Six Sigma, ITIL and PRINCE2

The OGC which produces best practice guidelines such as PRINCE2 and ITIL has been sponsoring articles which demonstrate linkage between leading management methodologies.  Two recent publications focus on Six Sigma.

They are thought provoking but there is a danger that too much time is spent trying to reconcile management processes, terminology and training which do not need to be reconciled.

Six Sigma’s strength as a quality management approach is the emphasis on process users, and the application of rigorous statistical methods to drive out waste and improve performance.

The DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control) and DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyse, Design, Verify) Six Sigma cycles can be applied very appropriately to many IT Service Management activities. Indeed they offer the opportunity for significant rigour at the ITIL Design and the Continual Process Improvement stages. Six Sigma is at its most valuable when applied to high volume repetitive processes.

The fit between Six Sigma and PRINCE2 is a bit more tenuous. Six Sigma is about the efficiency of ongoing processes; PRINCE2 is about discrete management activities with a start, middle and end.  However, many organisations will find PRINCE2 provides a rigorous framework for project implementation, and Six Sigma delivers measurable benefit from improving ongoing processes - so both are highly desirable. Moreover PRINCE2 would be no bad way to run a Six Sigma implementation, which can be complex and involve staff from many strands of a business.

You can find the OGC articles on the Best Management Practice website:
>> Integrating Six Sigma and PRINCE2 - Mike Ward
>> Integrating Six Sigma and ITIL - Jack Probst & Gary Case

What do you think? Is integration necessary or realistic?

>> PRINCE2 Training
>> ITIL Training
>> Six Sigma Training

Blogalot September 2009