Disaster Signs and Indications for IT Leaders – System Operation Problems, Shadow IT, No Innovation and Zero Complaints

Early indications of IT disasters are important to be recognized for an organization so that measures can be taken for timely remedial actions

IT disasters need to be identified timely through signs and indications that point out certain problems prevailing in the IT department. These problems must be addressed in a timely manner so that the chances of facing future problems can be rectified. Potential signs of the IT problems that prevail in an organization are the following:

No or Fewer Complaints from Users

A complaint is an indication of improvement. No or fewer complaints mean that either the user has adjusted for the system with its bugs or is disappointed in the system. This also shows that the user has lost their trust in the IT department. The subsequent action is the development of shadow IT in the organization. In the worst-case scenario, it can result in the employee shuffling or loss of a job. Complaints need to be taken positively as it depicts that the users want the IT department to solve a problem and improve the operational performance of the system. The main indication of the problem is the presence of a drastic drop or raise in the number of complaints. The increase in the complaint can be due to upgrades indicating a major change in the system. The decrease can be either due to system improvement or a huge problem in the system. In both cases the reason for the complaint numbers increasing or decreasing should be identified and considered as a potential threat to the system. 

Business Acquisition

Acquisition and merger are common practices in business and the IT department always faces problems with a business acquisition. After the acquisition, the major task of IT is the integration of the system and data of the acquired company. During this process, their own system, its problems, innovation, and improvements are greatly affected. It is important for the IT leaders to smartly plan the integration that it doesn’t affect the company’s operations and innovation. In the first step of integration, integrate the parts that executives require like analytics etc. the main idea of integration should be keeping the group of brands separate.

Repeated Problems or Threats

Repeated problems and threats are amongst a few major problems that exist in a group with other issues that can be disastrous if not tackled timely. Simple problems are more time consuming than usual and result in IT professionals working late nights resolving un-explained system problems. These are the problems that if exist in a group and occur repeatedly then it is an alarming situation for the IT department and needs to be addressed on an urgent basis.

Simplify Coding

A large amount of code always indicates a problem for the organization. A large amount of code is always difficult to work with requiring more effort to change a single line. This huge piece of code can affect the whole system hence it is preferable to deliver a small piece of code with minor changes enabling faster and frequent delivery or problem resolution. It helps to maintain the performance and quality of the system. It is important for the IT departments to test the pilot system failures to ensure that the system is capable to handle any disaster situation. If the system is not able to survive the pilot failure test it is an alarming situation for the IT officials handling the operations.  

Failing to Promote Innovation

If the employees are only concerned with the daily routine tasks and are reluctant towards innovation, it is a serious morale problem in the employees and an indication of shadow IT existence. If the employees regardless of their posts are contacting CIOs for different solutions to a problem, it depicts the good performance of the CIO.

Not Consented For Strategic Decisions

If a CIO is no longer included in important management and strategic decisions then it is a major problem that needs to be resolved. It shows the trust level of the higher management in the IT department and CIO. It is important to evaluate how the CIO behaves and delivers the message in the language more acceptable to the listener’s group of executives. This is what makes them realize the importance of IT for the company. At the same time, CIOs also need to identify their network and infrastructure addiction and overcome it. CIOs are not only responsible for data management and security but they are also responsible for providing deep insights and timely analytics from the data.

Alert Fatigue

IT department and manager are responsible for managing the business systems all the time but alerts all the time can be frustrating. There are two possible actions of the IT manager in case of frequent alerts, first is ignoring the alerts that may result in missing out an important alert or information and second is burnt out from the alerts. It is essential for the IT managers to have the priority list for alerts that can greatly affect the customers in comparison to other alerts. IT manager needs to be proactive while handling the problems and take timely measures towards resolution of issues.  

Data Leak or Security Breach

Data leak or a security breach can destroy CIOs and CISOs carrier. Security threat is one problem that is always on the mind of a CIO. Major security problems are often indicated by small operational problems like a high flow of data or an increase in the login efforts. IT managers should be proactive in handling these small problems to avoid bigger problems. One of the common measures taken is the two-step authentication process that enables ethical hackers to identify the vulnerabilities before an actual hacker plans on breaching the system.