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ninjagin writes: They might be underneath a desk, hauling cables above your ceiling, swapping out a drive in your data center, putting the blue smoke back inside that old pizza box on the rack, up at 2 :00AM dealing with an alarm, or upgrading or patching your systems over the weekend. But wherever they are today, take a moment to thank your friendly neighborhood system administrator. We always look to them to fix things up when things go bad, but they are rarely recognized for the majority of their effort — the quiet work they do in the background to keep the bits flying and things running smoothly.

We asked Sarah Lahav this question. She's founder and CEO of service management and help desk software company SysAid, and a staunch supporter of Sysadmin Appreciation Day, so keeping an eye on the future of IT is essential for her company, her clients, and the friends she's made in her years as an IT person and -- later -- IT service company executive. As she says in the interview, "[Some] people say that the IT person will not exist because everything will go to the cloud. And the other half claims that people from the IT [department] will have new skills. It wouldn’t be the same IT person as we know him now, there will be focus more on firewalls than on fixing computers and stuff like that." Is she right? Is she wrong? Or will changes in IT people's roles be so different from company to company that there is no one right answer?

alphadogg writes "It's the last Friday in July. Have you hugged your system administrators today? Bought a cake? Picked up the tab for lunch? There's still time to show your thanks for the unsung heroes who keep corporate desktops, servers and networks running. Today is System Administrator Appreciation Day, an annual event thought up by IT pro Ted Kekatos. A company picnic and an old HP advertisement sparked the idea for the first SysAdmin Day, now in its 12th year."

ArbiterOne writes "The 11th Annual System Administrator Appreciation Day is today. Celebrated worldwide on the last Friday of July, this day honors those who fight in the digital trenches to keep the Net alive. OpenDNS offers a way to remind your boss about the holiday, while another blogger shares war stories. The startup Ksplice has created an homage to these heroes in the style of Choose Your Own Adventure." Reader Netbuzz submits a sobering look at the profession from Network World, which notes, "In the past year, [sysadmins'] pay has dropped, and more of their positions are being farmed out to temporary workers."

jonk689 writes "Let's face it, System Administrators get no respect 364 days a year. This is the day that all fellow System Administrators across the globe will be showered with large piles of cash and expensive sports cars in appreciation of their diligent work. But seriously, we are asking for a nice token gift and some public acknowledgment. It's the least you could do."

An anonymous reader writes "Today is the 8th annual System Administrator Appreciation Day. It is always the last Friday in July and is the one day that SysAdmins are supposed to get the respect they deserve to be getting the other 364 days of the year. Today is the day that we wish everyone would considering the daunting tasks, small budgets, and ridiculous timelines that many SysAdmins face all year. Please thank them for everything they do for you and for your business. If you think you have a great SysAdmin today would be the day to nominate them for SysAdmin of the Year. 'The idea for System Administrator Day was inspired by a print ad for a Hewlett-Packard laser jet printer. The ad showed lines of employees bringing gifts for the IT guy who made the purchase. System Administrator Appreciation Day has, over the years, garnered support from many organizations."

saintp writes "In case you forgot, today is System Administrator Appreciation Day. Be sure to appreciate your sysadmin with some sweet schwag, a LOPSA membership, or even some theme cupcakes. Here's to all the sysadmins out there! Now I've got to go fix the mail server...." Update: 07/28 17:44 GMT by H :And remember that you can vote/nominate them for SysAdmin of the Year.

ferrgle writes with a reminder of the annual observation of Sysadmin Day. "This celebration's aim is to acknowledge the tireless effort that sysadmins perform every day of the year. It is celebrated on the last Friday of July and more info can be read at sysadminday.com This year there is also a dedicated site for sys admins who are Welsh or who live in Wales (it can be found at sysadminday.org.uk). We hope that all sys admins have a nice day on Friday and get a little less hassle than normal."

jcookeman writes "Today is System Administrator Appreciation Day: 'a special day, once a year, to acknowledge the worthiness and appreciation of the person occupying the role, especially as it is often this person who really keeps the wheels of your company turning.' Congratulations to all who keep the electrons of our global networks flowing properly!"

rmadmin writes "Yes, it's that time of year again! Today is the 5th annual Systems Administrator Appreciation Day! Show us admin's how much you love us. (Otherwise we may just walk out, It's been a long day) Happy Systems Administrator Day!" If any of the OSTG netops staff are reading this, thanks again for all your help in recent weeks.

Izeickl writes "The BBC is running an article about sysadmin day. One admin is quoted saying, 'We are unappreciated and no-one knows what we do for 364 days of the year.' Apparently even the online greeting cards are getting in on the action check out 123Greetings.com and put a smile on that cranky admins face! The starter of this day also has a page here." Well, most competent sysadmins probably have electronic greeting cards blocked at the router, but I suppose it's the thought that counts... Jeremy Sieminski submits a Mouse Pad Couch as the appropriate place for a sysadmin to rest his weary, uh, wrists. And of course if you've never read the BOFH stories, you're missing out.

DepecheModem writes: "MSNBC is running an article about System Administrator Appreciation Day. Ted Kekatos created this holiday three years after seeing a poster of a system administrator being bombarded with presents. Feeling somewhat underappreciated, he declared his "day" as the last Friday in July. I think we should all remind our employers that administrators are people too and proudly wear our buttons bearing "Have you hugged your geek lately?"."

nrmrvrk (ner-mer-verk) writes "Tomorrow, the last Friday of July, is Sysadmin Appreciation Day! A special day, once a year, to acknowledge the worthiness and appreciation of the person occupying the role, especially as it is often this person who really keeps the wheels of your company turning." Thanks to Martin, BSD-Pat, Liz, CowboyNeal: the guys who get the thankless job of keeping our hardware running smoothly.