Operations system administrator vs systems administrator lead

The differences between operations system administrators and systems administrator leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an operations system administrator and a systems administrator lead. Additionally, a systems administrator lead has an average salary of $99,956, which is higher than the $76,891 average annual salary of an operations system administrator.

The top three skills for an operations system administrator include technical support, linux and customer service. The most important skills for a systems administrator lead are linux, project management, and windows server.

Operations system administrator vs systems administrator lead overview

	Operations System Administrator	Systems Administrator Lead
Yearly salary	$76,891	$99,956
Hourly rate	$36.97	$48.06
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	173,494	132,285
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	2	2

What does an operations system administrator do?

In the information technology industry, an Operations System Administrator is responsible for overseeing and maintaining computer systems, including software, hardware, and applications. They are responsible for supervising staff, spearheading installations and repairs, troubleshooting problems, diagnosing and resolving technical issues and concerns, and ensuring data security and safety by implementing back-ups, firewalls, and other protocols. Moreover, as an operations system administrator, it is essential to lead and encourage staff to reach goals while implementing standards and regulations to maintain the smooth flow of operations.

What does a systems administrator lead do?

A systems administrator lead is responsible for planning, designing, and implementing procedures for critical enterprise systems. Typical duties of systems administrators include managing the day-to-day operations of a company's computer and network systems, developing new application and system implementation plans, and establishing guidelines for installing and managing the organization's computer operating systems. In addition, you are expected to ensure the security of computer systems by preventing unauthorized use, user abuse, and acts of nature.

Operations system administrator vs systems administrator lead salary

Operations system administrators and systems administrator leads have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Operations System Administrator	Systems Administrator Lead
Average salary	$76,891	$99,956
Salary range	Between $59,000 And $98,000	Between $77,000 And $129,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	PayPal	Kabam
Best paying industry	Utilities	Telecommunication

Differences between operations system administrator and systems administrator lead education

There are a few differences between an operations system administrator and a systems administrator lead in terms of educational background:

	Operations System Administrator	Systems Administrator Lead
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Business	Computer Science
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Operations system administrator vs systems administrator lead demographics

Here are the differences between operations system administrators' and systems administrator leads' demographics:

	Operations System Administrator	Systems Administrator Lead
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 76.2% Female, 23.8%	Male, 84.6% Female, 15.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 9.5% White, 63.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 9.7% White, 63.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between operations system administrator and systems administrator lead duties and responsibilities

Operations system administrator example responsibilities.

Manage VOIP Digium phones for clients.
Manage and update share drive and SharePoint.
Manage DNS, SMTP for Webservers contacting customers.
Manage LDAP accounts on across the enterprise system.
Manage machines and accounts in active directory and dhcp.
Lead a team of 5 engineers providing PC support to 1,000 customers and implement PC disaster recovery efforts for 400 customers.

Systems administrator lead example responsibilities.

Manage all Citrix user connections and issues, print network, server environment and supplies.
Manage printers on the print servers and re-serve IP addresses for devices from the DHCP servers.
Manage software development group SharePoint portal.
Save company many hours of manual testing and developing by engineering Java applications to automate tedious tasks.
Manage development, manufacturing, test and delivery of custom broadband RF electronic test systems for military and aerospace customers.
Perform day-to-day management of system applications and services (NTP, DNS, LDAP, etc .).

Operations system administrator vs systems administrator lead skills

Common operations system administrator skills

Technical Support, 9%
Linux, 8%
Customer Service, 5%
VMware, 4%
SQL, 4%
Windows Server, 4%

Common systems administrator lead skills

Linux, 6%
Project Management, 6%
Windows Server, 5%
System Performance, 5%
Technical Support, 5%
Database, 5%

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Operations System Administrator
Operations System Administrator vs Systems Administrator Lead

Updated January 8, 2025

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