Our Jobs Are Evolving: Can We Keep Up?

This talk will discuss the current shortage of skilled system administration professionals, the evolving skill set demanded by the changing global economy, and how we, as practitioners, can move our industry forward. We will look at baseline skill sets, professional development opportunities, attracting the next generation of system administrators, and providing strategic value to the organizations who rely on sysadmins, even when they don't realize it.

Mandi Walls is a technical consultant for Seattle-based Opscode, the makers of Chef. Prior to joining Opscode, Mandi served as a system administrator at Admeld, NHGRI, and AOL, where she ran sites including moviefone.com, games.com, and www.aol.com. She holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from the George Washington University, Washington, D.C., and an M.B.A. from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, through the global OneMBA program. She is a published author with O'Reilly and speaks at numerous conferences and events.