Your Infrastructure
I believe organizations need to treat systems administration less like IT support and more like infrastructure strategy.
The one piece of advice I always give is this: automate first, document second, and monitor always. Most organizations jump straight to fixing tickets, but the real power comes from building a resilient, self-healing environment.
Priority number one? Configuration management. Tools like Ansible, Puppet, or Terraform should be non-negotiable. I worked with a mid-sized SaaS company where inconsistent server configurations were causing random outages. Once we implemented Ansible playbooks across environments, downtime dropped by over 70%, and onboarding new engineers took half the time.
Second, they need a rock-solid observability stack—not just logging, but proactive monitoring with tools like Prometheus, Grafana, or Datadog. You can’t fix what you can’t see. And yes, document everything in a central, searchable knowledge base. If one system administrator holds the keys to everything, the whole system is fragile.
So yes, treat systems like code, prioritize repeatability, and build for the worst-case scenario. That’s how you go from reactive to truly scalable.
Vaibhav Kishnani
Founder & CEO, Content-Whale
Build Scalable Systems and Streamline Operations
Organizations looking to improve their systems administration practices should focus on building a robust foundation that supports scalability and growth. I’ve seen firsthand how crucial it is to have systems in place that can adapt quickly to changing demands. One area to prioritize is implementing efficient processes and tools that can streamline operations, allowing teams to focus on high-value tasks. We help startups identify areas for improvement and implement solutions that drive growth.
I recommend starting with a thorough assessment of current systems and identifying bottlenecks that are hindering performance. For instance, one of our team members worked with a startup that was struggling with manual data entry, and we were able to automate the process, freeing up resources for more strategic initiatives. By prioritizing areas like process automation, data management, and team training, organizations can set themselves up for long-term success. It’s a bit like upgrading the engine of a car while it’s still on the road—it requires careful planning, but the payoff is worth it.
Niclas Schlopsna
Managing Consultant and CEO, spectup
Engineer for Resilience with Disaster Recovery Planning
In order to act proactively on systems administration, organizations should emphasize Resilience Engineering, focusing on Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP). In the last 15+ years, we have learned that it’s NOT ENOUGH to just have backups—this is about having a culture and infrastructure where failures are not just anticipated, but where hard work is done to prevent them and immense effort is made to diagnose and fix them when they happen. We designed a DRP, which incorporates a quarterly testing schedule, among other features, with tiered response teams and a documented recovery time based on each critical application. As a result of being proactive, downtime was reduced by 45% and cross-departmental coordination/alignment was improved by 60%.
All too often, companies think of planning for disaster as something they can move down their quarterly to-do list and check off. Instead, we’ve treated it as a STRATEGIC PILLAR—something that’s baked into our onboarding process, architecture reviews, and even vendor assessments. We also traced dependencies between systems and performed please-don’t-try-this-at-home, real-time stress tests of our failover plans.
So, when we had an unanticipated network crash last year, we were able to put almost ALL of our operation back in service in 2 hours. My key takeaway is to not simply plan for disasters—engineer for resilience. Make your team’s roles clear, build muscle memory through drills, and measure your RTO/RPO metrics as religiously as uptime. That’s how you stop being reactive on support and start running your business with operational confidence.
Aaron Whittaker
VP of Demand Generation & Marketing, Thrive Digital Marketing Agency
Improve Internal Tools Like Customer-Facing Products
We learned the hard way that systems administration isn’t just about keeping things running—it’s also about how people interact with those systems. One shift that really helped us: we started treating internal tools like products, and our teams like users.
Developers were constantly encountering delays while waiting for access, dealing with unclear workflows, and experiencing broken handoffs. So we conducted informal interviews with teams across the company and discovered numerous small friction points that added up. We called these “admin experience” gaps.
Instead of implementing more tools, we simplified the process. We reduced the number of forms, clarified workflows, and even created a lightweight checklist for onboarding that halved setup time. These weren’t fancy solutions, just practical fixes that made sense for the people using the systems every day.
The impact was significant: fewer tickets, faster onboarding, and considerably less frustration. The best part was that our system administrators started being recognized for enabling people, not just fixing issues.
If I had to offer one piece of advice, it would be this: treat internal systems as if they’re part of your user experience. Because they are.
Vikrant Bhalodia
Head of Marketing & People Ops, WeblineIndia
Manage Infrastructure as Code with Version Control
One of the best pieces of advice I can give to any organization looking to improve its systems administration is this: treat your infrastructure like code—and monitor it like a nervous parent.
Years ago, I walked into a startup where the “production server” was literally named prod-final-final2 and lived under someone’s desk. No version control. No deployment history. When something broke, it was a guessing game—and every guess cost us uptime and credibility.
We fixed it by building an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) pipeline using Terraform and Git. Every resource—from S3 buckets to IAM roles—had to go through pull requests. The shift was instant: onboarding got faster, drift disappeared, and best of all, we had an audit trail. No more “who changed what?” at 2 a.m.—Git had the answer.
If I could offer one takeaway: your infrastructure should be reproducible, reviewable, and recoverable. Version control turns operations into engineering. It also removes ego from the equation—when everything is reviewed like code, no one’s flying solo with root access and hope.
Start there. Because great systems administration isn’t about reacting faster—it’s about designing systems that fail gracefully and recover predictably.
Ahmed Yousuf
Financial Author & SEO Expert Manager, CoinTime
Embrace Automation and Proactive Monitoring Strategies
Prioritize automation and proactive monitoring to enhance efficiency, reduce human error, and increase system reliability.
Top Areas to Focus On:
- Automation of Repetitive Tasks (e.g., server provisioning, updates) using tools like Ansible or Terraform.
- Proactive Monitoring and Alerting (e.g., server health, resource utilization) using tools like Prometheus or Datadog.
- Security Automation and Patching to maintain systems’ security, using tools like Qualys for vulnerability management.
- Automation of Disaster Recovery and Backup (e.g., nighttime backups, recovery plan testing) through tools like Veeam.
- Documentation and Knowledge Sharing in order to maintain up-to-date system configurations and troubleshooting guides through tools like Confluence.
Automation and monitoring will be the key to streamlining system management, optimizing security, and maintaining business continuity.
Xi He
CEO, BoostVision
Prepare for Failure with Regular Drills
To improve your systems administration, you must plan for failure. Your servers will go down. Backups will go wrong. Hackers will try to break in. The important question is: what will you do when this happens? I remember one time I had a server hacked even though I was following all of the best practices, and that experience made me focus on recovery, not just prevention. Now I create test problems—such as deleting a kernel, or simulating a corrupt backup—so I can practice fixing them. These drills help keep me calm while I fix actual problems faster.
Yaniv Masjedi
Chief Marketing Officer, Nextiva
Prioritize Automation and Continuous Learning
One key piece of advice for organizations aiming to improve their systems administration practices is to prioritize automation. Implementing automation tools for routine tasks, such as software updates, backups, and monitoring, can greatly enhance efficiency and reduce the risk of human error.
Additionally, investing in proper training and development for the sysadmin team on the latest technologies and best practices can also boost overall effectiveness. This helps the team stay abreast of trends and security protocols, ensuring systems remain robust and resilient.
ANSHUMAN GUHA
Staff Engineer Data Scientist, Freshworks
