Streamlining IT with "Lean Thinking"

By David Hurwitz, VP Enterprise IT Management, CA | Jul 3, 2009

CIOs can learn a lot from their counterparts in the manufacturing industry where players have  long perfected a simple and effective process management system that ensures maximum value delivery to the end customer with minimum wastage of time and money. This system — known as Lean Manufacturing or Lean Thinking has been used successfully by Toyota and later Dell in its just-in-time PC making model.

Let the Value Flow
In Lean, the principle of Flow dictates that the value-added steps in a given process should flow in a tight and integrated sequence. As you remove waste from IT, it’s critical to ensure that the remaining process steps are integrated to optimize service delivery. It is especially important to consider the handoff points between different departments as these handoff points are often where wait-time is introduced.

Here, integrated management solutions can automate the workflow between different departments, minimizing wait-time. Management tools can further support optimizing flow by automating key process steps. The degree to which different departments use a set of integrated tools and processes helps optimize the flow of value to the customer.

Just-in-Time IT
Another key Lean principle is Pull, which states that no step should occur until triggered by a “pull” signal from the downstream step. For instance, just as Dell didn’t start building a computer till getting an order for it, IT shouldn’t provision servers till they’re needed. Compare this to the more traditional “push” control mechanism, where capacity or inventory is stockpiled in anticipation of demand.

While pushing capacity into inventory provides a buffer against urgent demand, more often than not it results in waste through incorrect configuration, version control problems, and incipient quality problems.