Here's how you can assess the impact of your strategic decisions as a system administrator.

1 Define Goals

Before you can measure the impact of your decisions, you must have clear goals. These should align with your organization's broader objectives and be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). For instance, if you decide to migrate to a new email system, your goal might be to improve communication efficiency and reduce downtime. Having well-defined goals enables you to establish benchmarks against which you can evaluate the success of your strategic decisions.

2 Monitor Metrics

Once you've set your goals, you need to monitor relevant metrics to gauge the impact of your decisions. Key performance indicators (KPIs) such as system uptime, response times, and user satisfaction rates are valuable metrics. For example, after deploying a new firewall, monitor network traffic and intrusion attempts to determine its effectiveness. This data provides tangible evidence of how your decisions are influencing the system's performance.

3 User Feedback

Soliciting user feedback is essential for understanding the real-world effects of your changes. Surveys, interviews, and helpdesk reports are effective tools for gathering insights from end-users. If you've recently upgraded a piece of software, ask users how it has impacted their workflow. Their input can highlight unforeseen issues or confirm that the decision has had a positive impact on productivity.

4 Review Processes

It's also important to review the processes affected by your decisions. Look at how changes have influenced operational procedures, maintenance schedules, and disaster recovery plans. For example, if you've automated a backup process, assess how this has affected the reliability of backups and the workload of your team. A thorough process review can reveal efficiencies gained or areas needing further improvement.

5 Analyze Costs

Cost analysis is a critical aspect of assessing your strategic decisions. You should consider both direct costs, such as purchasing new hardware, and indirect costs, like training staff on new systems. For example, if you've decided to implement a virtualization strategy, evaluate the return on investment by comparing the costs saved on physical servers against the expenses incurred in virtualization software and potential increased electricity usage for cooling.