Often one encounters opinions that the profession of system administrator is becoming obsolete. The development of robots and cloud technologies

Often one encounters opinions that the profession of system administrator is becoming obsolete. The development of robots and cloud technologies, which will replace the sysadmin in the near future, are cited as justifications for such assessments. It is not specified, for example, that on the provider side the cloud also needs to be administered.

In fact, we do not have to talk seriously about the degradation of the profession. It is not dying out, but evolving, becoming more and more complex and versatile. Therefore, for today’s sysadmin there are several attractive and interesting ways of professional development in terms of salary:

DevOps engineer – a specialist who combines the functions of a developer, system administrator, tester, information security specialist. DevOps closes in on all parts of the project. In today’s environment, with the increasing relevance of loaded systems and applications, containerization, and microservice architecture, this profession is becoming more and more in demand.
Information security specialist. Today such specialists are in demand in many large corporations and any IT-company. They are necessarily present in the staff of banks and telecommunication companies. Very often it is former system administrators, who have sufficient knowledge in the field of information security, who enter this profession.
CTO, CIO. A system administrator, who has mastered the IT infrastructure to perfection and has leadership qualities, can well rise to management positions. For these specialists, there are opportunities to head the IT department of the company or an IT company.
Starting their own business. A good sysadmin may well start working for himself, providing administration services through an outsourcer. This path attracts freedom and the prospect of a large income, but it also involves the risks inherent in entrepreneurship.

In addition, you can simply remain a good system administrator, constantly developing and improving the level of competence in his profession. Such specialists always remain in demand, and employers compete with each other to attract them specifically to their company.

Downey Patrick