With decades of experience in IT, we’ve seen it all including the good and the excruciatingly bad (and sometimes illegal) types of IT support. The most common thing we hear from business executives and organization leaders is “I just don’t know how to gauge my IT.”

If you’re not technical, it can be difficult to determine if your IT support is up to snuff. That’s why we came up with the three most common IT personalities along with a non-technical quiz to help you determine what your IT support’s personality really is. Take the What Is Your IT Support’s Personality? quiz first, then read below so you’re not biased by the information below.

Top 3 IT Personalities

Firefighter IT Personality

The most common IT support, especially with internal IT departments, is the Firefighter who is always there putting up the good fight. They are the hardest workers in the company and utilize shear force to get the job done. However, that job is never done, and they can never get ahead because there is always another fire to put out before the first one is resolved.

Technology issues with firefighters smolder and fester as they focus attention on the latest issue and the squeakiest wheel. The firefighter personality works long hours, doesn’t sleep well, and works through a rare “day off”.

Business Impact – A firefighter IT personality may sound good at first, but it is just kicking the can down the road instead of picking it up. This type of IT support stifles business growth. Employees are hesitant to ask for help because IT is already too busy, and when IT needs to take over their computer to fix something, it takes forever and isn’t really fixed.

The firefighter IT personality is the proverbial, penny wise, dollar foolish.

Superhero IT Personality

The Superhero personality loves to swoop in and save the day. Unfortunately, this “hero’s” lack of focus on prevention means your employees experience more downtime and must wait for the hero to arrive because your issues need to be humongous disasters, which of course make the best stories. This IT personality is common among 1-2 person IT companies that just don’t have enough hours in the day. They’re stretched thin and don’t have time to do preventative work, properly consult your business, document passwords and processes, and to hire good help.

Business Impact – The superhero IT personality sounds great at first because their upfront cost may be cheap, but if you add up the hard costs of their support combined with your employees’ downtime (usually 1.5-2 hours a month PER employee), this supposed heroic personality is basically gambling away your company’s future.

You’re one cybersecurity breach, one failed hard drive, and one “oops” away from disaster (aka bankruptcy).

Park Ranger IT Personality

The most stable and reliable IT personality is the Park Ranger who manages the environment from afar so to not to interfere with your business. While a park ranger may not sound as appealing or exciting as a firefighter or superhero, they quietly do all the right things in the background and continue to optimize systems using data, not hunches. They are calm, cool, and collected and not panicked when the phone rings.

Business Impact – A park ranger IT personality is ideal for most companies because it has the least negative impact on your business regarding your downtime while positively impacting your company’s bottom line. You’ll enjoy a steady technology budget, happy employees, and can forecast your IT needs multiple years into the future.

Tired of fighting fires or dealing with not-so-heroic deeds? We can help get your organization to finally put out the fires and start working on fire prevention, which is always the most cost-efficient solution and has a lot fewer headaches for you. Contact us to discuss your company’s challenges with one of our technology consultants.