MSPs and IT solutions providers are rarely depicted on our TV screens (despite there being over 11,000 of them in the UK alone).
Here we round up three times they have, in reverse order of how plausible we think the depiction was….
The Office – Simon
OK, so we don’t actually know if Tim Canterbury’s nemesis from this classic BBC sitcom works for Wernham Hogg’s IT support provider, or Wernham Hogg itself.
But since we only see him once during the whole 14 episodes, it’s at least possible that he represents a local, possibly Slough-based MSP (although, equally, he could just have been sent from head office).
We are first introduced to the arrogant techie, played Matthew Holness, when he’s installing a firewall on Tim’s computer.
“What are you doing with my computer?” Tim asks.
“It’s not your computer, is it? It’s Wernham Hogg’s,” Simon retorts.
By bullying him over the gaps in his Bruce Lee knowledge, Simon is one of the few characters capable of making the audience feel sorry for Gareth.
Industry implications
The depiction of Simon and other IT folk in noughties sitcoms (The IT Crowd, anyone?) feels as outdated as the bouncing-logo screensavers on Wernham Hogg’s desktop computers.
If characters like Simon even ever existed at all, it’s safe to say an MSP wouldn’t be deploying them on the customer’s site without first giving them a bit more empathy training.
Plausibility rating: 3/10
See following page for two more plausible IT solutions provider depicted on TV…
