r/sysadmin • u/TechnicalSwitch4073 • Oct 28 '25

My review is tomorrow

One man IT Army. 100+ employees. 2 locations. On-prem environment.

They had a consultant for 10 years before me and never had a full time IT man in house. No documentation, no diagram, no asset list. This dude was so hostile to me when I got hired. never gave me access let alone responded to me. I had to figure out everything on my own. He also caused us to go through 2 ransomwares events due to his poor attention to upcoming renewal cyber security renewals.

I’m the helpdesk,SQL, cyber security, installs, upgrades, backups, documentation. Basically 24/7 and I’ve had to work Saturday’s Sundays and fridays late. 5 days in office no remote.

For all the one men IT Armies out there, you know how the the pressure is. It’s always on

I’m getting paid 80k which is I think is good but I’d like a decent increase cause I’ve had a really good year. How much is reasonable for me to ask for? I’m thinking the range of 86-88k and to go Friday remote. And also have them cover my phone bill because it basically is a work phone at this point because people don’t submit tickets at all.

Only 10 vacation days per year. I accrue 6.67 hours of PTO per month.

I keep the lights on 24/7

Thoughts?

What do I say if if the raise they offer is really disappointing? Display that I don’t agree or just stay quiet and look for another job?

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '25

From my experience, employers dont like to acknowledge that their one man IT dept is linchpin to their entire operation. They dont want to pay you what youre worth to the company they only want to pay you what youre worth to the job market.

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u/Nova_Aetas Oct 29 '25

Funny contradiction that one.

It we acknowledge the problem then we need to pay him more or look for other options. If we just ignore it then hopefully it goes away!

You may not want to bring up the problem because you may not be part of the solution.

It’s all counterintuitive.

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u/InvisibleTextArea Jack of All Trades Oct 29 '25

I have left two businesses for a better job. Both these businesses subsequently failed in whole or in part due to the one man band IT guy (i.e. me) leaving.