Until recently, most quality departments were unable to select their own quality management system (QMS) software.

Think about it. From hardware sizing to system requirements, database types to installation, only IT had the expertise to procure and maintain on-premise QMS software. At many companies, this resulted in quality simply “receiving” an IT-selected solution that didn’t fully meet its needs.

As quality systems have become more connected to the top line and bottom line, QMS is an increasingly strategic application. But this shift still didn’t give quality departments the keys to making their own decisions. That is, until QMS came to the cloud.

Cloud QMS has upended this arrangement, and quality can now take the driver’s seat. The funny thing is, IT couldn’t be happier.

Why would IT want to play a smaller role in selecting and maintaining QMS software?

To answer this question, we turned to Pat Whyte, vice president for information technology at New Chapter, a dietary supplements company that recently selected a new cloud-based QMS and document control solution.

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