Corporate and IT governance is hot—thanks in large part to demands for more efficient spending and a renewed emphasis on security, reliability, and risk management. Pivotal to the success of many governance efforts are the business frameworks, quality models, and technology standards that help enterprises improve processes, customer service, quality of products, and control.
The frameworks and quality models provide a road map for improving processes and techniques. Companies are seeing payback from these initiatives in the form of cost reductions, higher revenue, increased customer satisfaction, and greater employee productivity, according to an Optimize Research study on business-process frameworks conducted during the first quarter of this year.
The most popular business-management frameworks and quality models are total quality management (TQM), with 44% of the 156 companies surveyed using that model, and business-activity monitoring (BAM), with 42%. Other favorites are Balanced Scorecard, 36%; Six Sigma, 33%; QPR Scorecard, 17%; and Malcolm Baldrige quality system, 16%.
The most commonly used technology standards are ISO 9000x, 65%; Capability Maturity Model for Software, 32%; IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), 26%; and Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), 20%. The business and technology executives surveyed said their companies are adopting these frameworks and standards for a variety of reasons, including the desire to increase revenue, a change in senior management, and new government regulations. Each framework and quality model has specific strengths in helping to meet business goals. The top business goal among companies using Balanced Scorecard and Six Sigma is operational cost reductions. For TQM and BAM, it's higher customer satisfaction.
The technology standards also help to meet particular goals. Companies using ITIL and CMMI cited operational cost reductions as the chief corporate goal, while those using ISO 9000x and Capability Maturity Model for Software named higher customer satisfaction.
Frameworks, models, and standards have helped most of the companies meet their main business goals. About three-quarters of the managers said business-performance frameworks are having a positive impact on their companies' financial performance.
Lockheed Martin Enterprise Information Systems, a division of Lockheed Martin Corp. that provides IT infrastructure and services for the $35.5 billion aerospace and defense manufacturer in Bethesda, Md., uses a host of models and standards to improve its operations and service delivery. The division uses CMMI to guide its software-development and systems-engineering efforts; ISO 9001 as a standard for quality improvements in the services and applications it delivers to internal customers; and Balanced Scorecard to ensure that business objectives are consistent across the IT organization and that each department is meeting objectives. Lockheed Martin EIS also participates in a corporatewide Six Sigma program, particularly to ensure the quality of IT services following acquisitions. And it's looking into implementing ITIL as a model for services delivery and support.
