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 scenarios to help generate ideas for your own environment.

In this, part 2 of the "Applying Kanban to IT Processes" series, we are exploring a generic help desk environment and how Kanban helps them improve thei...

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 scenarios to help generate ideas for your own environment.

Lately I have seen an increase in the number of articles in the Development and Agile Project Management communities that describe the merits of Kanban, showing the value that Kanban has helped provide in conjunction with Agile methods. Most of these articles focus heavily...