Kaizen is the Japanese word for continuous improvement using small incremental changes. It translates as change for the better. Kai means change, Zen means for the better. Kaizen is an approach for solving problems and forms the basis of incremental continual improvement in organizations. A problem is a difficulty that has to be resolved or dealt with. When applied to the workplace, Kaizen means continuous improvement involving everyone, managers and workers alike, every day and everywhere, providing structure to process improvement.

Banish wasteful practices for more effective IT services with this Lean IT certification. Lean IT is the extension of lean manufacturing and lean services principles applied to the development and
management of information technology (IT) products and services. Lean IT’s core concern is the elimination of waste, where waste is work that adds no value to a product or service. Consultants and evangelists for Lean IT identify an abundance of waste across the business service “production line”, including legacy infrastructure and fractured processes. By reducing waste through the application of lean strategies, CIOs and CTOs from companies around the world are driving IT from the confines of a back-office support function to a central role in delivering customer value.

Lean IT helps IT organizations to ensure that they provide their customers with the best possible services. Through understanding customer value, the processes that deliver this value, the way to manage performance, the way to organize and the required attitude and behaviour, IT organizations are helped to develop a continuous improvement mindset. Lean IT is complementary to all other best practice methods.

The Lean IT approach is a way of thinking and acting, focussing heavily on organizational culture. Lean IT is associated with the development and management of Information Technology products and services.

Lean Principles are concerned with:

•     Increasing customer value.
•     Eliminating waste (work that does not add value).
•     Management as a facilitator.
•     The involvement of all employees.
•     Continual improvement.
•     Preserving value with less work.

The Kaizen level focuses on building on the learning objectives from the Lean IT Foundation to provide specific skills-based training to IT professionals responsible for facilitating Kaizen improvement events.