Don’t lean on lean IT in recession, says Ovum

That's the prosaic warning from advisory and consulting firm Ovum, which suggests that it's already too late for lean and agile improvement methodologies – and that the idea that waste in IT systems and software development will be reduced is illusory. "A lot of CFOs have heard that process improvement can cut the cost of IT processes, and in the current economic environment, that's very appealing," says Dr Alexander Simkin, a senior analyst and process improvement specialist within Ovum's IT Services practice. "What they don't realise is that becoming agile or lean takes time and requires major change management. If you're starting from a base of traditional processes, these approaches won't provide rapid cost reduction. "The efficiency of your processes may even get worse before they get better. CFOs need to know that and it's a CIO's job to educate them," he adds. That sais, organisations that already have an established process improvement programme aimed at waste reduction in IT have a competitive advantage in the current economic situation, he says. However, when the economy eventually improves, the cost-cutting agenda will wane and other priorities, such as improving the quality of processes will come to the fore, suggests Simkin. "Organisations that are only now seeking to improve their IT processes should consider methods that are optimum now and beyond the recession," advises Simkin. Methods that audit and certify the maturity of an organisation's IT processes, such as the Capability Maturity Model Interactive (CMMI) and the International Organisation for Standardisation's ISO 20000, are also attracting renewed interest in the recession, he says. "These methods provide CIOs with evidence to C-level colleagues and other stakeholders that investments in process improvements are providing returns," says Simkin.