ITIL v3 vs ITIL v4, Is ITIL v3 failing to do the job?

ITIL is a framework consisting of best practices and processes that can be adopted in order to provide IT service management (ITSM)

In today’s digital era we know that every business has a dependency on Information technology and IT and IT service management is a serious job because all your people, processes and business depend whether you have IT organization, manufacturing or banking. That’s where ITIL is considered to be the perfect and most recommended framework to manage your services.

What is the name of updated ITIL4?

The updated ITIL framework will be called ITIL4. This name reflects the role ITIL4 will play in supporting individuals and organizations to navigate the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Difference between ITIL v3 & ITIL4

In an ITIl v3 we learn that updated ITIL is more suitable for the current business environment or requirement because it has some strategic elements so that the IT service management is run along with business requirement.

On the other hand, ITIL4 is aligning with frameworks like DevOps, Agile and Lean by integrating this framework with the traditional ITSM practices to fill the gap between operational and organizational objective.

The Difference in ITIL v3 & ITIL4  core Values

ITIL v3	ITIL4
More service-oriented (Lifecycle approach to service management) Offers organized structure that adds flexibility	ITIL 4 is to provide organizations with comprehensive guidance for the management of information technology in the modern service economy.
Focuses on the full lifecycle of services, covering the entire IT firm and Clearly defines the roles and responsibilities, and reasons the role of communication in the entire lifecycle	Provide an end-to-end IT/Digital Operating Model, covering the full delivery (and sustaining) of tech-enabled products and services, guiding how IT interfaces with, and even leads, the wider business strategy

The difference - Value Vs Value co-creation

ITIL V3 2011 defined 'service' as a means of delivering value to the customer by facilitating the outcomes customer want to achieve without any ownership of specific cost or risk.

 

However ITIL 4 insists on changing the definition of Service as means of value co-creation by facilitating the outcomes customer want to achieve without any ownership of cost or risk.

Value Co – creation would not only need Service Provider contribution however equal participation and contribution from Consumers, Regulators and Suppliers.

Difference - Service lifecycle Vs Service Value System

Service Lifecycle

Service lifecycle covered five stages of service lifecycle in ITIL V3 2011. It followed more of a waterfall method. Service Strategy followed by Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operations and Continual Service Improvement.

As these lifecycle stages were often handled by separate teams and activities performed separately, it created Silo environment. That further increased the cost and slowed down the pace of IT impacting the overall Business.

Service Value System

The ITIL SVS describes how all the components and activities of the organization work together as a system to enable value creation. Each organization’s SVS has interfaces with other organizations, forming an ecosystem that can in turn facilitate value for those organizations, their customers and other stakeholders.

Service Value System defines Governance Principles as guardrails/boundaries to help the organization achieve its objectives and continually improve the services by meeting stakeholders’ expectations. To achieve set objectives, Organisations would need direction and control. This would be ensured by appropriate Governance.

To achieve set Objectives there is a need to define Service Value Chain, which would further have multiple Value Streams. Practices would be the set of organizational resources required to execute Value Stream activities. Thus SVS would help in eliminating the Silos.

Service Value Chain (V4)

An operating model which outlines the key activities required to respond to demand and facilitate value creation through the creation and management of products and services.

The six value chain activities are:

1. Plan

2. Improve

3. Engage

4. Design and transition

5. Obtain/build

6. Deliver and support

There was no specific guidance about Build in ITIL V3 2011. Service lifecycle missed the guidance for “Build” prior to starting a transition. It created a need for some guidance on “Build”. This is when Agile, Lean, DevOps and SRE (Site Reliability Engineering) were adopted by most of the companies, as guidance to address the “Build”.

To address these issues raised by Silo culture and for Service Management to function properly, ITIL4 has introduced Service Value System. IT would be interesting to see further guidance from Axelos on integration of ITIL4 with Agile, Lean, DevOps and other practices.

 

Difference - 4Ps (ITIL V3) Vs 4 Dimensions (ITIL 4)

ITIL V3 introduced 4 P’s of Service Management

1. People

2. Process

3. Product

4. Partner

 

ITIL4 introduced 4 dimensions

Organization and People

Apart from Organisation structure and detailed Roles and Responsibilities, this dimension is also providing guidance on how to manage a cultural change.

Information and Technology

This dimension is providing guidance on Information security for the entire business. It also shares insight on technologies required for Business Service Management and IT Service Management

Partners and Suppliers

This dimension is clearly differentiating between Partners and Suppliers. And also suggests to have SIAM implemented for multi-sourcing environment.

Value streams and Processes

This dimension has provided guidance on defining different value streams within processes. Value stream is defined as set of activities performed in a specific situation.

 

The difference - Processes Vs Practices

Processes

ITIL V3 introduced 5 phases of service lifecycle and total of 26 ITIL processes and 4 Functions. Focus was entirely on processes and further on only outputs not Outcomes

ITIL4 Practices

As processes were focused on only outputs they could achieve very little. ITIL 4 shifted its focus on capabilities and introduced 34 practices. 14 General Management Practices, 17 Service Management Practices and 3 Technical Management practices.

Difference between ITIL v3 & ITIL4 Certification path?

Source: Axelos

Some questions we received from ITIL v3 Experts and ITIL Practitioner?

HOW DOES ITIL V3 MAP AGAINST ITIL4?

Whilst ITIL4 retains many of the core elements of ITIL v3, and much of the existing guidance will be recognizable in parts of ITIL4, there are no direct like-for-like modules between the two certification schemes

Why ITIL4? Is ITIL v3 failing to do the job?

Let’s understand this answer from example, We all use smartphones but after a period of time, we have to change that because your device software lack to support the latest technology ultimately lack to provide full satisfaction to the customer.

This is the same issue some organizations are facing with ITIL v3 but still ITIL v3 is the best and most widely used or recommended framework for ITSM but to align with latest trends or practices like DevOps, Lean and mainly Agile, ITIL creators develop a new framework called ITIL 4 which will satisfy the customer or IT organizations requirements.

 

Will ITIL V3 certification remain valid?

The most asked question ITIL community asking is are ITIL v3 certification remains valid or not? Do not worry about that because ITIL v3 certifications will remains relevant after version 4 is released. That means ITIL practitioners who are familiar with current ITIL standards can continue to practice.

Note: The present curriculum of ITIL v3 will still remain the same as ITIL4 but ITIl4 is introducing a better examinable content. Most of the content will focus on new best practices and greater integration with other frameworks and systems, which will naturally reflect in the new ITIL4 examination

Why is there no ITIL4 Foundation Transition module?

Due to the structure of ITIL 4 Foundation, there will not be a transition module at the Foundation level. There is a large amount of new material in the ITIL 4 Foundation, therefore, a single exam is required to assess end-learners knowledge of the new ITIL 4 Foundation guidance.

