I had to laugh at a recent press release from private healthcare provider Bupa, which contained the results of a survey on corporate healthcare assessments.

Apparently, one in 10 senior employees in the technology sector assessed by Bupa admitted to smoking, “while almost a quarter admitted to leading a sedentary lifestyle by failing to take exercise at least once a week”.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that only 10 per cent of IT execs like a puff ­ most of the ones I know smoke like chimneys. In fact, when you consider that about 25 per cent of the adult population in the UK still enjoys a ciggie, IT professionals are pretty clean living on the whole.

As for failing to exercise once a week, I know people who have not exercised in years. The problem is that if it means jogging along a concrete pavement at 6am, in the pouring rain, while being poisoned by carbon monoxide emissions from cars on the adjoining main road, then I think I will grab another hour in bed.

Bupa goes on, “When it comes to weight, Bupa found that 61 per cent of all senior-level employees had a high Body Mass Index (BMI) [weight divided by the square of height] ­ of more than 25, which is overweight.”

I suppose sitting down all day managing devices from a single console ­ they wish ­ means that IT managers do not tend to get out of the office much.

Most of the IT managers I know belong to the work hard/play hard school of thought. They are not paragons of virtue and having interviewed a fair few, it seems they agree on two things: they are underpaid and overworked.

IT managers, apart from keeping network and other IT kit running on a five nines basis, are the first in line when it comes to trialling kit which may deliver a business advantage. Rolling out new technology such as VoIP and wireless is hardly trivial, given that IT managers are being asked to basically become radio spectrum managers for the business and provide network trouble-shooting services for VoIP systems. Is it any wonder IT managers’ health is an important issue? The question is, can Bupa keep your IT manager going on a five nines basis?

The release reminded me of a joke that Les Dawson used to tell: An IT manager goes to his doctor and asks, “OK doc, what’s the results of my five-yearly check-up?”
“Well,” says the doctor, “I’m afraid you’re going to have to stop smoking, stop drinking, stop gambling, stop eating fatty foods and, I’m afraid, with the state of your body, you’ll have to give up sex.”

“Will I live longer?” asks the IT manager.

“Nope ­ but it will feel like it,” says the doctor.