Greatly Improved Process for Information

Problem

The United States Army Europe (USAREUR), Office of the Chief Information Officer (commonly known as the G6) is responsible for deployment of software and information technology (IT) hardware systems across Army installations in Europe.  An important mission of this organization is ensuring that all IT resources are up to date with the latest software versions and virus protections.  As an organization located outside the United States, USAREUR is a target of IT warfare, and must remain active in guarding against attacks from multiple cyber enemies. 

To monitor the status of IT resources across Europe, the G6 conducts data calls to subordinate organizations in order to audit equipment and identify needs for software and hardware upgrades.  This process takes on average 30 days to complete per location. However, one recent call took eight months.  This excessive cycle time resulted in data that was out of date.  In addition, the data was in many cases inaccurate and incomplete. 

Without sound data to monitor its IT resources, the G6 could not insure that the equipment was current and safe from attacks. To address this issue, a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Black Belt team was assembled by the Deputy G6 to develop and implement a new process. 

Approach

The team measured the current process to identify specific steps and bottle necks.  The team also identified needs for new resources such as standard spreadsheets to capture data.  It was found that the process to capture the data involved manual entry of information into Excel spreadsheets and lacked clear instructions. This led to a Voice of the Business (VOB) exercise to differentiate between the information that was critically needed and information that did not provide value with respect to measurement of resource status, version, and security.  It was found that during the 30-day average cycle time the data call required, 30 man-hours were needed to complete it. 

Analysis of the process showed that most of the process steps were non-value-added and that improvements to the current process would not yield the benefits the G6 wanted.  Through the VOB exercise, the team defined what the G6 staff required to provide a clear picture of IT resource status.  With VOB requirements understood, a brain storming exercise was conducted to identify potential solutions within the Improve phase of the overall LSS Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) process.  This session identified an automated option (implemented via software) that would provide the information required in less than five minutes with minimum user or personnel interaction time required.  Deployment of this capability to a pilot group yielded 100% accurate data in almost real time and enabled the G6 to capture a current picture of its IT resources including servers. 

The G6 established a plan to deploy the data call software to servers and other IT resources within Europe. The G6 also established a procedure that would equip new IT equipment with this capability before being fielded. 

Results

The new process yielded a near elimination of process cycle time and eliminated time spent to capture information from Army personnel deployed across Europe.  The time spent to audit the equipment was significantly reduced and rework of information captured was eliminated.  Procedures to utilize the new software were written and the process was fielded.  In many cases, LSS project results are stated as a specific percent reduction of effort or resources that result from a process improvement project, but in this case the process was virtually eliminated.  This project resulted in 95 percent cost reductionto complete data calls which enabled $300,000 in cost savingsacross four years.  This project also demonstrated the value of continuous process improvement in an IT environment and led to additional improvement activities.