I think the title says it all. As an IT Consultant, I have rarely gone in to an office and been greeted with a smile or any sort of excitement to my presence.

I certainly have never heard anyone say how much they love their current, or past IT company, and that they were sorry to see them go.

But why is this? Are we not helpful? Do we not fix your problems? Do we not come up with brilliant solutions to the most daunting of tasks?

Based on being hired on as the “Replacement IT Guy” time and again, at many local small businesses, I can safely answer no on all accounts pretty regularly.

The stigma that IT professionals carry in most workplaces is a pretty terrible one.

However, in many instances that stigma is a fair one. You have no idea how many times I have walked in to an office, only to hear “Great, maybe you can actually fix this problem I keep having with ‘INSERT COMPUTER ISSUE X HERE’.”, or “Great, maybe you know more than the last guy did!”.

Maybe? Maybe? Certainly the issues that any small office could be having are easily fixable, and should not require more than one trip out generally. I see time and time again ill conceived and configured server setups, end user desktops/laptops configured improperly.  The wrong software solution installed to try and do something when a better suited application is available. If you are an IT guy like me, you know the list goes on and on.

A lot of IT people will argue saying “it’s not my fault, my hands were tied by the owner not wanting to spend the money for the right stuff.”

To that I say shenanigans! If you can not explain the value of your proper solution, then politely leave the office and don’t do the work!  Yes I know it sounds crazy, but if more IT pros did this, technical support incidents would decrease and business owners and office employees would probably dislike us way less!

Business owners generally have ZERO idea about what they want, and typically just spout BUZZ words to sound intelligent.  It is the job of any good IT professional to advise a business in a way that makes sense both financially and functionally.

Initial expense for any project is always a concern, but any IT pro worth paying will advise you to spend the money up front and avoid continual problems down the road.

Yet many of these so called IT Companies does not do this.  They want their quick buck.  The owner wants something and they are going to give it to them, even if it is wrong, even if they don’t fully know how to install it, even if they have never used the technology or product before, even if they have no idea on how to train the end user on what is being installed.

Business owners think that they are getting a deal when in fact they are just being screwed.

THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN.

My vision for a better IT world, where maybe IT professionals would have positive stereotype:

A business who needs IT help, contacts a local IT company and attempts to explain what they need. The iT company invites the business to come and see some of their solutions working in the field either at their own office, or at a satisfied clients location. If the business can not be shown a working version of a solution to their problem, then they should seek another consultant.

This in turn saves the small business owners both time and money, because they get the project done right, the first time, and not end up continually paying new IT people to come in and try to fix the problems created by the company hired before them.

Business looking to save the most money usually end up wasting significantly more money long term thanks to the less than reputable IT company.

This video from SNL, sums up this rant nicely. Sorry about the 30 second commercial.

End of Technoramble!

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