Someone needs to pull the plug. I am still getting these every 5 min.

I don’t normally read the forums, because they quickly digress into religious diatribes or just plain nonsense. However this title on the CP email caught my attention and I have to respond. I believe I have a unique perspective, because I worked in IT for about 10 years, doing everything from help desk to VP of IT for a bank. Frustrations with the job, lead me to return to school and get a software engineering degree and change careers. So here is my 2 cents. My frustrations were inherent with the position itself. For example, if you do your job well and everything is running smoothly, no one knows you exist. This part I could live with, I prefer to be behind the scenes. However on the flip side, if something goes wrong it is always your fault. A switch or server goes down, and it is “the IT guys” fault. The biggest complaint is centered on security, and was brought up here, so I will address that. Everyone thinks that the IT guys are being security nazis, that they love you lock down computers, and force long complicated passwords. What many don’t understand is that the IT guys have to fill out questionnaires and/or go through audits from potential clients who are making sure you are following best practices. When working at the bank we also were audited by the FDIC and state agencies who were making sure we secure. Then depending on your organization you have to follow other legislation such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. You may be thinking, we are not a bank, or hospital, we don’t hold sensitive information, but if your company is anything but the smallest, you probably due. Your company has clients that perform their due diligence on you to make sure their assets are secure. So as an IT guy you either piss off potential clients, and/or regulatory agencies, or piss off your coworkers because you are being a security Nazis. If you do things securely, your coworkers think you suck, if you do things insecurely, you have the potential of ending up on the news. I do have to admit that there are many idiots in the IT field, I ran into many of them. I am sure many of you have valid complaints. To make matter worse, large organizations put procedures, paperwork and processes in place border on ridiculous. However there are many hardworking, smart IT people who study, train, and certify to do their jobs well, and are only doing what best practices and outside agencies dictate they do. Now that I am on the other side of the fence I have a bit more compassion and sympathy.