ITIL Practitioner removed from the new certification scheme?

ITIL Practitioner will no longer be a separate module in the ITIL 4 certification scheme, however, the knowledge and principles from the ITIL Practitioner guidance will be fundamental to all modules in ITIL 4. Candidates can also use their ITIL Practitioner credits to continue their ITIL journey. If a candidate has collected 17 credits they will be eligible to take the ITIL Managing Professional Transition Module without taking the MALC exam.

I’ve just completed ITIL v3 Foundation certification, should I continue on ITIL journey with ITIL 4?

You should continue to achieve ITIL v3 credits under the current ITIL certification scheme now. Once you’ve achieved 17 credits, you can then formally transition your knowledge to ITIL 4 with the ITIL Managing Professional Transition Module.

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ITIL - Service Operation Overview

Service operation ensures that services are being provided efficiently and effectively as per SLAs. It includes monitoring services, resolving incidents, fulfilling requests and carrying out operational tasks.

Key Points

◉ Service Operation includes five process and four functions.

◉ Service operation deals with day-to-day activities and infrastructure that are being used to deliver the services.

◉ Service Operations is where all design and transition plans are executed and measured.

◉ From customer point of view, Service Operation is where actual value is seen.

Service Operation Processes

Service operations include total five processes as described in the following table −

Sr.No.	Process & Description
1	Event Management The objective of this process is to make sure all CIs are monitored constantly. It also filters and categorizes the events in order to decide on appropriate actions.
2	Incident Management The purpose of Incident Management is to restore the service to the previous stage as early as possible.
3	Request Fulfillment This process deals with handling requests such as change password, create new user and create email id etc.
4	Access Management This process deals with granting rights to authorized user to use the service.
5	Problem Management This process deals with finding root cause of the problem and prevent incident to occur again.

Service Operation Functions

Service Operation comprises of four functions as shown in the following diagram −

Service Desk

Service Desk is the first and single point of contact. It plays a vital role in customer satisfaction. It coordinates activities between end user and IT service provider team. It also owns the logged requests and ensures closure of these requests.

There are four types of Service Desk −

Central Service Desk

In this, there is only one central Service Desk.

Local or distributed Service Desk

It is costly but closer to the user. It is difficult to manage and maintain.

Virtual Service Desk

It is very costly and result in fast processing.

Specialized Service Desk

It includes dedicated skilled staff for specific queries.

IT Operation Management

This function is responsible for managing organization’s day-to-day operational activities

Technical Management

Technical Management staff includes technical expertise that is responsible for management of overall IT infrastructure.

Application Management

Application Management is responsible for managing the applications and software throughout the lifecycle of the service.

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Top 10 Highest Paying IT Certifications for 2021

The year 2020 has taught numerous things to the entire world and from the career perspectives, the importance of upskilling yourself has also surged in this particular period. People now have realized that to sustain in this rapidly growing tech world, you’re constantly required to improve your skillset and boost your credibility to uplift your career graph.

And the one-stop solution for this concern is CERTIFICATIONS!

Yes, you heard it right! It has been observed that candidates possessing relevant and valuable certifications are likely to get more job opportunities and significantly better salary packages (even in a pandemic situation). As per the reports of Global Knowledge, 87% of IT professionals acquire at least one certification, and earning a certification can result in a raise upwards of $12,000 a year (Isn’t it something exciting?). Certifications help you in numerous ways such as validate your skill & knowledge, provide you the expertise in a particular domain, boost your chances of getting better career opportunities, and many more.

Also, in the present-day scenario, when there are numerous standard organizations and platforms that are providing you the facility of remote learning and you can achieve a certification right from your home – then what’s holding you back from upskilling yourself and earning a worthwhile certification?

However, before opting for any certification, you need to identify several aspects such as if the particular certification is relevant to your career goals and worth it for your time and money, etc. Here, in this article, we’ll let you know about several most recommended IT Certifications along with the certification domain, price, and other details to make it easier for you.

Let’s get started with these top 10 highest paying IT Certifications that can surely help you to grow your career in 2021:

1. Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect

Domain: Cloud

About the Certification: The Google Professional Cloud Architect Certification is among one of the top-paying certifications in the industry. A Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect is quite proficient with Google Cloud technologies and is able to design, develop, and manage scalable and secure cloud solutions. This certification exam assesses your skills and knowledge for designing & planning a cloud solution architecture, security & compliance, managing the implementation of cloud architecture, ensuring solution & operations reliability, and other related areas.

Exam Details: Firstly, there are not any specific prerequisites for the Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect exam but you’re recommended to possess at least three years of industry experience with 1 year particularly for managing and handling Google Cloud Technologies. Moreover, the exam is of duration – 120 minutes and consists of multiple-choice questions. Also, the exam can be taken by you in English or Japanese language and in online or offline mode as per your convenience.

Cost: USD 200 + applicable tax

Other Certifications that can be considered in this domain: AWS Certified Solutions Architect and Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect.

2. Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

Domain: CyberSecurity

About the Certification: The Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification is unbeatable when it comes to accelerating your career in the cybersecurity field. The certification is provided by the International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC)² and is strongly recommended to cybersecurity professionals such as Security Analyst, Security Systems Engineer, Network Architect, Security Consultant, etc. Moreover, the CISSP certification exam assesses your expertise in 8 distinct areas – Security and Risk Management, Security Architecture and Engineering, Identity and Access Management (IAM), and several others.

Exam Details: The exam will be held in the Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) format in the English language. It will be consisting of nearly 100-150 questions in a multiple-choice format, and you need to solve the paper within a duration of 3 hours. Furthermore, you have to score 700 out of 1000 points for passing grades. Also, you need to have at least 5 years of paid work experience in 2 or more of the eight domains of the CISSP CBK.

Cost: USD 699

3. Exam AZ-400: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions

Domain: DevOps

About the Certification: Microsoft offers this prominent certification for individuals who want to validate their skills in the DevOps domain. This certification exam assesses your skills and knowledge related to the particular tasks – developing instrumentation & Site Reliability Engineering strategy, security and compliance plan, source control management, continuous integration & continuous delivery implementation, and other related tasks. Also, this certification acts as the prerequisite for Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert certification.

Exam Details: It is an intermediate level exam and an individual is required to be familiar with Azure administration and development with having expertise in any one of these two areas to appear for this exam. There will be around 40-60 questions in the exam that need to be solved within a duration of 210 minutes. You can prepare for this certification with the standard learning resources provided by Microsoft on their official website.

Cost: INR 4800

4. ITIL Foundation

Domain: IT Service Management

About the Certification: ITIL, Information Technology Infrastructure Library, is the most extensively accepted framework for IT service management across the world. It is basically a set of practices for IT Service Management that focuses on the link between IT services and business needs. The ITIL Foundation certifications help you to validate your understanding & knowledge of the ITIL framework and Service Management. This certificate is recommended to working professionals as well as beginners who require a fundamental knowledge of the ITIL framework and how it can be used to enhance IT service management.

