In this role, you're an exchange administrator as opposed to a network administrator who would do all the jobs in a smaller setting. In a larger organization the jobs are broken down, for example, network administrator or system administrator for a Web site. You might design the network, as opposed to supporting a running network. It is very crucial just because if someone were not maintaining it, it would basically stop working. Things break often enough that you need someone constantly fixing them.
Networks require a lot of attention.
A general network administrator might have more user contact in solving their problems, where I'm more concerned with keeping the network going for a very large Web site. Another network engineer would be making sure all systems are up and running so people can access servers, printers and retrieve files. I imagine just about every company, no matter what size, would need one because just about every company generally has a group of computers that are sharing info. I think mostly what's required is experience. I don't have a degree in computer science or a related field.