Information systems are the backbone of production processes, their efficiency determines the efficiency of corporate processes.
It’s no secret that IT plays a critical role in the overall success of your organization. That makes sense when you stop to think that IT touches all facets of the organizational infrastructure as they work to:
- provide daily support to users and departments, troubleshoot issues, and support organizational change management efforts
- maintain legacy systems to allow smooth operation of processes while developing new technologies
- develop and commission systems that meet changing business and user needs
The IT department is becoming even more challenged as the whole IT environment is undergoing drastic change through digital transformation, emergent technology (SaaS, Cloud, etc.) and inter-relations with customers. New needs are developing together with new expectations all while traditional responsibilities continue to demand attention. In this new landscape, the traditional technology tower-based organization with its inefficient siloed work model –proven to create long lead times, duplication of activities and poor customer satisfaction — has reached its limits. Today’s IT challenges require a new model – Plan – Build – Run to better serve the users and the organization.
Ever-increasing run and build demands dictate the need for new operating modes to build value- adding responses to customers and optimize the use of both human and technological resources.
The increasing need to reduce Run costs puts pressure on the Run teams to optimize their processes to reduce all non-value adding activities and provide greater customer service. This requires an entirely new way of empowering and engaging teams so they can streamline their work, manage their flows and perform more effectively and efficiently. Implementation of lean techniques such as value stream and visual management, as well as performance management, set the foundation for these needed changes.
The increasing number of resources invested in the Build makes it essential to find new ways of working here too. Improvement in customer response and increased capability to quickly release new complete hardware / software integrated solutions requires:
- Working closely with internal and external customers to better understand their needs and formulate solutions responding to those business requirements.
- Creating agile software development methods to build more functional and simpler systems in shorter development/production cycles and test loops.
- Creating more effective communication in inter-functional teams with an Oobeya room which will help development teams share and build more efficient systems together.
- Managing and scheduling daily activities in each area more effectively and building effective performance management systems.
Extending operational excellence principles and an improvement mindset to these IT functions will increase overall efficiency by helping to better identify customer requirements, build solutions, make work visual, set and share standards, identify value streams and who owns them, create flow, set-up a team environment, and more.
Keep your IT organization in motion™
Productivity Innovation can support you in the transformation of your IT organization by:
- Facilitating a Lean transformation within IT
- Developing a Lean Management Systems
- Providing Lean education/training for IT leaders and managers
- Supporting managers in the development of Lean and Agile work processes
- Coaching IT project teams
- Developing Oobeya rooms
- Installing an effective performance management system