Exam Details: There is not any specific prerequisite required to appear for the ITIL Foundation exam. However, this foundation level is mandatory for other higher-level ITIL certifications. There will be around 40 questions in the exam that you would need to solve within a duration of 60 minutes. The exam will be based on multiple-choice questions format and you need to score at least 26 marks out of 40 to pass the exam.

Cost: INR 15000-17000 (In India)

Read More: ITIL Certification

5. Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)  

Domain: CyberSecurity / Information Security

About the Certification: The Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) certification is offered by the renowned global association, ISACA to recognize your expertise in Information Security Governance, Risk Management, Information Security Program Development & Management, and Information Security Incident Management areas. It allows you to shape up your career from the technical domain to management. The CISM certification is widely accepted across the world and can help you to land some remarkable career opportunities in the information security management field.

Exam Details: The CISM exam can be taken through an online method or onsite in-person method as per your convenience. The eligibility will be ensured at the time of registration and will valid for twelve months. The exam will consist of 150 multiple choice questions and the duration of the exam will be of 4 hours. Also, you need to score at least 450 out of 800 to pass the Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) certification exam.  

Cost: USD 575 for ISACA members and USD 760 for non-members.  

6. Project Management Professional (PMP)

Domain: Project Management  

About the Certification: A proficient Project Manager is always in great demand in the industry and so is this Project Management Professional certification. This certification is administered by the Project Management Institute and it demonstrates the abilities of an individual for defining, planning, and delivering the projects efficiently and successfully. You’re required to have 35 hours of PMP-related training along with a four-year degree program and 3 years of experience in leading projects for this certification. In case, if you’re not having a bachelor’s degree, you need to have 5 years of experience in leading projects.

Exam Details: There are several changes in the PMP Certification exam w.e.f. January 02, 2021 – so let’s take a look at the updated details. There will be 180 questions in the exam and the exam duration will be of around 230 minutes. The questions will be based on multiple formats such as multiple-choice, multiple responses, matching, hotspot, and limited fill-in-the-blank. Moreover, there will be 1 additional break for a total of two 10-minute breaks.

Cost: USD 405 for members of PMI and USD 555 for Non-members.  

7. CCNP Enterprise

Domain: Networking

About the Certification: The CCNP Enterprise certification offered by CISCO is the replacement to the renowned CCNP Routing and Switching certification that demonstrates your skills with enterprise networking solutions. To achieve this CCNP Enterprise certification, you need to clear two exams – a core exam and an enterprise concentration exam as per your preference. The core exam is concerned with the knowledge of implementing & operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies whereas Concentration exams are concerned with various industry-specific areas such as network design, wireless, SD-WAN, automation. Moreover, the CCNP Enterprise certification is valid for 3 years and it can be recertified as well.  

Exam Details: Firstly, you need to know that there are not any specific prerequisites required for this certification but you’re recommended to have 3-5 years of experience implementing enterprise networking solutions and sound knowledge of all the concepts relevant to the exam. And you can appear for the exam through the online mode.  

Cost: Core Exam – USD 400 and Concentration Exam – USD 300.  

8. VMware Certified Professional 6 – Data Center Virtualization (VCP6-DCV)

Domain: VMware Certification / Data Center Virtualization

About the Certification: The VMware Certified Professional 6 – Data Center Virtualization certification validates your skills and knowledge for administration, implementation, management, and troubleshooting vSphere V6 infrastructures. In case, if you are new to VMware Data Center Virtualization technology, you’re required to gain at least 6 months of experience with vSphere 6, attend required VMware vSphere training courses, pass the vSphere 6 or vSphere 6.5 foundations exam, and then pass this VMware Certified Professional 6 – Data Center Virtualization Exam. Also, if you’re already having this certification, you still can opt to upgrade it to the next version.

Exam Details: There will be a single exam based on the multiple-choice question format. The exam will consist of around 65 questions that you need to solve within a duration of 100 minutes. Also, you need to score at least 300 out of the total marks to pass this exam. The exam can be taken in English or Japanese language in a proctored exam format.

Cost: USD 250

9. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner  

Domain: Cloud

About the Certification: The Amazon Web Services Certified Cloud Practitioner certification is the foundational level exam that is designed for individuals who are possessing an adequate understanding of the AWS Cloud platform. The certification is very much preferred, especially in the cloud industry and it also acts as a prerequisite for other Associate and Professional level AWS Certifications. This AWS certification focuses on assessing your knowledge about basic global infrastructure, architectural principles, value proposition, basic security & compliance, pricing models, etc. To earn this certification, you all are recommended to have at least 6 industry months of experience with the AWS Cloud.

Exam Details: There will be a multiple-choice exam and you’ll be provided with 90 minutes to complete the exam. The exam can be taken in English, Korean, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese language in any one of the online exam or onsite exam mode. Also, you can get various learning resources such as training courses, practice papers, etc. on the official website of AWS to prepare for the exam.

Cost: USD 100

10. Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC)

Domain: CyberSecurity

About the Certification: The Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) certification, offered by ISACA, demonstrate your abilities for identifying and managing enterprise IT risk and implementation and maintenance of information systems controls. The certification mainly deals in 4 areas – IT Risk Identification, IT Risk Assessment, Risk Response, and Mitigation and Risk Control, Monitoring & Reporting. You are recommended to have at least 3 years of experience in IT risk management and Information Security control before opting for this certification exam. This certification is very much suitable for mid-career professionals from the information security and enterprise risk management & control field.

Exam Details: The CRISC certification exam can be taken via an online remote proctored method or at an in-person testing center, as per your convenience. The exam will consist of 150 multiple choice questions with an overall duration of 4 hours to complete. You can take the exam in English, Spanish, or Simplified Chinese language.

Cost: USD 575 for ISACA members and USD 760 for non-members.  

So, these are several prominent certifications that you can consider in the year 2021 as per your requirements. For instance, if you’ve just started with the Cloud technology, you can opt for AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner or if you’re having some experience in the cloud, you can go with Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect or Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect. Similarly, if you want to make it big in the networking domain, you can consider CCNP Enterprise and so on..!!

Source: geeksforgeeks.org

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Take On the PMI-RMP Exam: Tips for Your PMI Risk Management Professional Certification

The Project Management Institute is best recognized for its PMP credential, but PMI also offers the Risk Management Professional certification for project risk, governance, and compliance professionals. This PMI-RMP certification recognizes the professional’s unique expertise and competency in evaluating and identifying project risks, mitigating threats, and capitalizing on opportunities while still retaining core knowledge and practical application in all project management areas.

About PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP) Certification

Projects experience or encounter some risks during the project lifecycle. Project risk management takes care of these prospects by identifying, planning, analyzing, and testing them. Because of the high level of risks, risk management becomes crucial for every phase and process involved in project management.

For the success of project risk management, there must be proper integration with project management in terms of the risk effort as per the scale to the project, recognition of the importance of risk management, project evaluation time, cost, and scope, plus there is an It is of most importance that there is open and honest communication.

Candidates including advanced skills in risk management are also suggested to make a specialized function matched to the requirements of a project environment that is increasingly global, virtual, and complex. The PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP) Certification exam's sole objective highlights the ability to recognize and assess project risks, moderate threats, and capitalize on opportunities. In which case candidates improve and protect the needs of the organization.

The certification is approved for a project manager focusing on project risk management, including large projects and complex environments. PMI-RMP is considered the most suitable choice. Unmanaged risks often lead to project failure, so effective risk management is vital to every project's success. Project Managers who master risk-related concepts can assist organizations in managing both positive and negative risks.

Project risk managers are essential to any business system that manages and executes projects. Therefore, a PMI-RMP certification validates your capabilities to handle hybrid projects and the experience to lead them to closure.

Target Audience

Anyone looking forward to gaining a solid base in handling risks in the organization can opt for PMI-RMP certification. Candidates need to have engaged in the risk management profession with one year of experience as a risk management practitioner. Risk managers, project managers, and line managers are ideal participants for PMI-RMP certification.

Eligibility Criteria for This PMI-RMP Certification Exam

• The candidate must have a secondary degree and five years of work experience. Three years should be in project risk management, and invest 40 hours in project risk management education.
• The Aspirant must have a four-year Bachelor's degree along with two years /24 months of experience in Project Management and 30 hours of project risk management education.

PMI-RMP Exam Details

The PMI-RMP certification exam has 170 multiple-choice questions. And you have 210 minutes to make it. PMI-RMP exam fees for the member are $520, and for the non-member are $670. To keep your PMI-RMP, you must earn 30 professional development units in risk management topics every three years.

Why Should You Take This PMI-RMP Certification?

Upon completion, participants will be able to:

• Applying the Agile process to priority projects.
• Developing and managing user’s stories for projects.
• Managing requirements through estimation and prioritization of product backlog items.
• Using the Kanban to control work-in-process, maintain quality, and show better results.
• Conducting sprint and release retrospectives for projects.

Preparation Tips for PMI-RMP Certification Exam

Here is the preparation strategies for PMI Risk Management Professional PMI-RMP Exam Preparation:

• It would be best to prepare a study plan of when, where, and what you will study.
• Treat your exam preparation as a Project where there are, in common, three months for the PMI-RMP exam.
• Read the PMBOK Guide entirely at least twice and create relevant notes.
• Identify the different sources to study and prepare based on the PMBOK guide but more educational.
• Revise and revisit the areas where you need more clarity.
• Audit your progress by taking mock exams, and you must aim to score 80% range at least.
• Review your answers exactly to learn from your correction and maintain a good score in the final exam.
• You must schedule the exam in advance to set your goal, and your works are directed appropriately.
• You must write the exam when you are positive and not just give the exam to get it out of your way.
• Develop a strategy based on your health and weaknesses to attempt the different types of questions to avoid wasting time and effort.
• Lastly, While answering the questions, review the questions entirely and avoid any second-guessing.

Summary

The PMI-RMP certification is the most renowned in risk management, and maintaining it validates your experience and knowledge. This certification improves your skills and makes you more employable. We suggest you apply for the PMI-RMP certificate if you are involved with risk management.

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How to get more from agile

Over the last year agile practices have been prevalent in business. In fact, the ability to be agile and adapt at speed has meant the difference between sink or swim for many organizations. The turbulence of COVID-19 has proven that it is more important than ever for businesses to be flexible. With the value of agile in mind, what lessons can we take forward? And how can we get even more from agile?

Make time for innovation

Key to agility is the ability to innovate. Outside the box thinking is what has set businesses apart during the pandemic. It has been paramount for survival. For many that has meant tweaking their business model. For example; the hospitality industry has side-stepped to offer takeaways, retailers have run click-n-collect programs, and airlines have switched from commercial to cargo flights. Here at PRINCE2.com we have channeled resources into online and virtual classroom learning, while preparing our Covid-safe classroom reopening.

Others have taken a back-to-the-drawing-board approach and overhauled their conventional business models. Take gyms for example. Many began offering online classes, but some went as far as renting out equipment for at-home workouts. Creative ideas are what have pulled businesses through when the world was turned upside down seemingly overnight. Being able to generate finances whilst closed has meant such businesses will live on and be able to reopen their doors in the future.

These few examples are evidence of just how much can be achieved when teams innovate. But it needn’t take a pressurised situation to achieve such results. In fact, you should have comparatively more time in the future, free from the panic and urgency cast by lockdowns and the pandemic. So, schedule time for innovation into your monthly, weekly, or even daily practices in order to become more agile. Have the confidence to modify your business model, whether due to a change in environment or changing customer needs.

Unite teams with data and training

A hidden issue in many businesses is access to data. We are in the data age, an era which recognises the value of information for informed decision making. And yet companies will habitually silo their information by department (think sales/marketing/development teams), or by seniority – only allowing access to management or decision makers. This can be detrimental for customer service as disparate data can equate to discrepancies in service; but it also has a negative effect on your business’ agility.

Bringing your data together and making it accessible to all will put teams on the same page and unite departments. Data is a valuable resource and by consolidating it and improving its availability you create a culture of smarter, more informed decision making. Data analysis and decision-making play an essential role in being more agile, changing direction where necessary and acting at speed.

That said, allowing every employee access to data is fruitless if they are not equipped with the skills necessary to effectively interpret it. Companies who fail to train all team members risk missing out on innovations and solutions. With professional development training for all employees you build an environment where everyone has the skill set to handle data, and to question and develop practices. Harnessing the talents of your entire team enables greater agility and will inevitably help you to progress as a business.

The way this coronavirus has shaken industries is unlike anything in business history. But with agility, a readiness to change course, and the talents to innovate and execute change, we can be prepared for any future crisis.

Source: prince2.com

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ITIL Vs PMP

If your profession calls for IT Service management to gain business value through customer services, ITIL is the best option. And if you want to grow in technical leadership or management, then obviously PMP stands as the right option.

ITIL equips you with the skill of service level delivery and PMP gives you the skill of project management.

One of the differences is that PMP (Project Management Professional) applies to projects while ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is service oriented. In addition, ITIL is specific to the IT industry, whereas PMP tools and techniques can be applied to a wide range of industries.

