Yup. Just looking at my work password manager, there’s 200+ systems I am supposed to be the SME on. And a few hundred more that don’t have password listed in there either because they use SSO or some other method of logging in that I am also supposed to be where the buck stops.
That’s just systems. I am also supposed to know these things to an expert or near-expert level: networking, Azure (all of it), Entra/AD DS, Active Directory, AWS (all of it), infrastructure design, network design, network security, endpoint security, helpdesk levels 1-3, vendor management, SAML 2.0, OAuth, MSP management, contract bidding and negotiation, server hardening and security, security architecture, business relationship management, containers and Kubernetes, infrastructure as code, Terraform, Python, PowerShell, SOC 2, GDPR, ISO 27001, TX-RAMP, FED-RAMP and other compliance frameworks.
And believe it or not, that only barely, barely scratches the surface. That list above could have 500+ entries. And yes, I (not my team, me) is expected to know all of that.
That’s fairly typical for systems folks. We have to know more in more areas than any other job that I am aware of. And if not, to be able to ramp up quickly enough to get it done.
People wonder why I get paid so much because I “just click on things.” That’s why.
I know where to click and when to do it.