A big part of this is simply ego. I work in IT, and have done so since 1987. I started in software, and eventually moved into hardware, and have done mostly support since then. At this point, I'm in network administration. Anyway, I see my #1 job as a person who allows other people to do their jobs. They're NOT IT experts. In a lot of cases, they're lucky if they are able to turn on the computer. So when they call me, I attempt to figure out and fix the problem using THEIR language when possible. On the other hand, some of the guys I work with are a lot like SNL's "Nick Burns," who have an attitude.
Now I have to admit that I'm amazed at the poor quality of first line tech support the guys who are on the "help desk." At my last job, if a problem was escalated to me, I knew that the problem was serious, and the front line techs had eliminated all the simple problems. At this job, I have to start over from the beginning, since I can't trust these help desk script monkeys to have checked little things like indicator lights on the routers (even to the point that a router was powered off!), or even checking to see if a cable's been kicked loose. But I don't make an issue of it... However my coworkers insist on making a big deal of it... For instance, when someone who needs an account password changed, but only uses that account for email, sends a request for an "email password change," I respond with "password changed and tested." On the other hand, my coworker responds with "email enabled active directory user account password changed." Is his description more accurate than mine? In a technical sense, yes. Does it matter? No. The effect is the same. I know that I changed the AD user account password, since I did it through the ADUC utility. Does the user need to know this? No. It's just my coworker's need to show superiority over the "great unwashed."
Mark
It recently took seven days to get a password changed at my work. Of course, our IT is outsourced.
LOL! How true. I have a family member who cannot - SIMPLY CANNOT! - comprehend how to add attachments to e-mails. She has to ask a coworker to do it for her every time!
Heh! Those guys need to stop playing Half Life 2 all day and night and realize how the real world works from time to time.
Let me share one with you. Recently, I needed to access a database that I use only rarely. I discovered I had forgotten my password. I called the help desk and explained the problem. They changed the password and gave me a new one. They told me the password they gave me would only allow me to enter the data base where I would find a prompt to change the password again. I was advised to be sure and not change it to my old password. I asked: “So I need to be sure and not change it to the password I forgot?” I was told: “Yes, don’t change it to that one.”