Sarajevo - Working for the Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Section, a branch of CJ6 Computer Information System (CIS) Services at HQ SFOR, is System Administration.
Up to 12 people work in these positions in Butmir. Military and civilian personnel who come from six different countries give their best effort supporting effectively, not only HQ SFOR, but also any individuals who can operate a computer.
Their main duty is to operate, administer and maintain the various networks in the Sarajevo area and support the administrators at the Multi-National Divisions. Their job also includes running the various servers (mail, file application and proxy) within SFOR and the MNDs.
In their daily routine, they have found several inconveniences like people cannot access Outlook or drives in their computers. They have to maintain strict access permissions on the data on the classified networks, and a critical matter is to keep the mail moving between networks and sites. They also have to restore files from backups.
Capt. Tuncay Ercan, of the Turkish Army, is currently the chief of the team and the Chief of ADP.
"System Administration is full of different problems. They change on a daily basis, and there are always new problems and challenges to be dealt with," he said.
The computer world changes every second. They all know it and think that working here is a chance they should not lose. According to British Administrator David Clements, "This is a great opportunity for all of us working with the new Cluster Technology with new versions of software on different networking environments."
Furthermore, the fact of working with people coming from so many different countries, cultures, knowledge of how cope with computers is another challenge for them. In the opinion of Administrator Alan Hooke, also from the United Kingdom, "This is a wonderful chance for me to improve my technical knowledge and experience in a very interesting environment."
Despite the big responsibility all of them have, the sense of humour is always one of the tools they rely on.
"What I really find interesting, being Canadian, is the unique interaction amongst the Europeans. And it's funny, because they think they know how to make coffee, but none of them can," joked Administrator Derek Lascelles.
Perhaps you have sometimes wondered what would happen if something about the computers in SFOR went wrong. Whatever is imagined, SFOR has these people not only to repair the problem, but also to help avoid it.