ahmed s. elsheikh_how lean six sigma can solve chronic problems_secc webinar (april 2014)

© Copyright Software Engineering Competence Center 2014

Software Engineering Competence Center

HOW LEAN SIX SIGMA CAN SOLVE CHRONIC PROBLEMS IN IT & SOFTWARE

February 19, 2015 © Copyright Software Engineering Competence Center 2011

Ahmed S. El-Sheikh Senior Quality Consultant, SECC.


THE PRESENTER…

Ahmed S. Elsheikh,

Senior Quality Consultant, SECC

I worked with many organizations, in Egypt and the Gulf area, to enhance their capabilities and achieve higher performance levels through many methodologies and frameworks such as SEI-CMMI, SEI-TSP/PSP, Six Sigma and Agile.

http://www.secc.gov.eg/Bios/Ahmed _El-Shikh_ Bio.pdf



What Are Our Typical “Chronic” Problems?

3

We usually

deliver late

Cost is high

A lot of

rework

We find a lot of

defects even

after delivery

Large number

of unmet SLAs

Working over

night to meet

expectation

Customers

are not happy

……….???


Going Back Into The History…

4

SW Inspection, that had been introduced 28 years ago by Fagan in

1976 at IBM, can reduce the total number of defects found in test or

at customer side, and hence, the total project duration and cost…

Source: Brykczynski, Meeson & Wheeler “Software Inspection: Eliminating Software Defects” , 1995


Impact of Inspection on Defects…

5

Applying SW inspection can produce the above effect...

Hence, introducing what we call it “Appraisal cost” can

dramatically reduce the overall Cost of Poor Quality (CoPQ)

Source: Brykczynski, Meeson & Wheeler “Software Inspection: Eliminating Software Defects” , 1995


Lean Six Sigma:

Usually focuses on reducing

defects as well as reducing cost &

cycle time. However, reducing

the defects usually leads to

reducing both costs and cycle

time

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) & SW Industry

SW Inspection:

SW Inspection is usually used to

find defects early during the life

cycle, which reduces the defects

in the delivered product and the

cost/time required for bug fixing

6

“Lean Six Sigma” focuses on detecting the “Root Causes” of the problems, and “Sources of Waste”, “Early” before impacting the

customers outside the organization


After LSS:

We were able to help the

company reduce 58% of the total

number of defects slippage to QC

in any project, and hence, they

considerably reduced the total

cost

LSS in SW: A Real Case

Before LSS:

The number of defects slippage to

customer was not a big deal.

However, the total effort spent to

achieve this result was

dramatically huge

7

Average Defects Slippage to QC 78.5%

Average Defects Slippage to Customer 2.04%

Average Days from starting of testing phase to final acceptance 144.32

58% Reduction


After LSS:

We were able to help the

company reduce 88.6% of the

average duration for the received

tickets. This means that the

average duration became 2.5

hours

LSS in IT: A Real Case

Before LSS:

The average duration for closing a

hardware failure ticket, for an

internal service provider, was 22

hours.

No need to explain or discuss the

level of this internal customer

“Dissatisfaction”

8

88.6% Reduction


Where Is The Magic ???

From Problems to Opportunities:

SS transfers the attention from

the problem itself to the “Root

Cause(s)”

Known the root cause(s) is a

great

“Opportunity For Saving”

9

Source: www.waterpowermagazine.com/

“Problems” == “Opportunities” “Problems Under The Surface” == “Bigger Saving Opportunities”


Sources of Waste in IT Software

10

Source: http://fanli7.net/

The “Lean” part of the LSS focusses on “Eliminating Wastes”


Sources of Waste in IT Services

11

Source: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/bpm/

The “Lean” part of the LSS focusses on “Eliminating Wastes”


How To Dive Deep Under The Water?

Work Is A Process:

Every piece of work is a process.

However, how big should be the

size of this process under

investigation?