ITIL® v3 Foundation and PMP® are two of the most popular management certifications in the world. Every year, thousands of exam aspirants would prepare and sit for the ITIL® and PMP® exams. Some PMP® Certified Professionals would study for the ITIL® 4 Foundation Exam while some ITIL® holders would aspire for the Project Management PMP® credential. Below are the similarities and differences between ITIL® and PMP®.

Similarities of ITIL® v3 Foundation and PMP®

◉ You will need to pass an exam consisting of multiple choice questions in order to be certified.

◉ ITIL® provide best practices to implement service delivery and PMP® is a professional and systematic approach of doing projects from Initiation to Closing (though ITIL® focuses on service delivery in the Information Technology field).

Learn More: ITIL Certification

Differences between ITIL® 4 Foundation and PMP® Certification

◉ PMP® exam is about general project management knowledge while ITIL® is about information technology service management (i.e. for people working in the field of information technology).

◉ There are no pre-requisites for taking the ITIL® 4 Foundation Exam while PMP® exam will require the aspirants to have 35 Contact Hours and at least 36 months /4500 effort hours of working experience in project management over a period of at least 3 years.

◉ The PMP® Exam is much longer and consists of more questions, it is generally considered that the PMP® Exam is much more difficult than the ITIL® 4 Foundation Exam.

◉ ITIL® 4 Foundation Certification will never expire while PMP® certification holders will need to re-certify every three years by accumulating 60 PDUs.

◉ PMP® Certification holders will need to earn at least 60 PDU during every 3-year re-certification cycle in order to be able to renew their PMP® Certification status. Holders of ITIL® 4 Foundation Certification will not need any mandatory continuous education.

IT Service Support includes 6 processes:

1. Configuration Management

2. Incident Management

3. Problem Management

4. Change Management

5. Service/Help Desk

6. Release Management

IT Service Delivery is concerned with the application of principles for ensuring quality of deliverable’s in terms of IT services to the customer.

Service Delivery includes no less than 5 processes:

◉ Service Level Management

◉ Capacity Management

◉ Continuity Management

◉ Availability Management

◉ IT Financial Management

PMI ®, PMP® and the PMBOK® Guide:

The Project Management Institute (PMI ®) conducts the Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification exam on the PMBOK ® Guide.

Learn More: PMI Certifications

Almost 80% of the questions in PMP exam till 31st Dec 2020 come from PMBOK® Guide sixth edition. The Guide recognizes 49 processes that fall into five basic process groups and ten knowledge areas that are typical of almost all projects.

As defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI®), the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) is the sum of knowledge within the emerging profession of project management. This includes knowledge of proven, widely-applied traditional practices, as well as knowledge of innovative and advanced practices.

The Five basic Process Groups in PMBOK Guide® sixth edition:

◉ Project Initiation

◉ Project Planning

◉ Project Execution

◉ Project Controlling

◉ Project Closing

The Ten Knowledge areas in PMBOK Guide® sixth edition:

◉ Project Integration Management

◉ Project Scope Management

◉ Project Schedule Management

◉ Project Cost Management

◉ Project Quality Management

◉ Project Resource Management

◉ Project Communications Management

◉ Project Risk Management

◉ Project Procurement Management

◉ Project Stakeholder Management

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How to implement ITIL?

1. ITIL Implementation “When”, “Why” and “How”

ITIL, we all knew it is a best practice guide for IT Service Management. Yes, ITIL is a guide split in 5 Books and available to study. ITIL focus on “Customer Satisfaction”. Now that we understand what is Service Management?

Imagine you are the Project Manager/Service Delivery Manager and you have all the power to guide the team about the best practices to be followed in day-to-day Service Operations. You ensured all the team is following the same practice, but still “Did you find a gap?” or “Did you find something incomplete?”

Did you meet the Customer Satisfaction? Obviously NO, the above practice would be incomplete, as the sender and receiver of the Service is not just one –to– one mapping. i.e., One team (say 6 members) giving the service to Customer (only 6 members).

When you are working for an Organization either it can be Service Receiver or the Service Provider, there are many things to be considered when you want to apply the best practices you have studied in ITIL in reality. ITIL in reality is nothing but when providing the services to the Customer or when receiving the services from the Service Provider.

Consider you are working for Service Provider giving the Services to the Customer, and you want to apply the ITIL best practices, how you will know

1. What are the processes that we are agreed with the Customer?

2. How you will ensure your way of applying the ITIL best practices in the team matching the Customer requirements?

3. How you will ensure the Customer also following the ITIL best practices?

4. How you will ensure that you are team is meeting the Service Level Agreements?

5. Does the SLA Capturing mechanism agreed with the Customer?

Basically, it is not one team applying the ITIL best practices, it is mutually agreed between the Customer and the Service Provider about the ITIL best practices as a “Process” that needs to be aligned and followed. To achieve the Customer Satisfaction and to deliver the Services that are agreed with the Customer and to meet the Customer Expectation, that’s why any Organization need a separate focus on ITIL Implementation.

You are in the right direction, as you have completed the ITIL Study and your vision is to follow the ITIL best practices while providing the Services to the Customer, definitely it’s not one person ownership to achieve this, so now comes to the fact How to implement ITIL?

ITIL never says how to implement, ITIL explains what the best practices are. ITIL Framework can be implemented without tailoring i.e., ITIL AS-IS. (OR) ITIL fits in any of the framework to ensure the Quality of the Services. ITIL can be implemented by adding Agile Methodologies which is nothing “Agile Service Management”, ITIL can be implemented by adding our well known Governance Framework “SIAM”.

Let me explain you How to implement “ITIL AS-IS”, “ITIL Agile” and “ITIL SIAM” along with Pros and Cons.

2. ITIL As-Is

Out of my experience here is the best way to implement ITIL.

I’m introducing you to the ITIL Implementation Framework. This Framework is nothing but 4 Phases. 

For a successful ITIL Implementation the detailed activities segregated for each phase in the above picture.

3. ITIL in SIAM

ITIL talks about the best practices that can be followed while delivering the services to the Customer. However, ITIL didn’t explain the Governance part of it especially when “Customer” is receiving the Service from Multiple Service Providers to achieve the common business objective.

We have SIAM framework only talks about the Governance mechanism when the Customer has Multiple Service Providers for delivering the Service, but it doesn’t explain end to end Service Management.

Now your organization completed the multi sourcing RFP approach, is in the need of using both ITIL Framework and the SIAM Framework. Let’s see on How to Implement ITIL in SIAM i.e., SIAM-as-a-Service?

There are certain Pre-Requisites to implement ITIL in SIAM

◉ Understanding of the SIAM Governance Model Framework

◉ Validate whether the Business Case for implementing the SIAM is justified

◉ Able to drive the streamlining of vendor management and sourcing processes

◉ Ensure all the required Outputs at “Discovery & Strategy” , “Plan & Build” phase are ready for smooth and successful ITIL implementation in SIAM

◉ Meet the checkpoints of Discovery and Strategy , Plan and Build phase

Below are the different phases of SIAM Framework. At the end of “Implement” stage, the new SIAM with ITIL model is ready to use.

