TY - GEN
T1 - System administrators as broker technicians
AU - Velasquez, Nicole F.
AU - Weisband, Suzanne P.
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - This research investigates the work practices of system administrators. Using semi-structured interviews and an analysis of existing system administrator literature, we theorize that system administrators act as technical brokers who bridge two communities, the end users they support and their own technical community. We also show that system administrators, like other technical workers, rely on contextual knowledge. This knowledge is largely acquired through practice and less through formal education and certification. Through a discussion of common reactive and proactive system administrator duties, we present system administrators as broker technicians who must mediate between the end users they support and their technical community. We end with a discussion of the changing role of sysadmins as their tools and users get more sophisticated.
AB - This research investigates the work practices of system administrators. Using semi-structured interviews and an analysis of existing system administrator literature, we theorize that system administrators act as technical brokers who bridge two communities, the end users they support and their own technical community. We also show that system administrators, like other technical workers, rely on contextual knowledge. This knowledge is largely acquired through practice and less through formal education and certification. Through a discussion of common reactive and proactive system administrator duties, we present system administrators as broker technicians who must mediate between the end users they support and their technical community. We end with a discussion of the changing role of sysadmins as their tools and users get more sophisticated.
KW - System administrator
KW - Technician
KW - Work practice
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=74049159854&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=74049159854&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1145/1641587.1641588
DO - 10.1145/1641587.1641588
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:74049159854
SN - 9781605585727
T3 - CHIMIT 09 - Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction for Management of Information Technology
SP - 1
EP - 8
BT - CHIMIT 09 - Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction for Management of Information Technology
T2 - 3rd ACM Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction for Management of Information Technology, CHIMIT 09
Y2 - 7 November 2009 through 8 November 2009
ER -