This article provides an overview of who the System Administrator is, the roles that they play, and some of the functions they're responsible for.
The System Administrator plays a pivotal role within the CRM and within your organization. Think of the System Administrator as your "anchor" - this user will provide the foundation for the rest of your users. They'll be the only user with access to the backend of the CRM and will be responsible for making customizations and a variety of other tasks.
Given that the System Administrator plays such an important role, this should be someone within your organization who has time to dedicate to this role and will be available to other users to make changes or updates as needed. Typically this will be a Office Admin, Assistant or Research Analyst. This user will be responsible for researching and learning how to optimize your organization, so it's an excellent opportunity for an individual to learn about your company, your CRM, and Salesforce all at the same time. This individual will also be the point of contact for your CRM Client Success Manager, Account Manager, and Premium Support Rep (If applicable).
The main items that the system admin will be responsible for include:
Adding new users
Resetting passwords
Making minor customizations to the backend of your CRM.
Creating new fields
Changing page layouts
Creating email templates
Creating action plans
Creating and running reports & dashboards
And so much more!
That being said, we advise that the email address on the account belong to the System Administrator, or is a general email address that other individuals in your organization have access to, in case your system admin leaves and you need to access your account.
One last note - Salesforce has a strict policy of 1 admin for every 50 users, so the dedicated admin(s) at your organization hold a unique role.