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OPS-07 · Operations

System Administration

Ask an IT team when they last restored from backup, not when the last backup ran. The honest answer is often years, or never. Everything in this practice exists to make that answer recent, and to make patching, provisioning and access removal boring routine rather than heroics.

Scope of work

What is included.

For organizations without a dedicated infrastructure team, or with one that spends its whole week on tickets and never reaches maintenance.

  • Server administrationWindows Server and Linux build, hardening to CIS benchmarks, role deployment, capacity monitoring and lifecycle management.
  • Identity and directoryActive Directory and Microsoft Entra ID design, group policy, hybrid identity, conditional access, and joiner/mover/leaver automation.
  • Cloud administrationAzure and AWS tenancy management, cost governance, resource tagging, role-based access, and Microsoft 365 configuration to secure defaults.
  • Patch and vulnerability managementA ring-based patching schedule with test groups, defined maintenance windows, exception tracking and monthly compliance reporting.
  • Backup and disaster recovery3-2-1 backup design with immutable copies, documented recovery objectives, and quarterly restore tests with evidence — the part everyone skips.
  • Virtualization and containersVMware, Hyper-V and Proxmox management, plus Docker and Kubernetes for teams moving that way.
Engagement sequence

Four phases, in this order.

The order matters more than the speed. Every phase has an exit condition you sign off before the next one starts.

Inventory and baseline

Every server, service, license, dependency and administrator account cataloged. We find the undocumented box every time.

Stabilize

Fix what is actively at risk: unsupported operating systems, failing backups, missing patches, shared administrator credentials.

Standardize

Build standards, naming conventions, patch rings, monitoring thresholds and runbooks so any engineer can operate the estate.

Operate

Ongoing administration under an agreed response time, with monthly reporting and a quarterly restore test you receive proof of.

Deliverables

What you receive.

  • Asset, license and dependency inventory
  • Hardened build standards per platform
  • Patch compliance report, monthly
  • Backup and recovery plan with tested objectives
  • Runbooks for routine and emergency operations
Tools & standards

What we work with.

  • Windows Server
  • RHEL / Ubuntu
  • Microsoft Entra ID
  • Intune
  • Azure
  • VMware vSphere
  • Proxmox
  • Veeam
  • Ansible
  • Zabbix
  • CIS Benchmarks
Vendor position

We hold no exclusive reseller obligations. Recommendations are made on fit, your team's capacity to operate the thing, and local support availability — in that order.

Questions

System Administration, specifically.

What response times do you offer?

Standard cover is business hours with a four-hour response on service-affecting issues. Extended and 24/7 cover with one-hour response is available. Whatever you choose is written into the agreement with a reporting method, not left as a verbal promise.

We are still running an unsupported server version. How urgent is that?

Urgent. Unsupported systems receive no security patches, which means every vulnerability found from that point onward is permanent. If it cannot be migrated immediately, it needs to be isolated behind strict segmentation as an interim measure — we plan both tracks together.

Can you co-manage with our internal team?

That is the most common arrangement. Your team keeps user support and business relationships; we take infrastructure, patching, backup and escalation. Boundaries are documented so nothing falls between us.

Next step

Scope your system administration engagement.

Send us the shape of your environment. You will get a written scope, a fixed price and a delivery timeline — usually within two business days.

Book an assessment Email us directly

Scoping calls are free · Reply within one business day