How does your specific organization draw the line? Is there a difference in duties, wages or qualifications needed?
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Systems Analyst in the only sense I've seen it used is a person who interacts with domain experts, extracts requirements, and makes high level plans. This often meant mostly software, though selecting appropriate hardware and networking falls into this as well. This term was in wide use during they heyday of the waterfall software development model. See the Systems Analyst Wikipedia entry for a brief intro. I've heard many terms that might be the sysadmin equivalent, but I've never heard this term used directly in that way. Contrast with System Administrator (which is what everyone here is into) and the difference is apparent. | |||
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In my opinion they're different layers of the stack. It doesn't help that different companies treat the titles in non-uniform ways. I've seen Analysts doing the Admin task, and Admins doing the job role best described as, "anything that touches a server." Admins are responsible for at minimum the servers involved, and most of the time are also responsible for the underlaying operating system. This makes the Admin the human proxy for system-root, which probably won't also be given to the Analyst. This makes the Admin function deeply involved when building batch-mode systems (overnight data extracts anyone?) supporting applications running on operating systems that don't make that easy for non-admin users (Windows, others). Analysts are responsible for at minimum the life cycle of specific applications or systems, which may span multiple servers, operating-system domains (a common division of labor on the Admin side), or even functional stacks on the bureaucratic side. In this sense an analyst represents a layer of abstraction over what the Admin does. In many organizations these two roles conflate, where specific systems analysts are responsible for everything from OS installation & patching, application install & config, and day to day maintenance tasks. Even in larger organizations that have the admin/analyst roles broken out centrally, departmental staff may do both roles under one person. This is why when friends ask me about sysadmin jobs, I hunt under both keywords. | |||
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Systems Analyst is a catch-all title, and typically has different meanings depending on the size and type of organization. However, "Systems Analyst" is not typically an operator or administrator, but instead is concerned with the "business system" (rather than the network or infrastructure). In a development organization (particularly in corporate IT) Systems Analyst is a (somewhat) meaningless step in the programming title/salary ladder. It is a way for corporate IT groups to game the compensation structures and get people better salaries. In Small-Medium companies, "System Analysts" are typically concerned with the business application, process improvement and functional enhancements. Often in this realm they are highly technical and wear other hats. In governmental and other rigid,compartmentalized organizations, "Systems Analysts" have specific responsibilities in the application development process. Typically, they are responsible for developing and managing requirements, communicating between departments and functions, and for making sure that different parts of the business process work properly together. | |||
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They're ambigious as far as I can tell. | |||
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A Systems Analyst works with design, integration, and programming requirements of one or more systems. They act as architects for non-technical people, gathering their requirements and turning them into working programs or automation. A Systems Administrator oversees the day-to-day operations of those systems, ensures they are 'healthy', provides contingency services, and provides corrective action to systems issues when they occur. The first one creates and implements; the second one follows through and ensures that it stays implemented. | |||
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One (analysts) designs and builds systems, the other (admins) run and develop systems. Generally analysts tend to be more senior, needing more qualifications and are paid more - but there are always exceptions. | |||||||||
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The shortest description I can think of is that a Systems analyst handles systems administration, programming, and also DBA duties while developing new solutions. | |||
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Systems Analyst typically gathers requirements and works with a solution architect / develolpment team to make sure the requirements make sense and all questions are answered. System Administrator is responsible for operations of some specific component in the infrastructure (Network, OS, ...). | |||
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The admin is concerned with the actual process of implementation and technical issues. The analyst's work is done before that begins - she's talking to the customer/manager to find out their needs, finding a good technology fit, and architecting something that'll fit the bill. Making it happen is for admins. If you're looking at this from a career perspective, the real question is: do you prefer meetings/powerpoint/visio or the kinds of things described on this site? | |||
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