Without A Castle

I do agree with you, and I think this is the feeling of most of IT consultants... not to have to defend or promote a real and long-term project, but constantly being subjected to a business to another.

"There was a lonesome cowboy..."

Hi Daniel,

I feel just the opposite, ironically enough.

I wear multiple hats (systems admin, network guy, security monkey) during my 8-5 at an educational institution. I consider the systems and networks there as "mine". If something happens to them, I take it personally -- I'm sure many others in similar positions feel the same way.

Outside of the school, however, I also do consulting on the side. At least 50% of this work is strictly security work and most of these jobs are not short, quick projects. Most of them are ongoing projects with no "end date" set, which may be why I feel differently than you do. In these cases, I am the security guy for these companies. Anything security related comes through me, which once again makes me feel as if the networks in question are "mine". Obviously, they're not, but I feel that way, and I take great pride in protecting these networks and the confidential data belonging to my customers.

I think the key difference is the time spent with the client. I get to spend very little and have a relatively small interaction with them after each encounter. You, on the other hand, seem to be, as you said, their very own security expert.

Ideally I'd be doing that more, but it's all dependent on the type of engagements we get as a company. For the time being I'm going to be in the "touch and go" boat, as that's the type of gigs we're getting.

Anyway, thanks for the comment.