IT professionals are the unsung heroes of modern organisations, putting work before family commitments and taking the blame when things go wrong, according to new research by AlienVault.
The research, which surveyed the attitudes of more than 600 IT professionals into how they are being treated at work, found that almost two-thirds (63%) have missed a wedding, funeral or other important family occasion to resolve a work issue. The vast majority of respondents (91%) have also come into work when they were sick to ensure that a project does not fail.
In addition, when it comes to their own careers, most will set aside personal ambition for the good of their organisation as a whole. A majority of respondents (57%) said that they have taken the blame for another department or colleague's failure if it was for the benefit of the company.
Yet despite the obvious challenges faced by IT professionals, many of them still love their jobs. The largest group of respondents (36%) reported being happy or very happy at work, while 32% felt unhappy and 31% were neutral.
Javvad Malik, Security Advocateat AlienVault, said: "IT guys are the unsung heroes of many organisations. Often working in isolation, they are largely considered to be supporting players in many workplaces, yet the responsibility being placed on them is huge.
"In the event of a cyber attack, network issue, or outage, they will drop everything to fix a problem, even forsaking important personal commitments. But despite coping with the challenges of what is now a 24-hour-a-day career, many still love their jobs and are motivated to continue by a deep sense of job satisfaction."
The research also revealed the extent to which IT professionals work in isolation, and this poses a potential threat to their organisations. Having technical skills and responsibilities which are not always understood by their bosses means that IT professionals often work unsupervised and may not always report problems when they occur.
Respondents were asked how their bosses respond when they make a mistake at work. Nearly two thirds (61%) said that their boss would only notice if the internet goes down or users start complaining. Twelve per cent thought that their boss wouldn't realise or understand, while over a quarter (27%) said that their boss notices immediately and gets them to fix the problem.
In addition, a mere 8% said that they would ask their boss for help if they made a mistake at work. A fifth (21%) seek advice from their colleagues, a quarter from online IT support group Spiceworks (23%) - while the largest group (37%) said that they would search Google for the answers.
Javvad Malik added: "IT professionals need to be self-sufficient. With such specialist knowledge, those working in smaller teams can find themselves with no one to turn to for help. This can make the job more stressful for those involved, and is also a potential risk for organisational security, given the scale of responsibility placed upon IT staff.
"Fortunately there are ample online resources available to help, such as AlienVault's Open Threat Exchange, where users share information and collaborate on potential cyber security threats. Harnessing the power of the crowd can help even a one-man IT team feel as though they have a group of experts at their fingertips."