Out of my experience here is the best way to Implement ITIL in SIAM.

Once done with Implementation, now you are in Run & Improve phase of SIAM.

4. ITIL Agile

We keep hearing the buzz word call Agile Service Management. It’s nothing but implementing the ITIL in Agile way. Agile is nothing but a mindset.

If you would like to implement the ITIL in agile way, first understand Agile Manifesto with respect to Services and understand the Agile Principles align that with ITIL.

Agile principles, as per the Manifesto and Principles discussed earlier come down to a number of core ones when applied to Service Management

Implement the above principles to achieve Agile in ITIL

5. Best Practices in ITIL Implementation

◉ Regular Customer Feedback

◉ Ongoing Change Management (Service Improvements)

◉ Customer Collaboration in Swift manner

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PMP Vs PRINCE2 : Which One is Best in 2021?

You become responsible when you grow in your career. Especially when it comes to managing projects you need to have both technical and interpersonal skills. Many certification programs will help you learn about management. But you need to choose the right one and in this blog, we will explain to you about two such famous courses which are trending in business now. We will list the difference between both for you to quickly choose the one based on your project's needs and personality. We have explained you about what are they and how to get it done. 

More Info: PRINCE2 Foundation

What is Prince2?

Prince2 started from the previous efforts of managing their projects by the UK government. Its earlier version was called PROMPT II which is the acronym from Project Resource Organization Management Planning Techniques. Prince2 was developed in the year 1989. Prince2 is an acronym from Projects In Control Environment2. Now it is the major framework adopted by every small, medium, and large company for handling projects. It can be applied to all the projects and in any industry. The 7 principles, processes, and themes go hand in hand to be adopted by the organization. They make the entire management process easy, simple and eventually brings in the accomplishment of the projects. 

Why Prince2

It is just not a methodology but more than that and you can consider that as an instruction manual. The process is easy to apply and get certified. It provides you with knowledge, recognition, and better growth prospects. It is recognized globally and you can find a job across the globe in any industry. 

How to get prince 2 certification 

◉ Basic knowledge in projects and managing them is the requirement to apply for the foundation level but need to have other certification for the practitioner level. Click on the link to know more.  

◉ Once you qualify you to need to attend training and get the exam voucher to apply for the examination 

◉ Foundation - 60 objective type questions and take 1 hour to complete to score above 33 to pass

◉ Practitioner – 68 questions open book and you can complete in 2 hrs 30 minutes. Score about 38 to pass 

What is PMP

Project Management Institute (PMI) offers project management professional certified. This course offers detail about how to start as a project manager and move up the ladder. It covers the entire framework, processes, integration, scope, cost, quality, resources, and communications management. 

More Info: PMI Project Management Professional (PMP)

Why PMP

It will provide you with experience to travel as a PM. Offers better job prospects and makes you a versatile project manager. You can learn the art of management from scratch. Know the top 10 reasons to get PMP.

How to get PMP certification 

1. 4 years degree or equivalent education, 4500 hours project experience OR secondary degree with 7500 hours project experience 

2. 35 hours of mandatory training 

3. Apply for the exam after paying the fees and appear for the online exam 

4. There will be 200 questions which must be completed in 4 hours. 

5. If you score above 70% you pass the exam and qualify for a certification 

Prince2 Certification Vs PMP

Criteria	PMP	Prince2
Accrediting Body	PMI, USA	AXELOS, UK
Methodology	Based on all the project management aspects	Based on the practical nature of 7 principles of Project Management
Training Organization	Registered Education Providers (REP)	Authorized Training Organization (ATO)
Driven by	Driven by customer requirements	Driven by Business Case of the project
Certified Trainers	Not required	Required
Approach	Project management based on the knowledge-based approach	The process-based approach that is 7 key processes that specify who, when, how and where
Entry Level	Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) 23 contact hours of training and 1500 hours of project management experience	Prince2 Foundation, Eligibility: All are eligible
Core Area	To manage the project prescribes a wider range of techniques and describes core practices	The 7 project management processes need to be done and to take into account when and how it must be done, what must be done and by whom in the life of the project
Expert Level	Project management professional (PMP) 35 hours of contact training and 4500 to 7500 hours of project management experience	Prince2 Practitioner Eligibility - Project Management experience recommended
Pre-requisite	PMI Application Approval	Prince2 foundation certified or one of the following certification. • Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) • IPMA Level A® (Certified Projects Director) • IPMA Level B® (Certified Senior Project Manager) • IPMA Level C® (Certified Project Manager) • IPMA Level D® (Certified Project Management Associate). • Project Management Professional (PMP) • Project Management Qualification (PMQ) • Project Professional Qualification (PPQ)
Pre-requisite	Non-Prescriptive, Best practices	Need to be tailored for the project, Prescriptive
Open Book Exam	No	Yes the Prince2 practitioner is an open book
Entry-level Exam Format	Entry-level Exam Format	CAPM Exam Format
Expert Level Exam Format	CAPM Exam Format Multiple Choice questions, 150 questions which include 15 pretest questions, passing marks are 70% (Minimum correct answers 105) and duration is 3 hours and is closed book exam	Prince2 Foundation Multiple choice questions, 60 questions, passing marks 33 minimum questions to be answered correctly, that is equal to 55%. Duration is 1 hour and closed book
Certificate Validity	CAPM is valid for 5 years and after that need to retake the exam. PMP is valid for 3 years and needs to maintain 60 professional developmental units for renewing the certification	Prince2 Foundation Multiple choice questions, 60 questions, passing marks 33 minimum questions to be answered correctly, that is equal to 55%. Duration is 1 hour and closed book
Cost of the Exam and training	CAPM exam fee is 225 USD for members and 300 USD for Non-members.	There 2 additional attempts. The re-examination fee is 150 USD for members and $200 for non-members. you need to additionally pay for the study materials
Syllabus for entry-level	CAPM Project Communications Management Project Cost Management Project Human Resource Management Project Integration Management Project Procurement Management Project Quality Management Project Risk Management Project Scope Management Project Stakeholder Management Project Time Management	Prince2 Foundation Understand key concepts relating projects and Prince2 Understand how the prince2 principles underpin the prince2 method Understand the prince themes and how they are applied throughout the project Understand the Prince2 processes and how they are carried out throughout the project
Syllabus for expert level	PMP People - 42% Process - 50% Business Environment - 8% Read the brochure of the exam syllabus for more information	Prince2 Practitioner Apply the prince2 principles in the context Apply and tailor relevant aspects of PRINCE2 themes in the context Apply and tailor relevant aspects of Prince2 processes in the context

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Top 5 Reasons PMP Certified Professionals Are In Demand

Project Management Professional (PMP) is a globally recognized professional certification is an industry-accepted credential for project managers, offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI), a United States non-profitable professional educational institute and certifying organization. It is essential for project managers, who are willing to take their careers to the next level.

