I’ve been sitting here at home (yes, I actually have the day off and the kids are in nursery) listening to music and it’s interesting how certain music can change your mood. Some calms you, whilst some gets you up and makes you wanna dance with somebody (I think they call it dancing anyway!).

It leaves me wondering how we could apply it in IT support. Perhaps the server room could have its own soundtrack, something calm and mellow rather than the clicking, bleeping and whooshing (of fans). When something dramatic happens like a BSOD, then perhaps something more funky, then when the problem is rectified a hero march perhaps. This way, when a user reports a fault we can ask questions like ‘what’s the track?’ and if they reply ‘Flight of the bumblebee’ then we can start getting worried, then when they’ve been issued with a helpdesk receipt we can switch the track to ‘Eye of the Tiger’ and when it’s all repaired “What a Wonderful World” before returning to something smooth and sedate like Adagio for Strings.

Mind you, a number of times in my experiences, I wish I had Chers “If I could turn back time” at hand.

Come on you system developers, embrace your music and lets lose those bleeps.