Dealing with “Large Chunks”

means facing too much

complexity to be solved

You need to “Divide-and-

Conquer” to deal with the

right size and complexity

12

Source: www.slidegeeks.com

How much is enough?…that is the “Real Challenge”


Dive Deeper: The Spaghetti Process

13

Source: www.chuckwebster.com

The “Devil” is not in the details, instead, it is the “Opportunity of Waste Reduction”


You Need to Focus

First Things First:

Not all factors are equal. Each

one has “Different Contribution”

into the total CoPQ:

• Highest contributing elements

should be tackled first

• Of course, “If it is possible”

14

Do not try to “Eat The Elephant” at once…


Benefits vs. Cost: Feasibility

Benefit/Cost Analysis:

There are many known methods

for analyzing the relation between

the cost and benefit, such as:

ROI: Return on Investment

PP: Payback Period

NPV: Net Present Value

IRR: Internal Rate of Return

15

Source: www.mimiandeunice.com

B/C

ROI

PP

NPV

IRR

Is this true?...


Business Case-2:

Benefit amounts and timing show

“Great Returns” in comparison to

the potential costs:

Benefits/Cost Analysis: Real Cases

Business Case-1:

Cost amounts and timing show

“Huge Losses” in comparison to

the potential benefits:

16

A visualized & solid “Business Case” is a CSF…


The “What” & “How” of Measurements…

Measurement System: Measurement Process:

17

Source: bristle.com/

Source: http://www.ibm.com//

Using standard “System” and “Process” ensures correctness and consistency


MIS Example-2:

A manual data collection system

that is carried out by metrics

engineers. They aggregate raw

data into some key metrics…

Build an MIS: Is this Realistic?

MIS Example-1:

“A distributed database system”

that collects data from multi-sites

and aggregates this in a single

executive dashboard…

18

How much is enough?…again, that is the “Real Challenge”


Where To Play: The Risk/Reward Ratio

Achieve The Right Balance:

Intuitively, easy projects are low

risk projects, but are with low

reward too.

What will you do? It may depend

on:

Your risk attitude

Your company risk attitude

The current situation

….etc

19

Source: www.investopedia.com/

Finding a project in the “Sweet Spot” is a CSF…


How To Play: Six Sigma Project Stages

20

Source: www.leansigmainstitute.com

This is what we call the “DMAIC” life cycle…


Who Should Play: Organize for Six Sigma

A Balanced Team:

To successfully complete the six

Sigma project, you need many

players with different focuses and

engagement levels, including:

A black belt

A green belt

A yellow belt

A master black belt (may be…)

21

Source: consulenza-iso9001-eng.blogspot.com

Forming a “Balanced Team” is a CSF…


Where Is The “Bad News”?

You will need to use some (or

actually a lot of) statistical

techniques such as sampling,

hypothesis testing and regression

analysis….

Depends mainly on understanding

the (underlying mechanisms) of

the theoretical and practical

probability distributions

22

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/


23

It Is Not That Bad, Do Not Worry…

“Statistics” is just a mean, not a “Destination”…


Six Sigma vs CMMI – 1

24

Aligning “Six Sigma” with other initiates is a CSF…


Lean Six Sigma target is to “Optimize Your Measured Performance”.

Hence, it can cover up to “CMMI Maturity Level 5” requirements

25

Source: http://caminao.wordpress.com/

Lean Six Sigma vs CMMI – 2


The “Incapable” & “Immature” SW Firm…

Before LSS (i.e. with high CoPQ):

Defects “Injection” pattern is skewed to the left

Defects “Detection & Removal” are delayed and skewed to the right

Defects stay “Long Time” in the system, which “Increases” costs

26


After LSS (i.e. with low CoPQ):

Defects “Injection” pattern is centered around the “Design”

Defects “Detection & Removal” happens early in the lifecycle

Defects stay “Shorter Time” in the system, which “Decreases” costs

27

The “Capable” & “Mature” SW Firm…


THE PRESENTER…

Ahmed S. Elsheikh,

Senior Quality Consultant, SECC

email: [email protected]



ahmed s. elsheikh_how lean six sigma can solve chronic problems_secc webinar (april 2014)

Software

software defects

average defects slippage

lot of defects

total cost lss

average duration

hours lss

cost source

impact of inspection