National System Administrator Appreciation Day is a holiday observed on the last Friday in July that recognizes all the professionals who keep organizations around the world running as they should.

This holiday, also known as Sysadmin Day or SAD, tips its hat to all the system administrators and IT professionals working with the complex hardware and software used by systems of all sizes.

It is a day for people to thank these professionals—whether it’s just one IT technician handling software updates for a small office or a team of technicians keeping the servers of large multinational conglomerates online.

The History of National System Administrator Appreciation Day

This holiday was created in 2000 by Ted Kekatos. He had seen a Hewlett-Packard magazine advertisement that showed office workers thanking their system administrators with gifts of flowers for installing a new printer.

As an IT technician himself, Mr. Kekatos had spent the previous day installing several printers at his workplace. He combined these two events to create a holiday that has been celebrated for decades.

Observing National System Administrator Appreciation Day

I think most people understand how to observe this holiday. All they need to do is take a few moments to give special thanks to their system administrator. This can be something as simple as a “thank you,” or as elaborate as giving them a card, flowers, or even a fruit basket.

People can also use the hashtag #NationalSystemAdministratorAppreciationDay on their social media accounts to extend thanks to even more system administrators.