The purpose of your IT Department is to install, update, and maintain the company computer communications, processing, and data storage network and systems.

And… um… Well, that’s kind of it really. About as succinct as it gets.

Application and database management, network security, and lifecycle management are a few additional terms that can be bandied around. Project management is another one that might crop up. Maybe. But these are all just elements of a greater whole.

IT are, in real terms, a support department. Like HR, they exist mainly as a “cost centre”. They don’t make money, but they cost plenty. Perhaps it might be useful to use, real world, examples of the kind of situations that might arise, and the IT response to them. The two sides of the IT coin. Flip.

Heads.

You’re sat at your desk in front of your workstation. Your email client is open and receiving. From the CEO’s PA, up pops an invitation to the corporate, summer shindig. Ooh! Be still your beating heart.

(It goes without saying that, employees without access to the company server are not invited. Plebs.)

The caveat for this exclusive hoedown is you have to indicate how much you are willing to pay to attend the event of the year. Up to a limit of twenty whole pounds.

Seconds later another email pops up. A member of the executive board has hit the wrong button and sent an email to the entire internal address book that states, “That sounds FAB! I’ll pay twenty pounds.”

Oopsie-Doopsie!

Faster than the speed of light, the same executive sends out another email. To everyone. Again.

This time they state, “I wish to retract this.”

Seconds later, POW! Your email client is bricked. Totally non-functional. You can’t open it without it immediately locking up your system and you’ve got stuff to send out. Okay here we go. Log out, turn it off and on again. Nope not working. Oh well it was time to get up and stretch your legs anyway. Let’s give it a few minutes.

Try again. Still nope.

Time to call IT!

An hour later you get a call back from a friendly IT operative. You explain your problem to them, both of you bonding briefly over your shared disinterest in the corporate summer hootenanny, and you are back in business inside of five minutes. Sweet!

Over an hour’s downtime because an executive didn’t want to be seen committing some kind of corporate faux pas, that nobody cared about. There’s enough to do without wasting any thought on how an executive seat-warmer feels about a barbeque.

Nevertheless, problem solved. Thanks IT!