In each of those areas the answer turned out to be "yes," as widely publicized Six Sigma successes have been achieved in all of these, and many others. The question itself is usually an indication of skepticism and resistance -- the old "I'm different, this doesn't apply to me" argument. Recapping some of the successes that have been achieved with Six Sigma in IT and describing some of the IT activities to which Six Sigma can be applied, should make it clear the answer to the IT question also is a resounding "yes!"

First, let's define "IT" (Information Technology). In most organizations, IT includes a range of activities that may include acquisition, installation, operation and support of various hardware and software infrastructure components, including PCs, networks, office-support tools and communications facilities. Some IT organizations also develop and/or acquire and tailor application software systems. Most operate centralized or decentralized computing centers (data centers). Some operate help desks or call centers; some provide business process re-engineering services and internal consulting to facilitate business process improvement.

In a general sense, there is a distinction between IT groups focused on development versus those focused on operations. Here the focus is on the operational aspects of an IT organization.

Published Reports on Six Sigma in IT

Here are some examples of organizations that have achieved significant successes in IT using Six Sigma:

• Bank of America has cited [ISSSP Conference, June 2003] the following:
  • Reduction in DPMO (defect per million opportunities) in average weekly systems availability from around 4,500 to less than 1,000 in 12 months.
    
  •  Reduced check sorter jams by 25 percent.
    
  •  Improved cycle time for statement copies from 60 percent within service level agreement to 100 percent.
• Raytheon Aircraft's IT department has used Six Sigma to improve claims processing and save the company $13 million. [CIO Magazine]
• The IT organization at Raytheon Aircraft saved $500,000 from a single project in 2002. [CIO Magazine]
• The nine CIOs at Textron saved a total of $5 million in six months. [CIO Magazine]
• One team of engineers at Fidelity Wide Processing expects to deliver $6 million to $8 million in cost reductions this year. [CIO Magazine]
• Seagate's IT department booked direct savings from Six Sigma analyses of $3.7 million during the previous fiscal year. Since instituting Six Sigma two years ago, the IT department has saved $4.5 million overall. [CIO Magazine]
  o "We're being a lot more rigorous with maintenance contracts. We got a team together, analyzed what was needed and defined what maintenance level we wanted. That saved $1.5 million right there." [Mark Brewer, Seagate CIO]
  o "Data files were taking too long to transfer to another system for analysis. The delay resulted in further delays in detecting control problems, which would then delay corrective actions. When the project began, it was not clear at all that the transfer time was the reason for the control problem. By applying the Six Sigma methods to this problem, the root cause was found and appropriate tuning was done to the network and file server (lowering process time from 19 minutes to five). We saved $1 million right there." [Mark Brewer, Seagate CIO]
• Enterprise Management Associates recently conducted research on the use of Six Sigma for managing IT service quality that indicated 65 percent of those surveyed acknowledge the relevance of Six Sigma for IT-based service management.

There are many other examples, but perhaps these are sufficient to make the point -- Six Sigma does apply to IT, as evidenced by significant successes.

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