I often read of how "manager of IT department wins award" because this year they are spending £100,000 less than last year and yet still getting improved results (Computing Awards for Excellence 2008 - the winners, www.computing.co.uk/2229884).

The reason for this is not innovation, but the fact they can no longer get away with blowing the IT budget on racks of servers that were never needed, or expensive document management software. Suddenly they discover that they can cut the IT team in half because they are not spending half of the week attending seminars on going green, reading white papers on best practice or spending months developing over-complicated databases when a simple Excel document would have sufficed.

The real heroes can be found rushing around the office, clearing paper jams from the printer and switching it off and on again. They keep the folders and files in place with the correct security access rights, and talk to the staff so they are aware of how and where to Save As, and they never forget to put in the backup tape before going home. They have never considered outsourcing a screwdriver to replace a faulty CD-ROM drive, instead of sending the whole PC to a recycling centre. Their software and driver discs are not missing and they can reinstall Windows XP in no time. They keep a spare PC on hand so the employee who accidentally infested his own with spyware can continue working until it can be exorcised.

We should recognise the efforts of those who do not feel it is beneath them to crawl under a desk because a cable came loose. These people keep the office running while others are busy dusting their degree certificates and organising the next needless PowerPoint presentation full of graphs to justify their existence, and sending emails to inform you that "your problem is being dealt with, please refer to your ticket number and we might get back to you in a few months".

Jason Davies