Some vendors have recently expressed concerns about the review of project tracking software programs that was published in the November/December 2006 issue of iSixSigma Magazine. I would like to share with you a statement regarding this article that will be published in the January/February 2007 issue. It was written by magazine editor Erin Ducceschi, and I fully concur with it. Additionally, I have invited all vendors who were reviewed to submit a letter to the editor for publication in the same issue. I also invite our readership to share their thoughts on the article. The letter should be 250 words or less and must be sent to editor (at) isixsigma-magazine (dot) com by Friday, Nov. 10.
Vendors are concerned that the article notes an “overall evaluation” and this constitutes a product endorsement by iSixSigma Magazine. I disagree since iSixSigma has always had a policy against product endorsements. It remains in effect and we continue to work hard to enforce it. But that does not mean we cannot publish product reviews by well-qualified, independent Six Sigma practitioners. We feel such reviews are valuable to our readers.
The specific issue is in the table on the last page page of the article. The table has an “overall evaluation” which is a compilation of all the assessments of each program feature evaluated (e.g., customization, dashboard, etc.) which also are provided in the table. Each feature was given equal weight in importance, so whether we had included an overall evaluation in the table or not, any reasonable reader would have reached the same conclusion by simply adding up the “program features” ratings.
Frankly, I don’t think the overall evaluation is really very important. The needs of individual businesses differ, so as practitioners process the information described in the entire article they will give the appropriate weight to the required features for their Six Sigma deployment. The decision to select a software provider, or not, will be based on their unique needs.
Letter from the Editor of iSixSigma Magazine, Erin Ducceschi
Voice your opinion. Send a letter to the editor or post a comment.
