Lean on IT: Applying lean manufacturing principles across the IT organization

When applying Lean to IT, four specific measures will determine success or failure: cycle time, inventory, value-added content, and throughput.

By MBT Staff September 19, 2007

Infosys , the Bangalore, India-based IT consulting and services firm, has adopted Lean principles as a means of improving the performance of IT shops.

We see Lean as a change-management tool,” Infosys Consultants David P. Spencer and Gerherd Plenert write in a whitepaper titled, Lean on IT: Applying lean manufacturing principles across the IT organization .

Pointing out Lean’s origins as a manufacturing methodology, the authors point out the approach can be used across organizational boundaries—in engineering, in the front office, the back office. Our claim is that Lean can now be effectively applied within the IT organization.

When applying Lean to IT, Spencer and Plenert state, four specific measures will determine success or failure:

  • value-added content, and

  • throughput.

To learn more about how Lean can work in an IT environment, download the complete whitepaper now .