Making Information Technology a Competitive Advantage

Author: Forrest W. Breyfogle III

Regrettably, many organizational leaders view information technology (IT) as a burdensome expense rather than a resource that can provide a competitive advantage. Seeking a better way, businesses are looking into deploying IT to its maximum potential by making the system the catalyst for instituting new improvement initiatives.  Some of the newer efforts to make organizational improvements are devoted to deploying the DMAIC process on an enterprise-wide basis.

For those executives not familiar with DMAIC, here's a quick overview: DMAIC is a data-driven methodology for improving processes of all kinds that consists of five interconnected phases:

            D is for Define: The organization defines its customers and their requirements, and examines its process flow to identify the processes that can be improved.

            M is for Measure: Data from many different sources is collected.

            A is for Analyze: The data is examined to identify the gaps between current performance and goal achievement, and opportunities for improvement are prioritized.

            I is for Improve: Innovative solutions are identified and implemented.

            C is for Control: Improvements are maintained by making the needed changes to the system’s structures and continually monitoring metrics.

DMAIC was first put to use in manufacturing environments. Given its broad applicability, it is now used as well by services businesses, governments and non-profits.  DMAIC also serves as the structural framework for implementation of the Six Sigma methodology, a systematic, data-driven approach to making improvements managed by employees who work on Six Sigma projects.

The operative word here is "projects."  Until recent years, DMAIC has been used primarily to make improvements one project at a time.  Projects often provided localized-silo benefits but had minimal, if any, impact on big-picture financial metrics. Little attention was given to analyzing the overall enterprise and coordinating the selection of projects to make organization-wide improvements. 

Things have changed. Now organizations have started to use DMAIC on an enterprise-wide basis.  The process is used strategically, focusing on efforts that will make the greatest contribution to the bottom line and change the organization's culture.  As a result, every employee is given responsibility for helping the organization enable the three Rs of business: Everyone is doing the Right things, and doing them Right, at the Right time. Used this way, DMAIC becomes E-DMAIC (E is for Enterprise) and is part of an overall encompassing business system known as Integrated Enterprise Excellence.