Lean Six Sigma in the Information Technology
Lean six sigma was developed for manufacturing operations. However, lean six sigma principles can be applied to service-based industries like Information Technology (IT).
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Lean Principles In Lean Six Sigma
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There are five "lean" principles used in lean six sigma. They are:
1. Law of the market. The customer is the highest priority. The customer is the fire and foremost priority over any other in the business.
2. Law of flexibility. The more flexible the process, the faster it can be.
3. Law of focus. Only 20 percent of all activities cause 80 percent of all delays and problems. Focus effort on that critical 20 percent. This is an application of the Pareto Principle to lean process improvement.
4. Law of velocity. The velocity of a process is inversely proportional to the amount of work in process (WIP). This law can be broken down into the idea that the more WIP one has, the more lead time the process has, the slower the process must be.
5. Law of complexity. Complexity adds more non-value. In other words, complexity is not value added. Keep it simple in order to keep it lean.
Definition of Lean Six Sigma
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Lean six sigma aims to increase quality while streamlining the manufacturing or service delivery process. Lean six sigma training provides an overview of the program's tools and how to implement lean six sigma projects. Among the primary lean six sigma tools are: value stream mapping, process maps, affinity diagrams and Kano models.
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Lean Six Sigma Principles in Information Technology
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Law of the market in IT requires meeting the needs of the customer, be it a software purchaser or internal corporate users.
Law of flexibility in IT means using scalable and flexible networks, infrastructures and software. The law of flexibility can also be interpreted as having software that can be easily modified by users to meet their needs.
Law of focus means that process improvement efforts should be used on the hardware, software and business processes that cause 80 percent of the problems.
Law of velocity in IT requires hardware and software that quickly processes transactions. Delays in processing or communication waste time while also increasing the risk of problems.
Law of complexity in IT means keeping it simple. Keep the software simple so that it is easily maintained. Keep the user interface simple so that users can do what they need to do within a minimum of steps.
Examples of Lean Six Sigma Implementations in Information Technology
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Raytheon began with 350 servers. By studying their business processes and using lean six sigma principles, they were able to consolidate their systems and shut down 40 percent of those servers.
Textron used lean six sigma in its IT division to consolidate data centers. They went from 80 data centers to 40.
Chase Financial Services implemented an interactive voice-response system that allowed customers to get answers without having to talk to an operator. This reduced the number of informational calls operators received, allowing them to spend more time selling products.
Common Lean Six Sigma Projects in Information Technology
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Reduce the number of servers. This may involve shutting down servers or using virtual machines to consolidate them.
Reduce the number of software applications.
Standardize and simplify IT processes like requesting an account, resetting a password or requesting a new software installation.
Roll out a common desktop computer image to standardize user computers, simplifying IT support and maintenance activities.
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References
- Lean Six Sigma Secrets for the CIO: ITIL, COBIT, and Beyond: William Bentley, Peter Davis; 2009
- Six Sigma for Better IT Operations and Customer Satisfaction: Tracy Mayo, CIO Magazine; 2003
- Lean Six Sigma for Supply Chain Management; James William Martin; 2006
- Lean Six Sigma in Service: Applications and Case Studies; Sandra L. Furterer; 2009
Resources
- Photo Credit stamp with -quality- word image by air from Fotolia.com
