Sysadmins are being left out of AI implementation

AI may be coming to help sysadmins, with the promise of alleviating repetitive tasks like log analysis, resource monitoring, vulnerability prioritization, and patch management, but few of them are put in charge of its implementation.

According to a study by patch management platform vendor Action1, 82 percent of sysadmins said their employers did not require AI implementation in their roles, while 73 percent lacked understanding of strategic AI implementation in their area of expertise.

The result contrasts with a Gartner study which found 79 percent of corporate strategists see AI as critical to their organization's success in the next two years.

The poll of 560 sysadmins worldwide found that 63 percent were looking for additional training for better AI integration understanding, while 47 percent said they were concerned about being left behind by AI.

"AI holds immense potential to free sysadmins from routine work and enhance their overall productivity," said Mike Walters, Action1 president and co-founder. "To fully leverage it, companies must allocate resources for identifying application and implementation areas for AI. Given IT departments' constrained resources and potential fatigue, it's vital to provide IT admins both with relevant training and convenient tools enabling them to automate current tasks."

The task most likely to be automated by AI was log analysis, with 44 percent of respondents citing it. Monitoring of server CPU and memory usage, vulnerability prioritization, patch management, and analysis of security controls were also in the top five.

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The Action1 report said the introduction of AI in sysadmin roles would free up time for tasks which require more human judgement, "creativity, empathy, complex decision-making, and an understanding of organizational context." These tasks include user permissions and password management, and defining system usage policies and procedures, the report said.

Today, July 28, is System Administrator Appreciation Day, when its organizers say the world should take the "opportunity to pay tribute to the heroic men and women who, come rain or shine, prevent disasters, keep IT secure and put out tech fires left and right."

The event was created by Ted Kekatos, a system administrator, in 1999 and has been celebrated on the last Friday of July each year to honor and appreciate the contributions of these dedicated, but often under-appreciated, band of IT professionals. ®