IT hero or superhero?

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s . . . your IT guy?

Admittedly, this slogan doesn’t have the same ring to it as the other guy’s, but it is Superman’s birthday, marking the perfect occasion to remember how valuable your office’s IT hero is to the business’s continued success. Check out these seven ways your IT team is closer to the Man of Steel than you might imagine:

1. They’re always on call

It doesn’t matter when or where the trouble arises; Superman always arrives in a flash. On the IT front, it’s the same. Need a projector system set up in a hurry? Is a critical e-commerce server going wonky on a holiday weekend? Did a remote branch lose all wire area network (WAN) connectivity, and thus, the ability to generate revenue?

Your IT hero is likely your first point of contact in these situations and a million others, and like Superman, they’ll show up to rescue you.

2. They fight threats both old and new

Like any competent superhero, Superman’s defense is reactive and predictive. He thinks a few steps ahead and isn’t afraid to leap headfirst into the fray when a rogue takes him by surprise. Your IT hero plans stout defense against common business threats, like injection attacks, with a smart combination of policy and people management, and they roll up their sleeves and jump into action when new security problems threaten your business operations.

3. They rebuild when the fight ends

Does Superman defend against all attacks? Absolutely. Does he completely negate any and all damage? Even the Man of Steel can’t accomplish this task. Even then, he uses his tremendous skill to pick up the pieces when the drama ends.

While expecting total immunity from attacks, breaches, and other security incidents isn’t necessarily realistic (62 percent of cyber breach victims are small and midsize businesses, and many of those companies undoubtedly have competent IT), you can count on IT to adjust your organization’s technological policies and practices in the aftermath to better defend against the threat the next time it rolls around.

4. They reverse time when needed

No, your IT hero obviously can’t spin the world in reverse to prevent catastrophic events from occurring, but it only takes one nightmare to happen on the IT level to understand the value of daily backups and appreciate the people who carry them out, day after day.

5. They’re concerned with what’s right, not what’s popular

If you’ve read Superman comics, you know he’s not exactly loved by the people all the time. To many, his attempts seem perplexing or heavy-handed, but they’re almost always in the interest of the greater good. IT is frequently in the same tough position, especially with regard to bring your own device (BYOD) policies and employee freedom on company-owned hardware.

Enacting a particularly restrictive policy for security’s sake may not make IT the most popular team in the organization, but there’s solid reasoning behind the decision.

6. They protect other heroes

When another hero fails, it’s usually the Man of Steel who swoops in and saves their bacon. The IT equivalent happens every time your superstar salesperson’s laptop breaks in the field or your top accountant loses access to a critical shared spreadsheet. Who flies to the rescue when your top employees need help? You know the answer.

Clearly, your IT hero is like Superman, but this list boils down to a single, crucial point: Considering how your IT hero is only as strong as the infrastructure he or she is working with, good IT employees are nothing short of superheroes in their own right. Don’t be afraid to let your personal IT heroes know as much the next time they save your organization from the brink of disaster, because like the Man of Steel, you know they’re conducting their best work when they have the right stuff to keep your business is running smoothly and you don’t notice any problems at all.