A design for Six Sigma case Study: Creating an IT change management system for a mid-size accounting firm

Abstract

Accounting firms provide financial services, such as bookkeeping, tax returns, and audit services. Unfortunately, employees sometimes encounter problems with Information Technology (IT) systems that interrupt their work. While the IT department is responsible for fixing these problems, their ability to do so is often hindered by the lack of a formal IT change management system. Such a system would improve the timely identification of prior changes to IT systems that may be related to current problems faced by the IT department, thereby reducing unplanned downtime and IT staff frustration. This work describes a case study that used the Design for Six Sigma methodology to establish a process for effectively managing IT system changes for a mid-size accounting firm. This structured design approach provided an underlying framework for this organization to translate users’ needs/expectations into the design of a new system that helped to improve the communication and awareness of system changes within the IT department.