Addressing my Aging System

Lately at work, we have been having a series of meetings regarding our Information Technology Management Program (ITMP) program and process. For those of you who don't know all the acronyms - let's just put it in 101 terms...all things computers, processes, systems, storage, etc.

I was in a VERY long meeting covering this topic when I looked at a particular slide and refocused in an entirely different perspective.  Our Chief Information Officer was laying out the five priorities in our Risk-based Approach to upgrading/saving our current ancient computer system (can you say Mainframe) when I realized that what he had really handed me was a recipe for life.

Whose system are we talking about?

Let's take a look at Item number one.  Production System Outage & Support.  Isn't that just another way of saying - What resources (faith, time, insurance, money, energy, life support) will we need to be able to call on at any given moment on that day, without notice, when we suffer an irreplaceable loss; a significant health event; any unplanned life event.  A wild card day - if you will.

Item two:  Address aging system with stability and reliability issues - hello???  I believe I am in that phase right now.  First the thyroid (and it REALLY is), now a torn rotator cuff!  What the heck?  I can hardly move without some reliability issue coming into question.  And let's not forget - Item one can crop up at any given time (even while dealing with Item Two)

Next comes security vulnerabilities and related items.  Life is a vulnerable state and once the "mainframe" of the body has been breached, a plethora of problems can spread like virtual wildfire.

While the terminology in Item 4 doesn't really apply - replace it with Mandated medical or dietary changes and/or doctor recommended lifestyle accommodations and the next thing you know, dessert now means "fruit cup" and the only candy you get is nature's candy...i.e. "raisins".  Hmmmph.

Finally, we are left with Item 5 which in this scenario would be the optional process improvements - think cosmetic improvements at this point.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  Why would one spend another dollar on any type of surgical misery to make anything look better???  WE ARE IN SURVIVAL MODE HERE!!!!!

Yesterday I had to have some blood taken and after the first attempt failed (yes, that does mean pass me your other arm, please) the plebotomist advised me that they needed to use the "butterfly" approach.  Apparently, this is a technique rarely used on adults (I translated that to mean-reserved for small children),  She further explained that I was "delicate"!  HA!!!  I knew it.  I have been telling my husband that for years,  I asked her if she could please document her findings,  Sometimes it is good to have things in writing.

As our meetings at work conclude, we have determined we must take care of our aging infrastructure to ensure the integrity of our system going forward.  All business processes-while nice to have, are meaningless without a solid foundation.

So, in translation, I guess none of my surgeons will be plastic or cosmetic in nature (at this stage of the game).

Until next time,
#stabilitymuchneededhere

your pal,

Kari (your delicate flower)