Six Sigma for Information Technology Professionals

The application of Six Sigma in the IT service sector has resulted in changes in methodologies and tools. Process improvement managers must transform programs to suit their industry needs and experts must tailor the tools for successful deployment.

he methodologies and framework have, ironically, occasionally lagged behind as they cope with different industries. DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) is applied the same way in the information technology (IT) services sector as it was in manufacturing. Some of the challenges facing Six Sigma in the IT sector are:

•          Lengthy projects
•          Data oriented tools
•          Lack of knowledge in a knowledge-based industry
•          Failure to properly use DMAIC in a software development project
•          Six-Sigma as a Project Based Approach

Historically Six Sigma has been termed a project-based approach to improvements. Each project, however, could take between five weeks and six months. In the IT services sector the length of the project is often too long to realize the benefits. Projects are completed, resources are re-aligned and team members are transferred to other teams or sent to onsite assignments. These changes affect the cohesiveness of improvement teams. Many Six Sigma projects are either delayed or canceled due to lack of participation.

·         Minimize the Project Duration

·         A revised approach to Six Sigma should include a DMAIC life cycle of not more than three weeks, and the complete Six Sigma project should not take longer than three to five weeks. Six Sigma remains a project-based approach, but shortening the duration of the projects will eliminate frequent changes at the organization level, and teams will see projects through to completion. Six Sigma methodology and tools must be ingrained into the process framework so that it becomes part of “business as usual.” This reduces the cycle time for executing projects. 

A successful Six Sigma program empowers employees with problem solving tools. The benefits of Six Sigma are realized when employees or teams use Six Sigma tools, methodologies and philosophies as part of their day-to-day activities. Though not project-based these improvements drive the true bottom-line.

Six-Sigma as a Data Driven Approach

The IT services sector as a whole is still evolving when it comes to metrics. Companies are investing huge amounts of effort in arriving at “good indicators” of project/organizational health. It is difficult to have a database created for a team, which results in a longer measure phase. In the absence of data, personal opinions take over and adversely impact the effectiveness of the framework. As projects stretch and lose their focus, teams lose faith in Six Sigma.

The strength of Six Sigma lies in the data driven approach, hence it has to be supported by a well-implemented metrics program throughout the organization. With the inclusion of Lean in the Six Sigma framework, practitioners can use fewer data oriented tools.

Six-Sigma Professes Y = f (X)

Software engineering activities are largely manual and are greatly dependent on the skill of the developer. The IT sector is knowledge base driven – organizations are investing huge amounts of money in finding skills outside the organization or developing them internally. Six Sigma offers little in terms of improving the productivity of engineering teams – a team’s productivity increases as it moves up the learning curve.

Improve Skills and Knowledge with Minimal Cost

The software engineering process rests heavily on manual processes. Results have some inherent inconsistencies because of the varying capabilities of individual developers. The new approach has to focus on automation and optimizing the learning curve. With the majority of the organization’s costs going toward manpower, increasing employee knowledge is core to management. Companies are focusing on support functions such as organizational training and cultural awareness classes. Six Sigma projects create strong processes that enhance learning and reduce costs without compromising the efficacy of the function. A focused application of Six Sigma concepts in developing the knowledge management processes would yield positive results within the services sector.

Choosing the Methodology

Unlike repetitive manufacturing processes, software development is an engineering activity and, therefore, DMAIC fails to help achieve improvements by inculcating quality into the software engineering process. Some companies are exploring options of inculcating Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) tools/methodologies into the software engineering process – these still need to be integrated with the software engineering frameworks like the capability maturity model integration (CMMi) and ISO (the worldwide federation of national standards bodies for approximately 130 countries). It is important to remember software engineering activities are not repetitive; the true benefit lies in integrating tools into the frameworks like CMMi and ISO.

Organizations are working on applying Six Sigma tools as part of the software engineering practices. Some of the tools that have a wider application can be:

•         Failure mode effect analysis (FMEA) helps organizations reveal the overall system architecture for any kind of failure and helps reduce potential test defects especially in system and field testing.
•         QFD used during the requirements gathering and analysis phases help prioritize requirements and high- level technical solutions by providing engineers leads into areas to be considered in the system.
•       Design of experiments (DOE) is used in test phases to identify test cases that best match the expectations from the system. This is a useful approach when there are multiple interactions between the features of a product. DOE can also assist in optimizing software and hardware resources in a complex infrastructure project.

• Although only a few tools are mentioned here, that does not limit the applicability of other Six Sigma tools in an IT service organization. As industry awareness grows, more tools are used.

