SysAdmin services for small and medium-sized businesses
The number of dedicated servers at colocation facilities is large and seems to constantly increase. But who takes care of all those systems, who does administer them? When you rent a dedicated server, then you are the SysAdmin. The colocation provider gives you the box, the rack space, the environment and a powerful connection to the Internet. But as you are the only one who knows the root password, you are the SysAdmin. You can't rely on the technical expertise of the colocation provider.
Most contracts for dedicated servers make it clear what your responsibilities are. If your server is used as a Spam relay, as a source of attacks to other systems, as a repository for pirated software or whatever illegal or harmful activity, then you are held responsible and your system will most likely be cut off by the colocation facility.
And then there is the business reason why you rent a dedicated server. You do this, because the dedicated server provides a vital service for your business. If it doesn't operate smoothly, your business will loose money or at least reputation. So it should be your primary concern to make sure it's up and running at all times.
Most small and medium-sized businesses have a checklist when they go shopping for a dedicated server. They select their hosting provider carefully. And hosting providers make sure to convince their customers that reliable server hardware is a key element. So they offer brand-name servers, explain in great detail their own infrastructure (network, cooling systems, power distribution, generators, protection against natural disasters, etc.) and their sales people praise the technical expertise of their staff, which usually is real good - no doubt about that. Operating a large datacenter is a serious job and they better know what they are doing.
But unless you let them manage your dedicated server, all their expertise doesn't help you, because they don't have access to your system. And even if you arrange some case by case management solution, you can't expect them to have all the knowledge required to operate your key system as it would be required. They simply can't know all the specifics of your application, neither do they have the time to learn it.
As a small or medium-sized business you usually can't afford dedicated IT staff and tend to get along using computer science students as part-time admins or someone technically inclined does it on the side. If your small business develops in-house software, it's usually one of the developers who gets a second job as SysAdmin, which constantly takes him away from his actual duties.
For more than 20 years I've seen all this in small, medium and large companies. Large companies have their own IT department, their own datacenter and things usually work well. Small companies simply can't afford a professional SysAdmin and try to get along somehow. And medium-sized businesses always try to postpone the decision to employ a SysAdmin until some incident forces them to recognize there is a need for a qualified person to take care of their systems.
Does it need to be that way? I don't think so. It should be possible to offer a high-quality SysAdmin service for a price that is still lower than to employ someone with the required skills full-time.
Speaking of 'required skills'... That's another challenge. A real SysAdmin is not someone who can install Linux or has earned his MSCE degree. You need someone who understands and has actual experience in a great number of system and networking technologies. The number of persons who really understand TCP/IP including routing, firewalls, Unix systems, databases and at the same time know about the Software Development Life Cycle and can communicate with your developers is actually quite small. Either these persons are occupied with other clients or you would have to pay them more than would make sense economically for your company.
In our Panama office we've begun to develop a meaningful SysAdmin service at reasonable rates. As a service provided case by case simply can't work due to a lack of contingency, we've created package plans that allow us to schedule our resources, provide proactive service, do required maintenance work continuously and make sure we can respond when you most need us. Like in software development and other engineering disciplines SysAdmin tasks need to be well documented and there needs to be some kind of change management. So we use issue tracking tools like JIRA to make sure our staff and you as our client are aware of what's going on, who did it, when did it happen and whether there are related tasks that need to be taken care of as well. The idea is to get you involved, without taking you away from your core business.
There are still several details that need to be worked out with our clients, but we strive to provide a professional service in a very individual way while still being cost effective. So, if your small or medium-sized business uses dedicated servers at a colocation facility and you recognize some of the things I've mentioned above, why don't you get in touch with us?
