Measurements have value. Measure something over time and we have a baseline. Monitor that measurement and we can see problems before they become obvious. Experiment with minor changes, and we can compare to the baseline to tell if we have improved or hurt our performance. Collect enough measurements and trends will emerge, exposing a layer of information we didn't have access to before.

In an IT department there is a tendency to classify operations as being reactive or proactive and, often, pressure to have more of the latter and less of the former. Pressure, that is, until a PC breaks down, a network connection drops, a data record goes missing, or any of a dozen other issues which will ultimately receive more attention than disaster recovery, employee development, business analysis, strategic planning and the rest of a long list of proactive tasks. Immediate, defined problems are far easier to focus on than tenuous concepts of proactive prevention.

Level of Pain...

This is the fourth article in a multi-article set that describes the basics of Kanban and explores applying Kanban to IT Processes. Part one provides a basic overview of Kanban and how it is used in manufacturing. The remaining parts explore sample scenarios to help generate ideas for your own environment.

This is the third article in a multi-article set that describes the basics of Kanban and explores applying Kanban to IT Processes. Part one provides a basic overview of Kanban and how it is used in manufacturing. The remaining parts explore sample scenarios to help generate ideas for your own environment.

In this, part 3 of the "Applying Kanban to IT Processes" series, we are exploring the use of Kanban to manage a short-term functional project. This examp...

This is the second article in a multi-article set that describes the basics of Kanban and explores applying Kanban to IT Processes. Part one provides a basic overview of Kanban and how it is used in manufacturing. The remaining parts explore sample scen…

This is the first article in a multi-article set that describes the basics of Kanban and explores applying Kanban to IT Processes. Part one provides a basic overview of Kanban and how it is used in manufacturing. The remaining parts explore sample scena…

What is a Project

Most people, on hearing the term 'project', immediately think of the long, drawn out affairs including large percentages of the company attempting to achieve business-transforming achievements. However if we look at projects based simply on the number and type that occur, we find that a far greater percentage are small affairs with short timespans, small goals, and smaller teams. These smaller projects consume the resources that aren't on the larger projects, account for the resources from those larger projects when the larger project is not active, and often ...