But let’s stop talking about “backups.” Doing a backup is too low a bar. Any experienced system administrator will tell you that they have a great backup plan, the trouble comes when you have to restore.

via Let’s stop talking about “backups” – Joel on Software:

Twice in October on the home machine – dead internal drive.

The 2 major websites moved off of our servers, but before they moved I did a test restore every 4-5 months.

In Baseline’s work launching data stewardship, we follow six tried-and-true techniques that have served our clients well. If you practice these, data stewardship will not only be accepted by your stakeholders, it will stick. 

Enjoying a successful career as an IT professional has always presented a challenge, in that youre expected to be a jack of all trades, master of none. Or maybe thats a master of all trades, jack of none. In any case, and however you approach it, you need a bewildering and ever-expanding array of cross-functional competencies to get and stay on top of your game. One thing in particular should strike you about the following list: Most of the competencies lie beyond the traditional IT skill set and could be equally well applied to other functional disciplines. Theres less difference between us and “them” than is usually thought.

via 10 essential competencies for IT pros.