Technical Challenges

  • Authentication and authorization: "Single sign-on" technologies, identity management
  • Autonomic computing: Self-repairing systems, zero administration systems, fail-safe design
  • Cloud computing: Managing and deploying your applications in the cloud
  • Computer-human interaction
  • Configuration management: Specification languages, configuration deployment
  • Data center design: Modern methods, upgrading old centers, moving centers
  • Data management: DBMS management systems, deployment architectures and methods, real world performance, scalability
  • DevOps: NoSQL, massively parallel, redundancy, capacity planning, automated operations, provisioning
  • Grid computing: Management of grid fabrics and infrastructure, cloud-related
  • Hardware: Multicore processor ramifications
  • Mobile computing: Supporting and managing laptops and remote communications
  • Multiple platforms: Integrating and supporting multiple platforms (e.g., Linux, Windows, Macintosh)
  • Networking: New technologies, network management, IPv6, Trill, DCE
  • Security: Malware and virus prevention, security technologies and procedures, response to cyber attacks targeting individuals, threat analysis
  • Standards: Enabling interoperability of local and remote services and applications
  • Storage: New storage technologies, remote filesystems, backups, scaling, disaster recovery
  • Virtualization: Managing and configuring virtualized resources
  • Web 2.0 technologies: Using, supporting, and managing wikis, blogs, and other (collaboration) tools in Web 2.0 space
  • WebOps: Traffic management, scaling, latency, Game Days, release engineering and deployment

Professional Challenges

  • Budgeting: Definitions and methods
  • Communication: Tools and procedures for improving communication between administrators and users, distribution organizations, or teams
  • Consolidation: Merging and standardizing infrastructures and procedures
  • Devolution: Managing dependence on devolved services (calendars, mail, Web 2.0, etc.) and users
  • Documenting: Tools and techniques to document your work
  • Ethics: Common dilemmas and outcomes
  • Flexibility: Responding effectively to changes in technology and business demands
  • In-house development: The (dis)advantages and pitfalls of in-house technology development
  • Legislation: Security, privacy
  • Management: The interface and transition between "technical" and "managerial"
  • Metrics: Measuring and analyzing the effectiveness of technologies and procedures
  • Outsourcing/offshoring system administration and system engineering: Is it possible?
  • Proactive administration: Transitioning from a reactive culture
  • Standardizing methodologies: Sharing best practice and lessons learned
  • Training and staff development: Developing and retaining good system administrators; certifications
  • User support: Systems and procedures for supporting users