|
| Recent
Articles |
Information Security Creativity
1. There has to be creativity in information security - without it we keep on doing the same things over and over again, regardless of the outcome, or the technology that we are working with. 2. Information Security...
CIOs Don't Feel The Love
When it comes to expectations, CIO's and IT Managers are not feeling the "love" from their managers. "Nearly six-in-ten CEOs say they are satisfied or very atisfied...
When The Paranoia Meter Pops
Bad security days happen, when the paranoia meter pegs and there is no substantiating facts behind it, some days it's bad to be a paid paranoiac. The day might start out normally, but by the end of the day every paranoia...
Thoughts On ITIL
Interesting, skeptical take on ITIL, by a person (Noel Bruton) with some apparent long term presence in the industry. He claims that there are four schools of thought with respect to configuration management: Those...
Information Security - A People Problem
Interesting article out on outlaw about how information security is a people problem, which is something that we all probably really do know, even if we won't really...
What Are Our Co-workers Doing On The Net?
8e6 has a report here that should provide all of us in security an amusing insight into what our co-workers are doing on the internet. Apparently, they ran a contest to see who had the most egregious uses of the...
|
 |
|
|
04.16.07
Six Sigma In IT Projects
 By Tony Jacowski
Software development, hardware implementation and testing in the IT domain make IT a big user of processes and therefore compatible to Six Sigma applications.
Six Sigma analysis is initiated by formulating a problem statement. A classic example is a case at Raytheon Aircraft. There, the entire IT team has undergone some sort of 6 Sigma training. The problem was an abnormally high number of servers for which no plausible reason could be found. The Six Sigma team identified the problem to be separate servers for each application. Defect removal was done through a logical and secure sharing of servers between many applications. Applying 6 Sigma methodologies to tackle the problem, a 40% consolidation in servers was achieved adding attendant time and labor savings to the bottom line.
Problem Solving Through DMAIC
DMAIC in Six Sigma is an approach to problem solving, which breaks down problem evaluation into five separate and distinct steps. These are: define, measure, analyze, improve and control. Different organizations apply different tools selected from among a wide variety of choices at each of these stages. IT personnel are familiar with some of them, such as Scatter diagrams, Pareto charts and histograms. Others like House of Quality or Voice of the Customer may not be familiar sounding in IT but are, nevertheless, essential customer-centric tools.
Another Six Sigma approach for removal of process defects at the design stage itself is known as Design for 6 Sigma and is used only by those having already mastered the DMAIC system/methodology. Leading CIOs and industry watchers suggest the following for getting the best results from Six Sigma in IT.
Pick The Right People
Pick Sigma Green Belts, Brown Belts or Black Belts who are categorized on the basis of the training they have received in 6 Sigma techniques. Trained experts would form teams, which are constituted to tackle a particular problem or process and thereafter disband to form another team for tackling another process at a different time, may be with different people, all trained in Six Sigma. Selection for training should ensure picking up highly motivated employees that will result in creating a high performance team. Another important point is to give them a project right after training without allowing any time gaps.
Adhere To Six Sigma Methodologies
Generally, IT people do not go ahead with untried methodologies until they have tried out tools with which they are familiar. Experts sound a note of caution against this and say that throwing technology at a business problem results in a bad process with new technology. If the process is free from defects, then technology can be used to take it to greater heights.
Focus On Defect Removal And Improvement
While 6 Sigma tenets are supposed to be religiously followed, they should not be treated as the be-all, end-all. The aim should be to reduce defects and to continuously streamline and improve the process conducting regular evaluations.
About
the Author:
Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.
|
|
