Getting It Right the First Time - The Importance of Quality in IT

There is an old saying in Information Technology which is ancient by the standards of the industry but one which nevertheless seems to need to be rediscovered anew by each successive generation. That simple expression of wisdom is: "Get it right the first time" In fairness, that saying probably doesn't have its origins in IT but it is particularly true in this discipline because technical mistakes are easily made but sometimes exceptionally difficult and expensive to correct. You simply can't have IT support staff or developers just operating on a trial and error basis when it comes to your installation. Learning on the job may have its advantages and advocates in some industries but within IT it's an approach guaranteed to yield catastrophe. Why? Broadly speaking, any error in Information Technology found after implementation will cost about 10 times more to put right than would have been the case had it been detected and corrected at an earlier stage in the development lifecycle. Then there are all the additional issues arising from visibility. Mistakes in IT technical computer support services or application development could stop your business dead in its tracks or be visible to your customers. Even if that doesn't result in a direct cost to your establishment, it may well prove to be embarrassing and also possibly detrimental to your reputation and credibility. So, the message is clear. You really do need to ensure that your technical support personnel, whatever specialised services they are providing, get it right. How can you make sure they do so? Clearly you are an expert in your business and presumably want to spend your time managing it rather than becoming a technical guru and IT quality assessment supervisor. So, there is no suggestion here that you should be micro-managing the activities of your IT staff whether they are in-house or outsourced. If you have an in-house IT shop then clearly you will be recruiting senior IT people of the highest calibre who will be able to make sure that standard industry approaches to quality assurance will be adopted at all times. However, if you have part of your IT operation outsourced then you will need to make just as certain that you have selected IT technical support services that are expertly qualified and operate strict standards for quality assurance in everything they do. This is yet another reason why price alone should never be the prime criterion for selecting a service provider in this domain. It's always worth asking external providers what quality assurance methodologies they adhere to and how they will make sure they "get it right the first time". If they are professional and suitably qualified they will understand your question and give you a satisfactory in-depth answer. If they don't understand the question or are an unable to answer comprehensively, then you might want to think about perhaps looking to another organisation to entrust with your business! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=V._Sood Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8962094