Conclusion

Changes in the application of Six Sigma tools and methodology are evident in many different forums. Change will only become more prevalent as the need for being more competitive becomes a reality. Like any initiative in a business sector, process improvement managers need to transform Six Sigma to suit their industry needs. Six Sigma experts must tailor the tools for successful deployment and thereby help organizations improve their bottom lines. Today companies that have reached the pinnacle are re-inventing themselves and Six Sigma will find its place throughout IT service organizations.

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How beneficial will be IFRS ( International Financial Reporting Standards ) Certification

The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation’s role in governing global accounting rules is under threat after European politicians said they were questioning whether the authority was “best suited” to the position. IFRS are principles-based accounting standards and interpretations set out by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

It is important to look at the big picture and the overarching aim of IFRS. In an increasingly global market place, international comparability is critical to enable the effective allocation of scarce resources. To achieve international comparability the key nations around the world need to commit to one global set of accounting standards.  

While over 100 countries have already adopted IFRS, key countries like the United States, Japan and India are yet to require IFRS.The finance and accounting profession is emerging as a fast growing profession. In this globalized era, national General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) is becoming rare and IFRSs are gaining momentum across the world. These are accepted as a single accounting language for the preparation of financial statements. 

This universal recognition of IFRSs has established a common platform for this profession in the whole world and created a need for finance and accounting professionals to gain knowledge and experience on these standards. IFRS is particularly beneficial to large companies that have subsidiaries in different countries. Adopting a single set of global standards simplifies financial reporting, allowing management to use one reporting framework across the whole group. 

The worldwide acceptance of these international standards has created a potential demand for the IFRS professionals. The companies prefer to recruit those candidates who are having an expertise in these international standards apart from their normal specialization in finance and accounting. 

The importance of this profession becomes more relevant when there is a lack of experts in this area and one can also go for consultancy and advisory service to the companies which are in process of adoption of these standards.In this accounting era, there is a huge demand for IFRS professionals. The youngsters planning a career in finance and accounting may have a bright future by having a specialization in these standards.  

Assessing IFRS Adoption: In late 2012, the IFRS Foundation began working on a comprehensive pro- ject to assess progress toward the goal of global accounting standards, directed by this author. The project has three related objectives:

·         To develop a central source of information to chart jurisdictional progress toward global adoption of a single set of financial reporting standards

·         To respond to assertions that many national variations of IFRS exist around the world
·         To identify how the IFRS Foundation can help countries progress on their path to adoption of IFRS.

Eligibility:The persons who are already pursuing or passed courses like:

1. MBA with specialization in finance & accounting, Chartered Accountancy (CA)
2. Cost & Works Accountant
3. Company Secretary (CS)
4. Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
5. Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
6. Any other relevant course in the area of finance and accounting may further enhance their knowledge by doing specialized courses and training programmes in international standards and can become IFRS professionals. These professionals can exploit numerous opportunities coming in India as well as in other countries.

 Job Prospects & Career Options

 The role and responsibilities of IFRS professionals have created a number of employment avenues for these personals which are given below: 

·         The companies in India which are covered in the Ist phase require a large number of IFRS professionals for efficiently implementing these standards.

·         The audit firms are also having need of IFRS professionals as these firms support companies in successful implementation of international standards.

·         The professional advisory companies need the professionals who are well versed with these standards to provide excellent consultancy services to other firms in finance and accounting.

·         The banking industry in India which is most affected by the implementation of IFRSs also require these professionals as this industry will have to prepare its financial statements as per the new standards from April 1, 2013.

·         Likewise, Insurance industry is also moving towards the adoption of international standards in 2012, so, IFRS professionals will also have demand in this sector.

·         Self-employment is also a good option for IFRS professionals as they can start their own advisory and consultancy services.

·         The persons with expertise in international accounting standards will also have an edge over others in educational institutes which are running certificate diplomas and training programs in this area.

Quantum is the leader in Online Professional Training and Certifications. We are proud to introduce these two courses in our product catalogue to help IT professionals around the globe to realize their career dreams by filling in the gap in their education through quality online education.

Quantum offers certification in IFRS, PMP, ITIL, Cloud Computing, PRINCE 2, Six Sigma Green and Black Belt, Financial Risk Management, and many more. Quantum is approved by global certification bodies, such as, EXIN(R), Red Hat, ASQ for online delivery across the globe.For more information, visit www.quantumglobal.org , Live Journal, Facebook.
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