10 reasons IT pros get a bad reputation Its no secret that IT pros arent too popular with some clients and end users. Consider some of the underlying reasons for the bad press. Why are IT professionals perceived so poorly by some? I am not going to try to prove or disprove the merits of the reasons listed below. Suffice it to say, the bad rep IT gets is justified if the client believes it to be true. 1: Were considered too well paid It is common knowledge that IT professionals make good money. In fact, in the United States, they earn more than all other professions except the management and legal professions. Somehow, that just isnt right to those earning less. That geek with the pocket protector and accompanying host of mechanical pencils and Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph pens makes more than they do with their masters degree. In a society where we often base our value on our wages, this is a blow to the ego of other professionals. 2: We cant respond to every problem instantly When the shop floor system or a secretarys computer goes down, they need it fixed ASAP. Like the air conditioner repairman on a hot summer day, requests for service often come in bunches requiring the customers to wait in queue. No response time is fast enough for businesses that experience more than a few minutes of critical systems downtime. 3: We try to do the impossible A doctor wouldnt try to diagnose a patient over the phone and yet this is exactly what IT support personnel are expected to do every day. Were expected to diagnose and fix problems remotely over the phone with customers who know little or nothing about the problem. As an example, has spend more than four hours on the phone with a support person to fix one problem. This type of support is at best frustrating for all involved and at worst impossible without direct access to the customers hardware -- no matter how admirable the persistence and dedication of the person offering the help. If you have ever spent more than an hour on the phone trying to fix a problem, you can understand why technical support staff are often cursed. 4: We have to do the impossible Ive mentioned before the missions impossible I have been asked to has a wide variety of customers, some with archaic and arcane systems. There just arent many minds on the planet with the knowledge to fix these types of systems. As an example, because I had installed OS/2 several times, I was considered the resident OS/2 expert and asked to help with a clients OS/2 problems. I did help install some network printers and hardware. But perhaps my most successful accomplishment was convincing the onsite supervisor to ban the clients outsourced IT personnel from the server room. Regardless of my best efforts, I could imagine the client telling my manager, Next time send someone who knows what hes doing. 5: We offer technical support and not personal service While IT professionals typically possess a high degree of technical competence, our bedside manner often leaves much to be desired. The technical gap between the customer and IT is wide and grows wider every day. It is becoming ever more challenging to communicate to customers in simple and personal terms what we need to do to fix their problem. It will be ever more challenging to narrow this communication gap to provide true customer service above and beyond the required fix. 6: We have a bad image So often in a world of sound bites, image is everything. The image portrayed of IT is one of the aloof geek practicing and protecting his secret craft from the clueless public. People have a love/hate relationship with the geek stereotype. They cant relate- - but they do enjoy watching geeks and their bizarre behaviour, viewers love them -- as long as long as they stay on the other side of their favorite entertainment delivery device. Mention that you work in IT, though, and you are immediately classified as a geek. 7: Were seen as a threat to the average workers job Nothing brings fear to the heart of a person quicker than the possible loss of his or her job. Threatening to take the food out of the mouths of a family can immediately label the IT professional as the bad guy. Actually, it is the technology that is replacing a workers labor, but the victim doesnt see it that way. The IT pro becomes the enemy and gets the blame for making it happen. 8: We suffer from the golden boy syndrome For years, IT has been able get almost anything it asked for. Any project that made the company more efficient was funded and opportunities abounded. Yes, IT has grown up and has lost some of its cant do anything wrong luster, but the golden boy image lingers. Managers who have watched their budgets dwindle while ITs budgets grew resent IT to this day. 9: We are indispensable Those in charge have become reliant upon IT technology and the people who keep it running. Complex systems need database maintenance, technical support, and software upgrades and maintenance. Non-IT professionals just dont like being dependent on others, technical types or otherwise. They prefer to remain beholden to no one rather than take another dose of humble pie when they have to call someone because their system is down. And they fear that gives us too much power. 10: We are too big and intrusive No government activity, profession, or corporate function is safe from the invasion of the geeks. During the 90s, personal computers began popping up on employees desks like mushrooms after a summer rain. Human resources, accounting, manufacturing, and legal -- they have all been infiltrated by the innocuous PC. Those PCs collect and send information to servers owned by the geek squadron. This level of information access is unprecedented. Information is power, and IT controls that information.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 14:49:09 +0000
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