Lean IT is the extension and adaptation of Lean manufacturing (a management model widely used in industrial processes) to IT environments. Lean IT helps organizations and IT departments provide better services to customers by eliminating everything that is not aimed at providing value (reducing waste). Lean focuses on understanding value for the customer, continuous improvement of the processes that provide this value, how to manage performance, the organizational structure, and the attitudes and behaviors needed.

Lean IT provides a generic improvement approach that focuses on behaviors and attitudes. It can be applied throughout the IT domain, from eliciting requirements to maintaining systems, and must involve the entire organization. Lean IT is not a tool or set of best practices; it is a philosophy and way of working which seeks to improve day-by-day. The purpose of lean is to break with the common way of IT thinking: “If it’s functional… don’t touch it,” and replace it with: “If it’s not effective, make it effective! If it’s effective, make it efficient! If it’s efficient, improve it!”

Lean IT Association (LITA) is an organization whose objective is to generate a knowledge standard, promote the value it brings with respect to other frameworks, and develop a professional certification for the field.  LITA is publishing the largest body of knowledge on the values, fundamentals, methods, practices, techniques, and lean management tools in IT environments. Their certification scheme is structured in three levels of specialization (Foundation, Practitioner, and Professional) and incorporates four certifications: Lean IT Foundation, Lean IT Kaizen, Lean IT Leadership, and Lean IT Coach.

Netmind is accredited to deliver the following certification trainings.