Course Code

LeanIT

Duration

14 hours (usually 2 days including breaks)

Requirements

Experience in IT.
Knowledge of basic operations concepts.

Audience

Managers and specialists working in an IT Organization

Overview

When an enterprise begins a lean transformation, be it in manufacturing, services, or technology, too often the IT department is left out of the picture. Lean IT is a response to this. Lean IT extends Lean principles to information technology (IT), its principle tenet being "the elimination of waste" (work that adds no value to a product or service).

In this instructor-led, live training, participants learn how to unpack the problem of waste in an IT organization. Through the coverage of theory, case-study activities, and hands-on practice with the tools, methods, and metrics needed, participants learn the critical thinking, analytical and communication skills needed to address the problem of waste in IT operations. By way of this interactive process, participants learn how to apply Lean IT principles and practices within their own organization and establish a culture of continuous improvement in IT.

At the end of this course, participants will understand the impact and role of the IT department in an organization's Lean transformation. In practical terms, participants will learn how to:

Measure business performance.
Quantify the return on "innovation".
Assess business processes and identify waste.
Reduce operating costs.
Improve quality and performance.
Improve service levels, manage change, and take advantage of emerging technologies.
Maintain quality and stability over time.
Make "Lean thinking” an integral part of the enterprise and every IT professional's toolkit.

Format of the course

Part lecture, part discussion, exercises and hands-on practice

Course Outline

Introduction

Lean IT: the intersection of Lean, Six Sigma, and Information Systems.
How economic pressure to reduce costs affect the organization
Proliferation of online transactions
Green IT

What is Waste?

Different types of waste
Waste in IT operations

Principles of Lean IT

Value streams
- Services provided by the IT group to the parent organization
Value-stream mapping
- Diagramming and analyzing services
Flow
- Just-in-time systems and integration
- Flow vs waste
Pull/Demand systems
- Handling service requests

Exercise

Server provisioning - case assignment
Software development APIs - case assignment

The Challenges of Lean

Resistance to change
- The fear of job loss
Fragmented IT departments
- Managing cumulative waste across technology silos

Analysis Concepts, Techniques and Tools

Observing processes
Measuring performance
Quantifying innovation
Understanding the key aspects of a KPI
Time as a critical factor in IT

Exercise

Measuring the current state of an IT department

Implementing a Lean IT Strategy in Your Organization

Reference implementations
- Adapting manufacturing theory to digital service processes
Value-stream visualization
- Kanban cards
- Visualizing the digital, intangible and abstract
- Tools and techniques
Integration of lean production and lean consumption
- Integrating the entire supply chain, including consumption

Exercise

Identifying value streams
- Preparing interviews and questionnaires
- Creating a value stream map

Deployment and Commercial Support

Outsourcing application development and maintenance (ADM)
Automating provisioning services
Performance monitoring

Exercise

Processing tickets - case assignment

Complementary Methodologies

Agile, Scrum and lean software development
Six Sigma
Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)
Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
Universal Service Management Body of Knowledge (USMBOK)
COBIT

Future Rrends in Business and IT

Closing Remarks