Network and Computer Systems Administrators

A Day in the Life

As a data network administrator, it is your job to design and maintain an organization's computer network. When you arrive at work in the morning, you check for any problems with the data network by physically inspecting server equipment and reviewing any phone messages employees have left you about network issues. There are no network problems so far, so you check diagnostics on the computer at your cubicle. You notice that data uploads are slowing down and troubleshoot the problem so that employees can send and receive the information quickly.

Later in the morning, you get a call from an employee who is having problems using the company's proprietary data input system. You gather basic information from the employee over the phone and access their desktop computer through a remote desktop program. You talk the employee through the data entry problem and help them understand how a program update you installed a few days ago has affected the program.

After you get off the phone, you realize that other employees will probably have questions about the changes to your company's program. You talk with the Vice President of IT and arrange a brief training session for all employees who use the data entry program. After lunch, you gather in a conference room and show the employees how to use the program's new features. You field questions and make sure that everyone knows how to reach you in case they still struggle with the program.

After you complete your presentation, you take another look at your diagnostics program and complete basic network administration tasks. You check with your IT colleagues to be sure that none of the tasks you are completing will interfere with systems that are currently in use. After all of the office's non-IT employees have gone home, you install general operating system updates on all of the company's computers and run one last diagnostic report before you head home for the day.