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How Many Admins Per User/Computer Have You Seen?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the its-all-about-the-ratios dept.

miffo.swe writes "I'm trying to find the normal ratio of technicians/support tech per user or computer in your average IT-shop. When searching around, I can't find that many examples or any statistics. We manage around 900 computers (mostly Windows XP) and 25+ servers (mostly Linux). There are around 2600 users of varying knowledge, mostly pretty low. I can't find any statistics on this, so real-world examples are very welcome since we do this with one sysadmin (me) and two sneaker techs. Are we seriously understaffed, or is this normal?"

13 of 414 comments (clear)

  1. Over 9000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Over 9000

    1. Re:Over 9000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm 12 and what is this?

    2. Re:Over 9000 by Verdatum · · Score: 5, Funny

      But with the blast shield down I can't even see! How am I supposed to fix IT issues?

    3. Re:Over 9000 by Nick+Number · · Score: 4, Funny

      Your users can deceive you. Don't trust them.

      Let go your professional self and act on instinct.

      --
      Promote proofreading. Don't mod up sloppy posts.
    4. Re:Over 9000 by orsty3001 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Newfags...

    5. Re:Over 9000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      How many times I banged your mom last month

    6. Re:Over 9000 by Random+BedHead+Ed · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hokey work ethics and obsolete tools are no match for a good Linux LiveCD at your side, kid. I've worked from one side of this industry to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe your all-powerful "instinct" can control your destiny.

    7. Re:Over 9000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      A Jedi can feel the lube flowing through him.

  2. Re:Proper Planning by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Funny

    Admins? Admins?

    Why, in my day we didn't have Admins.

    We had to unbox the machines ourselves, plug EVERYTHING in. We even had to figure out interrupts by ourselves. And don't get me started about trying to snake the coax around the building.

    Kids these days. Spoiled rotten. Don't even have to get up to turn the record over.

    Grump.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  3. What's a "Sneaker Tech"? by ZarfMouse · · Score: 2, Funny

    Google doesn't have any relevant hits for this phrase (except this article).

    1. Re:What's a "Sneaker Tech"? by Tsar · · Score: 2, Funny

      Google doesn't have any relevant hits for this phrase (except this article).

      Obviously you don't know how to search. I found a job posting for a sneaker tech right away.

  4. Re:Proper Planning by Abstrackt · · Score: 3, Funny

    Sheesh, I remember token ring. Slickest thing since sliced bread.

    Till the token fell out anyway. Then you had to send some noob PFY out to search for it under the desks. Hours of entertainment with that one.

    --
    They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett
  5. Re:Proper Planning by benjamindees · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is exactly the way to think about IT. End-users are not your "customers" or "clients", and your role is not to serve them. They are your competitors. Your job is to eliminate them, and to replace them with whirring, glowing rooms filled with triple-redundant servers flawlessly executing fully-normalized databases and millions of tiny shell scripts.

    Middle managers are your natural enemies. Their interests are to increase warm bodies and to monitor butt-in-seat time. Treat them with cautious scorn.

    Your major challenge is to quantify your work as it relates to deferred costs and increased productivity, and to demonstrate this benefit to executive management. This will require a quick typing finger, elite charting skills, and a deft touch on the laser pointer.

    By the way, how many middle managers did you have to kidnap and drug before you were recognized by executive management?

    --
    "I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"