Read More: PMI Certifications

Here are the top 5 reasons why PMP certified people are in high demand:-

PMP Certified Professionals help you Gain Industry Recognition

PMP certified professionals are equipped with skills that enable them to manage projects more efficiently, smart manner, and robust compare to those who are not certified. Certified people save a lot of time and costs, with their knowledge and skills, they run projects successfully in less time and the rate is much higher.

PMP training has earned an excellent reputation among employers because naturally, every organization wants to minimize the costs of its projects and maximize output. Certified professionals indispensable to achieve this goal; hence, the demand for PMP is increasing every day.

PMP Certification, not Limited to one industry

The proficiency earned in PMP certification can be applied across industries and geographies at the time of the practical application. PMP credential is not just limited to a single standard, methodology or organization.

Getting PMP training and certification opens up a wide variety of opportunities in your career prospects. This certification gained wide recognition in numerous industries including IT, aerospace and defense, utilities, telecommunications, manufacturing, and banking & finance and the list goes on.

PMP Contributes to Land you Higher Salary

PMP course is designed to help professionals to gain expertise in management and excel at managing in various industries. Taking the PMP job prospect, it has high-end earning credibility. It will secure you with a high salaried job. In many industries, an employer always prefers a PMP trained and certified candidate over a non-certified.

Employers always consider the PMP credential in a resume as evidence that the candidate can take on challenges in a project management role, is committed towards his or her development and knows to carry the project through from start to finish. Also, it shows the commitment of an employee because it takes a lot of effort to get trained and certified.

PMP Training Improves Your Skills

Preparing for the PMP certification exam will need you to improve your knowledge base in the domains of project management: such as monitoring; planning; executing; initiating & controlling, and closing the project.

You can understand the main aspects of a project charter, such as goals, assumptions, resource requirements (material, human and financial), risks and constraints. This understanding of concepts, communication, and objectives will help you improve the performance of the team and the efficient completion of a project. PMBOK® also behaves like a common language among project managers at the organization.

Provides Networking Opportunities

PMI organizes meetings frequently for the members of the PMI club in major cities around the globe. These meetings majorly arranged to help the members to earn Professional Development Units (PDUs). These units are required to fulfill Continuous Credential Requirements, also known as CCRs.

PMI meetings allot at a specific time to market such jobs. And there are other communities online and offline by which PMPs communicate with each other. These communities help to build professional networks. Further, this certification gets you to mentor the PMI PMP aspirants.

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Solving Decreasing Sales With Lean Six Sigma

Online retailer ABC sells books, DVDs, CDs, MP3 downloads, software, video games, apparel, furniture, food, toys and jewelry. ABC has a strong market research unit and a seamless feedback loop for enhancing the customer experience. In the last few years, however, sales had dropped significantly contributing to a slip in the overall market share of ABC.

The CEO of ABC asked his executives, “If we are constantly collecting market and customer feedback, why are our sales so low? Especially given that we have highly productive teams and that our market research team was recognized as the best in the industry last year.”

An Outside Eye

John Smith, an independent Lean Six Sigma (LSS) consultant was invited by the CEO to guide ABC in improving their declining sales. Smith spent some time talking to key personnel from different teams; a few of the teams shared statistics around the productivity of their individual teams as well.

The consultant’s first observation was that each of the teams within the company operated in a silo. Each team reported their capacity, productivity and output individually. This meant that the end-to-end process of translating customer feedback to a better online customer experience was not being seen as an enterprise-level process. For example, e-Strategy responded to the findings from Market Research in isolation of the Product and Service teams.

One of the company’s executives asked Smith, “Is isolation really an issue? What does it have to do with low sales?”

Smith explained that when the teams respond independently, they don’t have an opportunity to review each other’s data and weigh in before a recommendation is sent directly to Solution and Delivery to get implemented. It is possible that a solution devised by one team could impact the work of another team. Without coordination among teams, their isolated efforts could lead to rework, overproduction or other wasted work – thereby contributing to a decrease in the percentage of customer feedback items being translated into features.

Outputs vs. Outcomes

Prioritizing customer feedback with respect to multiple parameters such as value, risk, cost of implementation and speed to market is only possible when there is a single, organizational framework to manage improvement activity. Smith proposed that the productivity of the teams should be measured based not only on output but also on outcomes.

Consider two of ABC’s website issues: 1) inconsistent branding and 2) performance issues due to an increased number of concurrent users (leading to people dropping out before finishing a transaction). Imagine also that it is four weeks before the Christmas shopping season begins – a time when the number of concurrent users increases by at least 50 percent.

The Marketing team’s priority is to get the branding correct and may be able to get those requirements to Solution and Delivery quickly without talking to Operations. But why worry about online branding if the website is already unable to cope with the existing customer traffic? Parallel processing generally focuses on individual team outputs; with an overarching improvement framework, priorities become clearer and the focus can be shifted to customer outcomes.

The Big Y

Smith described a hypothetical situation in which LSS governed at the enterprise level the overall process of translating customer feedback to a better customer experience. The big business Y in this enterprise-level process is decline in sales figures.

Figure 1: Market Research Feedback Loop (Click to Enlarge)

There are likely multiple causes contributing to the Y, Smith noted. Without having performed detailed analysis, he suggested looking at productivity and output. Various ABC teams had spoken to Smith about their individual team’s productivity as a positive metric; they were delivering a significant amount of output. The incongruity between the perceived high productivity and the declining sales led Smith to want to investigate further.

Smith shared Figure 1 with the executive team. The process shown is that of the information technology (IT) division, which helps translate feedback from online customers into product features. There are multiple stakeholders involved in this process, ranging from the survey company (external to ABC) to the internal marketing team, and from operations to the IT teams. Smith noted, “This process cuts across 10 separate teams. I have assumed productivity of about 90 percent for each team. This – in Six Sigma terminology – is the unit yield for a team. That means, irrespective of the total capacity of the team, 90 percent of the customer feedback that a team receives is incorporated into website enhancements or some process change.”

Unit Yield Versus Final Yield

Smith directed his next comments to the CEO: “This is what you see in all performance dashboards. The usual misconception is that if all the teams have a productivity of 90 percent, the average productivity for the entire process should be about 90 percent. In effect, what that should mean is that 90 percent of the feedback captured during market research translates tangibly into improvements that reach your customers. So if that was the case, why are the sales so low? The reality, however, is that only 35 percent of the feedback captured by market research translates into some tangible action. And in most cases the feedback is outdated by the time any action has been taken. Look at what happens with a mathematical model when all of the contributing teams have the same productivity.”

