Get the Most from Your IT: Optimal Performance Using Six Sigma or Outsourcing
I recommend an Economist Intelligence Report entitled IT Excellence: Achieving Optimised Business Outcomes. This whitepaper begins with the premise that “IT departments are increasingly being called upon to define and pursue excellence”. The consensus seems to be that IT’s role has evolved to one of a business partner that must align itself with the company’s overall business objectives. The editorial board of the Economist Intelligence Report put together this report based on in-depth interviews conducted with Dow Corning CIO, Abbe Mulders, and Applied Materials CIO, Ron Kifer. It is interesting to see how both individuals recognize the pervasive nature of IT in their organizations and their commitment to realizing the most from their departments. Each has an interesting approach. I’ll briefly summarize below:
Dow Corning:
Mulders has embraced the Six Sigma (defined) statistical approach with its continuous improvement toward defined goals. Business units within the company collaborate and produce a future strategic plan which includes IT as a full partner. The senior executives of the functional business units along with senior IT executives hold quarterly meetings to review and adjust priorities. This collaborative approach allows the participants a view into the infrastructure, allowing for more effective decision-making, investment and execution of their 5 year strategic business plan. The Six Sigma approach requires some kind of return. Mulders’ teams focus not only on the progress but also on the quality of those returns and reports an 80% achievment of targets 12 months after an implementation.
Applied Materials:
Applied Materials is a leader in nanomanufacturing technology and produces semiconductor chips, flat panels, solar arrays, and energy-efficient glass. Ron Kifer’s approach to IT excellence starts with the premise that IT not only enables business strategies, but must take a leadership role in such business processes. Kifer maintains that in order to compete in the global market each business functional area must be able to support all others. This is what he calls “cross-functional support”. He believes the pursuit of IT excellence optimizes the other business functions. He looks at core competencies to get the most effective results. He believes he has accomplished this through the outsourcing of major components of his IT infrastructure. In order to make the most out of this approach Kifer explained that vendor management became a priority for the company and they needed to “reorganise and develop skills in negotiation and management of vendor relations”.
This whitepaper report also includes a Q&A with each CIO. It’s interesting reading.
