We’ve long accepted that, as an IT provider,
there are a lot of stereotypes about what we can do and how we do it. Yet, just
because we’ve accepted it, doesn’t mean we aren’t going to do anything about
it. That’s why we wanted to use this blog post to clear up a few misconceptions
about the nature of IT services.
Yes, yes, ha ha. This one has become the go-to
punchline for almost any joke having to do with IT. However, consider what
humorist Leo Rosten said:
“Humor is the affectionate communication of
insight.”
In other words, jokes tend to poke fun at a
larger truth - in this case, IT resources have gained the reputation of asking
this question so often because they do
ask it quite often. This is because it actually is an effective way to resolve
many issues. Reboots have proven their value countless times over, so when we
ask you if you’ve already tried doing that, we’re actually taking a lot of
explanations for your issue out of consideration. This allows us to more
efficiently troubleshoot the actual problem - and if you hadn’t yet tried a
simple restart, it might do the trick.
With computers being remarkably more
user-friendly than they once were, it also isn’t all that uncommon for many
users to assume that everything that IT does, they could probably do for
themselves.
Technically, in a lot of cases, yes… but it
would probably be a mistake.
In IT, while a process might be simple in and of itself, there’s a good chance that there are a lot of other considerations to take into account. For instance, let’s look at the process of setting up a new workstation. It’s a pretty plug-in-and-play process, right? Right - except that there’s data transfer, continuity, and security to also consider. On top of that, there’s also the process of getting the new PC ready for use. If done incorrectly, there are a vast amount of ways that your business can be left vulnerable. This is why it is so crucial to entrust these processes to someone who is very familiar with them.
It isn’t uncommon to see an IT professional
consulting Google, and sure, it might be unsettling for an end user to see it
happening. However, it might help to put things into perspective.
IT is one of the fastest-evolving fields in
the world, so even the most credentialed and qualified tech might not be
completely up-to-date. Therefore, to prevent their actions from causing a
bigger problem, a good IT resource will turn to other resources to confirm that
they are taking the right course of action. In fact, this makes it actually
preferable to bring in a Google-happy tech. It just shows you that the tech is
committed to doing their job correctly.
At Emerge, we’re proud that our technicians know their stuff as well as they do - and know their limits enough to seek out the right answers to your issue. So, next time you experience a problem with your technology solutions, turn your system off and on again, and (if that doesn’t work) give us a call at 859-746-1030.