Finding Value in Technology

CIO’s and IT organizations of all types are under a lot of pressure to provide increased value to the businesses they support. With stats like those in the following list, there is room for improvement.

• Almost half of CEOs believe IT should be a commodity service that is purchased as needed
• Almost half of CEOs rate their CIOs negatively in terms of understanding the business and understanding how to apply IT in new ways to the business
• 57 percent of the executives expect their IT function to change significantly over the next three years, and 12 percent predict a “complete overhaul” of IT
• Only a quarter of CEOs believe their CIO was performing above his or her peers

Each of these points illustrates why a Lean approach to IT is so important. In his book entitled “Lean, Agile and Six Sigma Information Technology Management”, Peter K. Ghavami lists the following issues as “the norm” for the industry.

• High failure rate of IT projects
• Long waits for solutions
• Lacking/unsatisfactory Return on Investment
• Risk
• Backlog of projects/work
• Data overload
• Islands of information
• Growing technical debt
• Solution gaps

With these issues being common in IT organizations, it is no wonder that so many CEO’s feel that IT is not where it needs to be. At LeanTECHS we understand the value of IT and the key role it plays in supporting today’s businesses. But, we have also seen firsthand the disconnect between IT and the business, and are here to help make IT a strategic part of business planning, growth and success by aligning technical and business objectives in a way that brings value to the organization. We will work with you to fully realize a return on your technology investments in a way that matters to your business. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in their volumes on adopting Lean in an organization stated

“Implementing the Lean paradigm requires revisiting every assumption, practice, and process associated with customer interactions, product design, production, quality assurance, human resources, work supervision, organizational structure, business systems, and supplier relations. We must learn to do business, behave, and see value in fundamentally different ways.”

Our methodology includes taking the time to fully understand your business so we can work together to meld IT and business objectives into a unified strategy. Following principles of Lean, Six Sigma and Agile methodologies, we will guide you through the process of building vision, fostering lean thinking, and maintaining the leadership and direction needed to complete a strategic transformation.