Open source business applications – Complements Six Sigma

Enterprise software applications are now defining new heights for Six sigma. As we all are aware that Six Sigma is defining any process in a certain manner so that it can lead to financial and non financial benefits yet with quality result. Where Sigma Sigma defines the process, enterprise software solutions standardize the process and quantify the entire process which can be further used to define six sigma.

Earlier these enterprise applications were considered to be very bulky and expensive. They were often implemented by big and complex organizations only. But now after introduction of Open source applications even SMEs have realized it as an inevitable need for standardizing the business process. It not only standardizes the processes but also cut the cost dramatically. Taking an example of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) needs in any organization, in real scenario any medium size organization normally interacts with hundreds of client in a day. These interactions are done by the customer executives. Now, for higher management it is nearly impossible to track each and every interaction. It is also not possible to find out whether the set standards are being practiced or not. Enterprise applications like CRM help these organizations to keep all the related data in central CRM database and allow the users to execute it whenever required which ultimately leads to more customer satisfaction and better sales management. It helps in quantifying the entire pre sales, sales and post sales process and provides better sales projections.

If we put our eyes deep inside the root values of Enterprise applications and Six Sigma, we can easily identify the areas where both complement each other, like:

a)      Six sigma is the statistical modeling of business process; enterprise applications like CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and ERP provide the statistical basis for the modeling.

b)      To carry out Six Sigma projects organizations has to follow a defined sequence of steps; enterprise applications can very much help in defining the exactly same sequence of steps throughout the process.

c)      One of the most important objectives of Six Sigma is to make decision on the basis of variable data, rather than assumption and guesswork; Enterprise / business applications help the higher management in getting the live data of the related process in more executable way.

So we can see that Enterprise applications, which are often called as Business applications, help an organization to practice Six Sigma effectively. Some well know business applications are CRM, ERP, Inventory management, Project management, Content management applications, Document Management System etc. Out of which, open source CRM like SugarCRM together with Open source CMS like Joomla, Drupal has proven its successful global presence. These open source applications are unlike proprietary applications and adaptable with any type of business environment. Being an Open source these are inexpensive and reach at their ROI very quickly. But, while choosing a proper business application at any organization, the objective should be fixed for achieving six sigma.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 31st, 2010 at 8:43 am and is filed under PenguinCRM. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.