Productivityenterprise level = (Productivityteam)number of teams  or

Yieldoverall = (Yieldstep)number of steps

Smith continued to address the executives of ABC: “In this example of a sequential process, the productivity (unit yield) of individual teams is about 90 percent, but you have to multiply them to get an accurate measure of enterprise-level productivity (final yield). They cannot be averaged. Think of the first two teams in this process. The process begins with 100 customer feedback items at the Market Research team and 90 pass. The starting number for the e-Strategy team is then 90, not 100, and 90 percent of them pass, leaving 81. The average team yield is 90 percent but the final team yield is only 81 percent. This is how the full IT process has a predicted final yield of only 35 percent, resulting in customer dissatisfaction and poor sales.

This sequential example highlights the effect of measuring productivity at the team level without having an enterprise-wide view. Of course, the problems that ABC faced were multi-dimensional – there was more than one cause contributing to the Y of declining sales.

Operating Costs

Productivity often does not fully reflect the cost dimension of a problem, Smith explained to the ABC executives. Operating costs also affect a company’s bottom line – even if sales increase. By not having a cross-functional team or enterprise-wide process management, the unnecessarily large number of steps and teams can lead to higher operating costs related to failure, overproduction, rework, etc.

Although increasing sales is pivotal, optimizing operating costs is paramount in order to assure sustained profits. To understand the costs of ABC, it is important to examine the journey of the items leading to the 35 percent final yield.

Consider two teams in an overall process through which 100 items begin with Market Research and then need to pass through Product and e-Strategy. Assume the cost of operations of the Product team is $X per year and $3X per year for the Strategy team. In addition, assume that each team has 10 critical-to-quality characteristics to meet. The individual team yield is 90 percent for both teams so there is the possibility that each team will produce 10 defects in 100 defect opportunities. In terms of their ability to produce defect-free quality characteristics, they are at the same level.

But what is the cost of fixing such defects and the costs of rework or additional handoffs? If the costs are $Z for the Product team, then they are $3Z for the e-Strategy team. In this case, improving the productivity (throughput yield) will help improve the sales numbers, but it is critical to look at optimizing the operations to maintain long-term viability. Having a high number of teams with varied costs of operations combined with the lack of an overarching improvement framework put the company in a losing situation. This situation can be mitigated by having cross-functional teams work on a prioritized set of items delivering incremental value.

High-level Recommendations

Smith suggested that ABC enact an enterprise-wide transformation program to improve sales and profits using LSS. The key areas of focus of this transformation would include team rationalization, review of operating cost bases, a review of the current delivery methodology and reporting. In each of these areas, Smith applied the LSS filters to identify and eliminate waste as well as improve the quality at each stage – all contributing to an increase in the overall throughput.

In the end-to-end value chain of ABC, there were 10 different teams. When looked at with a Lean filter, it was obvious that a significant amount of handoffs, rework and motion contributed to a low throughput. Smith recommended forming cross-functional teams by identifying the groups with similar objectives. Figure 2 shows the value chain before and after this rationalization exercise.

Figure 2a: End-to-end Value Chain of Teams – Before Rationalization (Click to Enlarge)

Figure 2b: End-to-end Value Chain of Teams – After Rationalization (Click to Enlarge)

The rationalization resulted in a 40-percent reduction in the number of individual teams. This was a significant step for ABC as it reduced the number of non-value-added steps in the overall process and facilitated greater collaboration among team members. The reduction in the number of teams resulted in fewer handoffs, leading to a seamless flow of information.

Leaving Behind the Waterfall

The existing delivery approach in the IT department of ABC was a traditional waterfall methodology, a sequential design process used in software development in which progress is seen as flowing steadily downward (like a waterfall) through the phases of conception, initiation, analysis, design, construction, testing, production/implementation and maintenance. In the initial scenario with up to 10 teams, following a waterfall delivery created an issue with the speed to market. Apart from speed to market, most of the supposed value propositions seem to become outdated by the time they were delivered.

With fewer steps and teams in the value chain, the speed to market will improve, but further improvement is still needed. In the ideal state, ABC would deliver against a prioritized set of feedback items (prioritized against such considerations as value, risk, cost of implementation and speed to market) that are not already outdated, using a seamless feedback loop.

A key limitation with the waterfall process is the expectation that all of the best ideas have to occur at the beginning of a project. In reality, good ideas can appear at any time. A rigid, change-resistant process (even if leaner) tends to produce mediocre products, sometimes at a point in time after the customer has moved on to another company. Achieving maximum throughput, even in a Lean organization, requires each step to deliver as much value as possible at regular intervals all along the process.

By adopting an agile delivery approach, which is more flexible than the waterfall approach and follows an iterative process to deliver value quickly, the productivity of each ABC team was further increased. Using agile meant that the cross-functional teams worked collaboratively to prioritize the items that were identified by the market research team and started to deliver upon those priorities in chunks. The teams delivered more value incrementally and were able to respond to market changes dynamically. The other key benefit of this approach was that an item identified in the most recent customer survey could jump onto the priority list if it was deemed to have the potential to deliver greater value than other priority items. Introducing new changes were easier and the products became more relevant to the customers of ABC at a faster pace.

Figure 3: The Combined Power of Lean and Six Sigma (Click to Enlarge)

The recommendations for ABC can be summed up in LSS terminology by the figure in Figure 3. The y-axis is the number of teams that were part of the initial value chain. The rationalization of the teams (the reduction from 10 to six) was achieved by eliminating waste using Lean. The adoption of an agile approach (as opposed to the existing waterfall approach) improved the quality and productivity of each of those steps and teams. Lean and Six Sigma complement each other and tackle problems multi-dimensionally. Lean helps reduce non-value-added steps in a process by eliminating rework, handoffs, motion, etc. Six Sigma works relentlessly to improve the quality of the value-added steps, which contributes to reliability at the enterprise level.

The other key recommendation to ABC was the acknowledgement that each team has a different cost of operation and, therefore, a different associated cost of failure or rework. By creating cross-functional teams with representatives from each of the departments, the total cost of failure was also reduced.

LSS Powers ABC

LSS provided a structured approach to eliminate waste, reduce the cost of failure, and improve the throughput yield and speed to market of the overall processes for ABC, resulting in higher end-customer satisfaction. LSS also helped to deliver products in a manner that optimizes resources and increases value to meet customer expectations. This is exactly how Lean and Six Sigma in combination can drive greater benefits at the enterprise level than either alone.

For ABC, the number of handoffs and rework were significantly reduced and contributed to an increase in individual team yields. The pace and relevance of value delivered by ABC also increased as the teams worked against a prioritized set of feedback items, focusing on producing incremental value. Customer satisfaction increased and so did the sales.

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