A good exercise to understand the scale of this issue is to rate your organization on a scale from 1-5 on how efficiently you deliver software. Now on the same scale rate how efficiently your customers believe you deliver software? The elimination of waste in business processes can be traced back to the 20th century, with the creation of TPS and subsequently Lean manufacturing. The primary goal of this system was to eliminate overburden, inconsistency, and waste. The original concept of TPS was so successful that its founders competitors adopted as well as companies outside of its industry.
Companies produce far too much waste in their software delivery processes, irrespective of whether they're growing aggressively through innovation or acquisitions, implementing cross functional transformations, or using custom-built legacy software. This debt is continually hampering the nimbleness a company has or its ability to respond to business needs. The only way to resolve this issue is to eliminate the root cause of the waste.
Lean and Agile terminology
Our analysis has found out that by intuitively applying Lean Six Sigma principles in a software development context, our team can help you take your enterprise agility to the next level Software delivery processes require an increased amount of efficiency to enable these improvements. Having an Agile framework will provide a way to position your organization to the right point to get these tasks done. Agile, Lean, and Six Sigma could provide real results to your organization, removing any waste and unnecessary losses.
The Different Types of Waste in the Software Delivery Process
Below we have outlined some of the waste that originates within these processes as well as some supporting examples to highlight the situation. Remember, agility originates by removing the inefficiencies from your processes.
Long Wait Times
- There is a long approval process needed for any decisions
- Example. There is a lot of discussion between Admin and IT due to unclear expectations and unpreparedness
Forced Repeats
- Mis-understanding of business specifications and change requests force your team to schedule additional meetings and new requirements.
- Poor communication of requirements and inadequate data leads to false-negatives
- Example. Times overlap leading to two seperate groups undertaking testing
Extreme emphasis on low priority task
- Excessive work intake avenues create inconsistent and time-consuming processes and documentation
- Example. A team wastes far too much time on checking emails, status reports, meetings, training, and low-priority tasks
Task Switching
- Resources are stretched throughout multiple projects at once resulting in constant task switching
- Example. Timelines are constantly changing to meet set deadlines
Lack of Automation
- Testing heavily relies on manual processes
- Team deploys code manually then manually updates change logs
- A lack of testing done earlier results in defects later
Wasteful process and lethargic practices, cost many companies market share and in extreme cases a competitive advantage. With Monera Technologies we can overhaul your practices and make you a leader in your segment.