{"id":1713,"slug":"pre-cloud-sysadmin-wages-bls-2024","title":"Network & Computer Systems Administrator BLS median: ~$51K–$58K (early 2000s, needs-verification) rising to $96,800 (May 2024)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["hosting-platforms","cloud-infrastructure-economics"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** BLS median wage for **Network & Computer Systems Administrators**: roughly **$51K–$58K (2002–2004)**, rising to **$96,800 (May 2024)**. Fully-loaded employer cost ~1.25–1.4× wage.\n\n**Source:** BLS OEWS (2024 figure verified). Early-2000s figure not rendered from primary BLS OEWS at brief deadline — treat as needs-verification.\n\n**Confidence:** Verified for 2024. Single-source / needs-verification for the early-2000s range.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** The other half of the pre-cloud cost stack. A pre-2009 database-backed app needed a server *plus* the sysadmin to keep it patched and backed up. The labor cost was the dominant line item, and managed services absorbed it. See [[capex-to-opex-structural-shift-synthesis]].","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"pre-cloud-dedicated-colocation-pricing-2004-2007","title":"Pre-cloud dedicated/colocation pricing 2004–2007 — managed dedicated $250–$1,400/month; budget $89–$199; 1U colo ~$50/month","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-falling-cost-floor-real-web-functionality-smb-june-2026","title":"Research brief: the falling cost floor of \"real\" web functionality for SMBs (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rds-launch-october-2009-managed-db","title":"Amazon RDS announced October 2009 (MySQL first); GA May 31, 2011 — managed DB absorbs admin/backup/failover","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"capex-to-opex-structural-shift-synthesis","title":"The structural shift: capex (server + sysadmin) → opex (managed service, administration included)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"caveats-falling-cost-floor-vendor-incentive","title":"Caveats: AWS vendor framing quarantined; build-vs-buy vendor cost pages flagged; DrPeering single-source; sysadmin wages needs-verification","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-21T13:17:00.514Z","updated_at":"2026-06-21T13:17:00.514Z"}