Whether it's a complete system failure, a software update or a single programme that doesn't work the way the person working with it wants it to: System administrators are the point of contact in all these situations and are often the saviour in times of need. The preconception that they only deal with one ticket after another and don't do much apart from answering the phone is one that can be quickly refuted. We spoke to Marcel Strasser and talked to him about this exciting job description.
He began his training as an IT specialist for system integration at EIKONA Logistics fourteen years ago and is now responsible for the Support and Operations department as Team Lead. Together, the team ensures day after day that all customers can use their systems flawlessly, intervenes proactively if something doesn't go according to plan and rectifies faults if something does happen.
"What does a typical working day look like?" A simple question, you might think - but in the Support and Operations department, it's not so easy to answer. The problems and enquiries that reach the team every day are far too varied. Roughly speaking, the topics can be divided into two areas, as the name suggests: On the one hand, there is Support, and on the other, Operations.
This versatility is one of the great advantages of the job as a system administrator: every day is different from the last, and that's what makes it fun. It is important to be able to rely on your colleagues and their different core competences. As a team, they cover all the important areas and can help each other out.
The main task of support is to ensure that customer systems run smoothly. In addition to proactively monitoring the systems, this mainly involves processing customer enquiries and resolving problems as quickly as possible. Around 60 to 70% of enquiries reach the team of system administrators as tickets, the remaining contacts are made over the phone. The employees then create tickets from these after the fact.
The problems that arise here are extremely diverse and can range from "my Excel spreadsheet isn't working the way I want it to" to "our internet is no longer working" to "the entire site is paralysed" (of course, the most extreme emergency rarely occurs). These requests are sorted according to importance and complexity, prioritised, divided into first, second or third level support and processed in sequence.
The Operations division is just as important. Here, everything revolves around the topics of maintenance and sustainability. This applies not only to the systems used by EIKONA Logistics, but of course also to the customers' hardware. If an upgrade or other change is necessary here, the customers are brought on board and the Support and Operations team (together with IT Services, if this results in a new project) takes care of keeping the systems up to date. This includes technical considerations and advice, ordering the new components and setting up the systems so that the customer does not have to worry about their IT.
It is, so to speak, the toolbox that system administrators work with every day: the tech stack. It consists of a combination of software, hardware, technologies and tools that are used to provide solutions and IT services. At EIKONA Logistics, the tech stack covers the entire range of options: There is hardly an IT topic that has not landed on an EIKONA desk at some point.
This includes the following areas, among others:
The names of the categories already give an indication of which tasks fall into the respective area: If it concerns issues that can be resolved relatively quickly (usually in under 60 minutes), then such a ticket is assigned to first-level support. This could be, for example, resolving a problem with the Outlook signature. Anything more complicated, which may also require another team member to provide support, is assigned to second-level support. These are more serious errors and faults that are not quite so easy to rectify.
Third-level support, which deals with the enquiries that take up the most time, is located in the IT services area. The team consists of certified employees who have many years of experience and mainly deal with large customer projects. However, it sometimes happens that a support enquiry is more complex than originally assumed and cannot be resolved by first and second level support. This issue is then handed over to the IT services team and upgraded to a third-level problem.
However, fewer and fewer issues are being passed on to third-level support. This is because the team of system administrators in first and second level support has been trained more and more comprehensively over time - a lot of knowledge and skills are now covered in this strong team, so that they can handle the vast majority of enquiries themselves.
Of course, support is guaranteed during normal operating hours anyway - but what happens if an urgent IT problem arises during the night shift on Friday evening that needs to be solved immediately and can't wait until Monday? This is why EIKONA Logistics offers 24/7 support, which customers can book. To ensure that at least one colleague is always available, two employees are on standby at the same time in case one of them is affected by a network outage, for example.
When people who are not from the IT sector contact the support team with urgent enquiries, this can sometimes lead to strange moments. For example, if the agitated enquiry is: "The traffic lights are red and won't turn green, what should I do?", then it is the job of the employee on the phone to calm the person down and approach the problem step by step.
If you want to work in customer support, you should enjoy one thing above all: Interaction with customers. A confident demeanour, specialist knowledge and the like can be acquired in the course of training, but a basic motivation should be present. So if you like to think logically and are keen to familiarise yourself with IT topics, exchange technical information with a great team and always put yourself in the customer's shoes, then system administration is the right place for you!
The opportunities for further development are very varied. When you start in first-level support, you get to know the customers and problems and develop a feel for working in IT support. Over time, certain thematic "hobbyhorses" crystallise - these areas can be deepened in the further training so that you become an expert in this topic. In the second year of training, trainees switch back and forth between Support and Operations and IT Services and can decide at the end of the third year of training which area they would prefer to stay in. Regular internal and external training courses also ensure that the entire team is at a high professional level.
Bored at work because the same tasks are due every day? Not a chance! Everyday life as a system administrator is much more varied than most people think. Today a customer is struggling with a firewall problem, tomorrow there are more network problems, and the day after tomorrow there is a security gap in the system - it's always a matter of familiarising yourself with the relevant issues and finding the best solution for the customer. This is exactly what makes this job so appealing and at the same time invites you to stay informed on all IT topics.
Even if there are fewer tickets to process on a given day, i.e. it's quieter in Support, there are always enough issues to deal with in Operations. After all, the team must always be up to date: This also includes regularly dealing with the latest software releases. For Marcel Strasser and his team, this mixture of constantly new customer requirements and diverse IT topics is what makes the job so appealing.
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