We've all heard the one about when you're up to your eyeballs in alligators, it's hard to remember that your initial intention was to drain the swamp.
Meeting your SLAs can be viewed this way. Breathing a sigh of relief that you've met all your targets for the month, not incurred any penalties (or the wrath of the board), and responded to problems in a timely manner may seem like success. After all - is'nt that doing your job properly?
I respectfully submit that in the current climate, a performant and proactive CIO needs to have a different mindset, and that is not to have the problems in the first place.
You've got the visibility of the status quo, and you are managing the ensuant risks. So let's work to remove the risks completely. I know it's hard to optimise any endeavour with the pressures we're all under - and it's so hard to take the time to challenge the status quo. But this is the next step that must be taken. Zero-defect fixes are just one step on the road to having no fixese to make.
It's all about going from being reactive (behind the 8-ball) to being proactive (in front of the 8-ball). It won't be easy, and you will not have many supporters - no-one embraces change easily.
As food for thought, and still relevant today, Machiavelli wrote in 1513:
"There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage, than the creation of a new system.
For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old system, and merely luke warm defenders in those who would gain by the new one"
The next step? Be unhappy with the status quo, and strive to make things continually better. Perform root-cause analysis and start on the road to continual improvement.
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