Author Archives: Above The Line IT Guy

Systems Thinking

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Above The Line IT Guy

Peter Senge talks about Systems Thinking in his book The Fifth Discipline. His point is that businesses tend to apply simplistic frameworks across complex systems (i.e. your business) and fail to see an organization as a dynamic process.    The basic idea … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, IT Roles | Leave a comment

Six Sigma, Business Intelligence and Data

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Above The Line IT Guy

Six Sigma is a management strategy developed by Motorola in 1986.  Basically, it’s a set of tools designed to analyze and improve business processes by removing defects.  DMAIC is one of the project methodologies used in Six Sigma to improve existing … Continue reading →

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Data Shrinkage

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Above The Line IT Guy

The concept of shrinkage is considered when ordering raw materials to account for the loss of material during the manufacturing process.  Shrinkage is also used in accounting to represent the loss of finished product from the point of manufacture to final sale.  Data shrinkage is when data is lost in the process of … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Solution Architecture | 1 Comment

Perspective on Data

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Above The Line IT Guy

Having the proper perspective is one of the more challenging aspects of data management.   One way to approach data is to consider it in terms of information.  Data is the raw material needed to make an informed decision.   In other words, information is … Continue reading →

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‘Off the shelf’ Solution

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Above The Line IT Guy

A solution is a collection of business processes and data that allow the business to complete functions such as sell a product, process an insurance claim, or manage a payroll. Modeling the process and data required by the solution provides … Continue reading →

Posted in Cost Management, Solution Architecture | 1 Comment

Cloud Based Software Solution

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Above The Line IT Guy

Cloud computing is the latest buzz in the IT world.  How is it different from your own IT that is services based?  One word, provider.  A large company’s  IT department organizes using Service Management, typically based on ITIL to better manage services.  Within … Continue reading →

Posted in Cloud Computing, IT Services | Leave a comment