System and Network Operations Through a Sociotechnical Lens: The human aspects of running digital systems
Mannat Kaur
MPI-INF - INET
04 Jun 2025, 12:15 pm - 1:15 pm
Saarbrücken building E1 5, room 002
Joint Lecture Series
Digital infrastructure is critical to modern society, and a great deal of work
goes into ensuring the smooth and continuous operation of systems and networks.
This essential labor is carried out by system and network operators. Yet, their
work often remains invisible and undervalued—especially when everything appears
to function as expected.
System operators engage not only in a wide range of technical tasks but also in
social and organizational work, such as coordinating with colleagues and
helping system users. ...
Digital infrastructure is critical to modern society, and a great deal of work
goes into ensuring the smooth and continuous operation of systems and networks.
This essential labor is carried out by system and network operators. Yet, their
work often remains invisible and undervalued—especially when everything appears
to function as expected.
System operators engage not only in a wide range of technical tasks but also in
social and organizational work, such as coordinating with colleagues and
helping system users. Their everyday practices directly shape the security
posture of their organizations. However, when failures occur, system
administrators are frequently blamed for misconfiguration or other types of
"human error".
Decades of research in human factors demonstrate that focusing on human error
alone is insufficient to improve operational security. Instead, it diverts
attention from the sociotechnical complexities of these environments and from
supporting people in doing their work effectively.
This talk will highlight the human dimensions of system operations by drawing
on historical perspectives and emphasizing the sociotechnical factors essential
to sustaining and securing digital infrastructure.
Read more