Name: Judy Fainor
Title: Chief Architect, R&D
What brought you to Sparta Systems?
Having been in the software business for 29 years, I believe it is rare to find a small company like Sparta that has been an industry leader in Enterprise Quality Management for almost 20 years and continues to look for ways to evolve and innovate on a continuous basis. The Sparta leadership team is dedicated to taking the company to the next level by researching emerging technology and implementing an architecture strategy that meets the rapidly changing industry and demands related to Enterprise Quality Management. The team recognizes that technology plays a huge role in building enterprise software, and as such, is dedicated to hiring the most talented people they can find. After meeting with the company’s leadership team and hearing Sparta’s vision for the future, I was very excited to offer my experience and work with a very talented team of professionals contributing to the growing success of Sparta Systems.
What is the biggest problem enterprises face with quality management?
I believe one of the biggest problems enterprises face when it comes to quality management today is the existence of multiple quality management solutions or processes; some of which involve manual interaction leading to operational inefficiencies with a high degree of error increasing the level of risk management required. Simply put there is a lack of “enterprise” in their quality management solution(s). With increased regulatory requirements, companies are responsible not only for their in house production and practices, but also for those of their third party contributors as well. The need for a centralized quality management solution expanding beyond the company walls is a necessity and requires the adoption of different technologies and a change in the way in which day-to-day business is conducted.
The ability to expand beyond company walls opening up the quality management process for all parties involved in the product life cycle is not only a “nice to have,” but is fast approaching as a “must have.” It requires companies in highly regulated industries who have been reluctant to adopt newer technologies to open up a bit and recognize how cloud-based services, mobile technologies and analysis of existing data within the enterprise to create actionable or predictive analytics, will not only help to address regulatory requirements and streamline processes, but at the same time reduce operational costs and risk management.
How do you see the quality management industry advancing in the next 2-5 years?
Reducing operational costs will continue to play a major role for every company. Having a robust centralized quality management system utilized by companies and their external affiliates will become absolutely necessary. Globalized services and access to those services “anytime, anywhere” will make SaaS-based solutions and access through mobile devices commonplace.
In addition, companies are already looking for ways to analyze the data they have collected and stored in various forms over the years. The need to gain insights into data to improve operational efficiencies, customer satisfaction or trends leading to proactive measures can greatly reduce the cost associated with inefficiency and/or poor quality. I believe initiatives leveraging Big Data platforms will gain significant traction as this technology matures and standards begin to form. Sparta is watching this space very closely to understand how quality data maintained in TrackWise systems can play a role.
Also, the need to exchange quality data between different entities or disparate quality management systems will become more prevalent as companies continue to merge or share information is a collaborative manner. As technology continues to evolve, the need for a standard means of exchanging quality data will be necessary; Sparta plans to be a major contributor in this area.
Find me:
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/judyfainor
Connect with Christian Rockwell on Google+.