How do solo sysadmins handle endless ad-hoc software and system requests?
Management constantly drops drive-by requests for custom workflows, phone system changes, and random integrations on solo administrators. Hacking together these quick fixes leaves admins stuck maintaining half-baked solutions forever while actual infrastructure rots.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Pushing back case-by-case until burnout occursDid this help you?
- 2Hacking together quick solutions to satisfy immediate leadership demandsDid this help you?
- 3spin the old software up in a virtual machineDid this help you?
- 4isolate the software by cutting back or eliminating internet accessDid this help you?
- 5clone the hard drive and keep the old machine runningDid this help you?
- 6refuse requests based on cyber insurance policy requirementsDid this help you?
- 7Relying on a cluttered email inbox to manually track and process requestsDid this help you?
- 8Trying to establish a ticketing tool or calendar request system moving forwardDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“How do other solo admins handle the endless stream of "quick CRM/phone system tweaks"?”source ↗
“Curious how fellow solo sysadmins survive this, because I'm drowning.”source ↗
“Management loves to drop drive-by requests for custom workflows in our CRM, weird IVR routing changes in the phone system, or random third-party integrations.”source ↗
“I hack together a solution so they get their shiny new toy, and then I'm stuck maintaining someone else's half-baked workflow forever while actual infrastructure rots.”source ↗
“If it’s not supported anymore by the maker, I don’t support it. We find alternatives that are. End of story.”source ↗
“I got asked to build gcc 2.x (32bit) for aarch64. That's where I drew the line.”source ↗
“Comms being comms, I got request upon request coming into my inbox from the getgo (I've had zero time to even sit and think about anything strategic).”source ↗
“Some would occasionally give clear deadlines, some don't but they'd "appreciate to have it sooner than later"”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 39Why does every software update make things slower and harder to find?
- 4Helpdesk alternatives to an overwhelmed shared inbox