Module 4 Case: System Maintenance Issues On Information Security

Ethical, Political, and System Maintenance Issues on Information Security
Name:
Course:
Instructor:
Date:
PART I
Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), invented by Dr. William Edwards Deming is an iterative approach that has four stages that can be used for the continuous improvement of products, process and services and also in problem-solving. It is generally for testing the solutions that look possible, result assessment and putting into work those that seem to work. The developer of this process, Deming aimed to find and identify the causes that led to the failure of products such that they did not meet the expectations of the customers. It helps businesses to identify what need to be changed and then put them into a continuous feedback loop.
According to Mind Tools Editorial Team, the PDCA has got four stages; Plan, Do, Check and Act. The Plan phase involves identification and understanding of the problem or opportunity that the business would want to take advantage of. The simplex process gives the first six steps that can be very helpful in this. It guides through the process of information exploration, problem definition, ideas generation and screening and plan implementation. This stage is finalized by a quantitative statement of the expectations.
In the Do stage, a small-scale pilot project is used to test after the identification of the possible potential solutions. What this does is to find out if the desired outcome can be achieved with minimal disruption of the other operations. While running the pilot project, data to show if the plan works or not should be gathered. The collected data is very useful in the next stage. It should, however, be noted that this stage the term ‘Do' means ‘Try' or ‘Test' and not the full implementation.
In the check stage, the results of the pilot project are analyzed. The analysis should be according to the expectations stated in the first stage. It should show if the idea worked or did not. If the idea worked, then the next step should be implemented. If the idea did not work, then next step to take is to move back to stage one. It is also advisable to not to settle for a solution that is less than satisfactory but rather put more changes into the trial. This involves several repetitions of the ‘Do' and ‘Check' stages.
The last stage is called the Act stage, and it requires the implementation of the solution. It should, however, be noted that the PDCA is a loop process and not a beginning and end process. The new solution of the service or product serves as a foundation for new and better ways.
The PCDA process is very vital when it comes to the improvement of the product. It makes it easier by a systematic breakdown of the processes into smaller steps that can be easily accomplished. Its effectiveness is shown in the following. The process is very useful in the Total Quality Management or initiatives of six sigma implementation. It is however generally used in the process improvement. It also aids in the exploration of some problems' solutions. These solutions are then piloted in a manner that is well controlled before finding the best one to be implemented. It is also helpful in maximizing the usage of resources by avoiding wastage. This is ...