Executive Summary

Info-Tech Research Group 1

• Use metrics to provide powerful insight into IT performance and establish transparent credibility with the business.

• Many organizations fail to commit to even a basic or simple metrics program, even though doing so does not have to be costly and onerous.

• Info-Tech recommends that all organizations develop a metrics program, regardless of size or complexity – start with metrics that address specific business issues like spending and staffing justification or performance improvement.

• Organizations can build a metrics program quickly with 5 simple steps.

• Metrics don’t stop with collection and communication – what is more important is acting on performance issues.

Info-Tech Research Group 2

Choose metrics that result in real business impact

• Select from over 150 metrics in

13 categories

• Track performance monthly,

quarterly, or annually

• Automatically generate a

graphical representation of each

metric

• Present results including targets

and initiatives aimed at

continuous improvement in a

balanced scorecard

Select > Track > Report > Present

Track and report performance regularly using a dashboard or scorecard tool

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Info-Tech’s “IT Metrics Selecting and Reporting Template” will help you select metrics and build customized metrics reporting and a balanced scorecard

Info-Tech Research Tool:

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A balanced set of metrics can be used to:

•Justify spending and staffing levels

•Make the case for IT projects and

investment

•Demonstrate continuous operational

improvement

•Establish transparent credibility with the

business

82% of organizations would like to implement a metrics program

Most organizations want to have some metrics in place

Source: Info-Tech Research Group

See the Info-Tech note “Metrics 101: Defining and Using SMART Metrics” to get a solid understanding of how a metrics program can benefit IT and the business

Further Reading:

Organizations incorrectly believe that metrics are expensive, overly bureaucratic or unnecessary.

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“I’ve been trying to bring [metrics and reporting] in, trying to educate myself and other people about some of the different value points that it could have for us, mainly for our communication with our business units.”VP of IT , Insurance

From the Front Line:

Info-Tech Recommends

Info-Tech recommends that all organizations develop a metrics program, regardless of size or complexity

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Don’t treat metrics like a large-scale project.• Start small and simple. Evaluate metrics that are already being collected.• Create a process and mentality of collecting and reporting key metrics as a regular

process within IT.• Recognize the metrics are an iterative process and will be refined and improved over

time.• Above all else, don’t reinvent the wheel. Use Info-Tech’s tools and research to start

metrics collection right away.

N=1,347 Source: Info-Tech Research Group

Step 4 of 5 - Use Info-Tech’s MeasureIT to provide benchmarks for appropriate metrics

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“We’re using this information quite heavily right now. We’re working on the budget for 2010. This gave us an idea of where our costs were a little high and low, what we want to do staffing wise. We’ve identified what our big three priorities are for the next three yearsDirector, Global Systems Integration, Manufacturing

From the Front Line:

• Dozens of metrics

benchmarked against a

group of 40 of your

closest peers

• Read-to-present online

and PDF versions of

your customized

reports

• See how you stack up

at-a-glance

Bring your numbers, MeasureIT does the rest

For instance, MeasureIT provides an instant comparison of your top-line IT financial numbers

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Info-Tech’s “MeasureIT Budgeting Survey and Custom Benchmark Reports” provide an instant, custom report that benchmarks your metrics against a group of 40 of your closest peers

Info-Tech Research Tool:

• High level comparison

of staffing levels

compared to your

peers

• Is your staff allocated

to the right activities?

• Get your reports

instantly and present

findings to the business

Do you have the right staff mix?

Likewise, MeasureIT provides peer comparisons to staffing levels

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Info-Tech’s “MeasureIT Staffing Survey and Custom Benchmark Reports” provide an instant, custom report that benchmarks your metrics against a group of 40 of your closest peers

Info-Tech Research Tool:

Step 5 of 5 - Present performance results to stakeholders to highlight issues, accomplishments, and continuous

improvement

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• Choose a presentation style that will appeal to your audience. Some prefer text, some numbers, some graphics.

• Share the current metric value, change from previous period, and comparison to benchmark

• Provide context – what does the metric mean? How does it reflect what’s going on in the business? Are things better or worse?

• Include call to action – what is being done to improve• Raw metrics need context before being presented to the business. For example:

“Some of the metrics that I try to communicate to my senior team are the number of full-time IT people that I have; how many consultants and people that we use to help us; what the ratios are of how many IT people there are to employees in the company; what the benchmark average is out there in the industry. I use that as just a measure to say ‘here’s where we are, here's where the industry says we ought to be, so we’re really understaffed.’”Director, Engineering and Manufacturing firm

From the Front Line:

Raw Metric Sample Interpretation

IT resolved 175 help desk tickets this month

Help desk tickets are down 10% from last month but 30% of IT staff time was still devoted to resolving tickets this month. 40% of requests were related to the operating system (OS). Providing OS training to end users could reduce the number of requests and save $2000 per month in IT productivity.

75% of help desk requests were resolved in less than 20 minutes

Faster help desk response time resulted in less downtime this quarter, saving the enterprise $25,000.

Metric High LowOperational budget as a % of revenue

• If results are higher than those of peers, this could be an indication of overspending. • The business might be expanding IT.• Complex environment typically have

higher operational costs.

• Significantly below peer results could mean that IT runs a tight ship and is doing a good job managing the available budget. • Or the business is operating in a

reactionary mode or under-serving the business. IT is simply trying to keep its head above water.

Gross Revenue per IT Employee

• Might be indicative of understaffing.• Compare this metric to IT staff as a % of

all staff to get a clearer picture of whether or not the organization is truly understaffed.

• IT may be over-serving the business, or could indicate low levels of productivity.• Or IT may be overstaffed, prompting the

business to ask for justification of IT staffing.

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Where trends or benchmarks appear unfavorable, determine underlying drivers of performance

Get to the bottom of it – what it all means and how can you take action – refer to the Info-Tech notes, “The Rest of the Story: Budgeting and Staffing.”

Further Reading:

Conclusion

• A metrics and benchmarking program should be a staple for IT shops of all sizes and complexity

• Metrics and benchmarking provide valuable insight into how IT performs and areas for improvement

• Metrics should address a business issue and transparency within the business leads to mutual understanding

• Communicating the right metrics effectively with the business builds credibility for IT

• It doesn’t have to be onerous and time consuming – start small and build a program based on business needs

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Appendix – Further Reading

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• Metrics 101: Defining and Using SMART Metrics

• Metrics and Broccoli: You Might Not Like Them, But They’re Good for You

• Selecting and Reporting IT Metrics Template

• Interpreting Metrics in Business Terms• The Rest of the Story: Contextualizing 5

Top-Level Budgeting Metrics• The Rest of the Story: Contextualizing 5

Top-Level Staffing Metrics• Best Practices for Communicating IT

Metrics

• Designing an IT Metrics Program• Build the IT Business Case with Quantifi

able Metrics• New IT Leaders: Set a Few Early Metrics• Use the Right Metrics When Building an I

T Performance Scorecard• Metrics to Measure Your IT Application

Development Staff• Network Management Staff Metrics

Made to Measure• Help Desk Staff Metrics Made to

Measure• Be Prepared to Prove Performance

Claims by Mastering Metrics• How to Set and Use IT Staff Performance

Metrics• Use Metrics for Balanced Scorecard

Success• Internal SLAs May Lead to IT

Performance Metrics Anxiety