When I think of business, and specifically Quality Management Software, I am reminded of the Moneyball concept. Too often, you see features and functionality that are put into the solution that may or may not get used, you see tools that require a lot of development or customization to work for your business, and you see limited returns for the investment. These things don't add up. An investment in Quality Management Software should fit the need, fulfill the need and allow you to adapt to your business processes.
It's about innovating to succeed. Let's look at how you can apply Moneyball concepts to Quality Management Software.
1. Configure, not Custom: Work within the tools, and leverage them to work for you. This not only applies to pitchers and position players, but also the tools of a QMS solution. You cannot fit a pre-defined process into your unique business process. You need to be able to adapt the solution to fit your needs. This is where the concept of flexibility and configuration come into play. You want to have a solution that comes with the basic functionality you need, but be able to alter the processes - the forms, workflows, fields and such - to meet your changing needs. Configurable QMS software is adaptable, lower investment, and will fulfill your needs.
2. Find the Best Talent (Best-Practices): While we aren't scouting for phenoms in the Quality Management Solution space, we are looking to make sure that what we put in place is going to meet our core needs. Look for the solution that has all the right elements - Document Control, Corrective Action, Training, Audits and others. Too much and you are paying for maybe more than you need; too little and you're not getting what you want. Look for a solution that incorporates the core tenets of QMS and build from there. That way, you haven't sacrificed depth for value - striking the balance is the key.
3. Minimize Your Costs with Cloud Deployment: The Moneyball concept was about smart investment; it's about leveraging the latest concepts and, in our case, technologies, to achieve the ultimate result. In baseball, it's winning; in QMS, it's about compliance. A QMS can be an investment for an organization, but depending on how you are approaching your deployment, you can save money by looking for cloud-based resources. By leveraging a QMS that sits in the cloud, you can save IT resources, optimize your business planning, and spend more time on the resources that are focused on "winning" rather than resources that are focused on "maintaining". Unlike a bloated major league contract, the concept of SaaS/Cloud-based deployment provides the best use of your budget - you can put more money into using the solution than maintaining it.
4. Measure Everything - Reporting Tools are the saber metrics of a QMS: One of the key takeaways from the Moneyball methodology is that by leveraging the data, you can make better decisions and have greater visibility into what's going on in the field. In a similar sense, you cannot effectively run an automated QMS without some form of Reporting engine. Many organizations recognize this, but often invest a lot to get this functionality. Look for a QMS that has a native reporting engine built in - this way you can manipulate your data and see what trends are out there, and where you need to shift your processes, and ultimately make better long-term decisions for your Quality Management program.
Maybe it's a stretch trying to equate baseball to QMS, but some of the basic elements do apply. You want to make sure that you are looking for a solution in Quality Management that focuses on the best features and processes, allows you to grow with your investment, and provides the ability to measure and report everything you do. Adapt and win is the Moneyball motto - for QMS it should be adapt and succeed.