Techies see themselves as Bruce Willis

Most technical support staff see themselves as all-action heroes fighting the evils of IT downtime, according to a recent report. They liken their role to that of tough guy Bruce 'Die Hard' Willis rather than a humorous hero like Jim Carrey.

A survey from software vendor Royalblue dispels the myth that IT staffers are born and bred geeks with no sense of adventure. Over 70 per cent of respondents likened themselves to action heroes battling the dual bad guys of network problems and hackers.

To add to their adventurous claims, 80 per cent of techies said they preferred a safari holiday to a relaxing beach break.

Over half the respondents shattered the stereotype of beer bellied techies, claiming that they preferred a gin and tonic. Over 40 per cent favoured shopping at Habitat over Ikea, either indicating a penchant for sophistication, or suggesting that they have neither the time nor the inclination to be bolting stuff together outside of work hours.

But around a quarter of technical staff still felt that they were viewed indifferently or in line with the stereotypical geek image, and 11 per cent even felt they were viewed negatively.

Lee Chadwick, sales and marketing director at Royalblue, said the survey revealed that "the old image of an IT anorak is out of date". He likened techies to "knights in shining armour" capable of dropping everything to help their colleagues "but often with little or no thanks in return".