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Here is an oldie but a goodie. This is a blog article I wrote about 5-6 years ago but I think it still applies today. I have updated this to match current technology names but the overall premise, in my opinion, is still valid.
The “Cloud” has done quite bit for IT in today’s marketplace. Some good, some not so good. The “Cloud” has created some unnecessary misunderstandings, mostly due to the massive amount of definitions for what the “Cloud” is and what it can do. The main misunderstanding is that by implementing a cloud-based solution, a company’s need for IT human resources is reduced. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
For the sake of this discussion, let's combine all systems-based roles: administrators, engineers, technicians, analysts, etc. into a single role called systems administrators. Systems administrators (the main role-group in IT affected by cloud implementations), have historically identified themselves with the hardware they support and implement rather than the software, meaning they call themselves “server guys”. But I submit, as a former systems administrator and current systems engineer, that every “systems” person IS as much a software administrator as they are a systems administrator. As a “server guy” I spent way more time dealing with software and software-related issues than I ever did with the hardware. Granted there was a portion of those issues that were related to the operating system but the majority of my time was spent more on the software that defined the server – SQL, Exchange, SharePoint, and other applications.
In most cloud implementations, especially software as a service like Office 365, the systems team is removed from the operating system. However, they still have to manage the software – in the case of Office 365 that would be Teams, Exchange, and SharePoint, etc. just as they do with their on-premises versions. A significant workload when you consider that SharePoint Online has the same governance requirements as the on-premises version, Exchange Online will still receive all of the Spam and Anti-virus laden messages that system admins deal with in their on-premises systems, and most of all, you still have users that are using all this software and have no clue that the servers providing them these services are no longer in the building.
Ok, so what has changed then? For one, you no longer have to deal with “Microsoft Tuesday” every month, you no longer have to implement, update, maintain, and watch your monitoring software for when green lights are no longer green. And for those shops who’s “monitoring solution” is having the systems admin walk into the server room/data center every day and look at every system to “monitor” for the green lights, can now spend that time in a much more productive manner – such as figuring out how to get more systems than just Exchange, SharePoint and Skype for Business/Teams in the cloud.
The usefulness of the cloud, including the scalability without the huge investments, will not go away. Rather they will only expand and be enhanced. But the need for IT resources on site will also always remain and should remain because they are the ones that will manage those cloud services and ensure that they are successful and productive for the organization. There will always be the need for the expert(s) that understand the software and services used by the company to make money and get things done. Although the System Administrator role may have changed slightly, the role(s) are not going away any time soon.
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