"What I like about work is the team and, to some extent, freedom." How a female sysadmin works in a district hospital

In the 90s and 2000s, system administrators were at the forefront of the information revolution. They ensured the stable operation of new electronic technologies in enterprises and organizations, maintained servers, and repaired printers, recalls Devby.io.

In parallel, they helped friends and colleagues understand computer basics, assembled computers for acquaintances and installed operating systems, media players, and antiviruses on them, and laid (often with pure enthusiasm) impressive local networks in apartment buildings. Being a system administrator at that time was very prestigious, and having a system administrator among friends was very cool (and often convenient).

Over time, the profession of a system administrator has changed significantly, especially in IT companies. The range of tasks has changed: the profession has evolved from physical maintenance of hardware and network setup to managing cloud infrastructure, automating processes, and ensuring cybersecurity. In parallel, the salaries of highly qualified specialists have also grown.

However, these changes have not affected everyone. In schools, agricultural organizations, polyclinics, universities, factories, and executive committees, hundreds of old-school system administrators still work. Who, in addition to performing their direct duties, still act as intermediaries between colleagues and the world of information technology. And these are not necessarily people of old age.

One such young "old-school" system administrator is Polina (name changed).

— Most of my workday goes into routine tasks: developing schedules, administering the website and social networks, supporting software, and, if necessary, printers.

I haven't had to work with 1C. But I have experience with outdated operating systems. Currently, there are almost none left in our organization, but recently there were quite a few. The oldest operating system I encountered here was Windows XP. That was literally a year or two ago.

Among my duties, there is no function to update operating systems. But I have to do it as soon as the need arises. For example, some software won't install on an old OS – and this problem needs to be solved by any means. Now almost all necessary software requires "ten" (Windows 10). Among the employees there's an "old school" that resists all novelties, including new operating systems. But we, system administrators, don't resolve these issues: we contact their direct management, and they then persuade them, explaining the importance of the changes. In general, the training still falls on our shoulders.

Quite often I also have to deal with unlicensed software.

The stressful transition for healthcare institutions from paper medical records to electronic ones in our hospital took place in 2018; I didn't experience it. But I did experience the polyclinic's reconstruction. There was a large amount of work: installing new PCs, printers, and other equipment — all within tight deadlines.

In principle, everything is normal with the working conditions. The salary is small — 1200 rubles (about $420). This, of course, depends on what you compare it to, but one always wants more.

What I like about work is the team and, to some extent, freedom: sometimes there is less work than usual, and free time remains during the workday.

Of course, colleagues bring their personal laptops and often turn to me with non-work-related questions. I usually help them. I don't recall any demeaning attitude towards me as a non-medical employee on their part — everyone perceives me more as an equal.

I try to keep up with events in the "big IT world." I developed in the direction of web design, for some time worked remotely, combining it with my current job.

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