From the dWb website

If it moves measure it

Are we using the right metrics?

Do we know what to measure?

Do the metrics help the business?

Are the metrics relevant to the evolving technologies?

 Feature Article

Measuring the immeasurable

Of course you can measure it. It moves doesn't it?

This is the normal conversation with the metrics team and they are right ....... and ....... wrong.

Right because it can be measured, right because the metrics can be used, right because it can explain the cost, right because there are times we need to know things that only metrics can give us.

Wrong because those things that are being measured are becoming less and less relevant.

I agree that we need to know how efficiently the technology is working, we need to know how we are performing against a service level and we need to know how much things are costing.

My problem with management by metrics is that they measure clock speeds, gigabytes, electricity, thermal output, number of pages printed, time to pick up a phone, etc. etc. etc., they are at the micro level. Rarely do they measure the efficiency of a business process, quality of a service desk call, effectiveness of an IS architecture or impact on the business - the macro view. The current metrics are of more use to a purchasing organisation than the business management.

As new, increasingly more complex, technologies are introduced we must define new more appropriate metrics. The measures should be business focused not technology driven.

The type of macro metrics that should be considered as we introduce virtualisation, further consolidate, centralise, upgrade, etc., are - how does the IT help:

• reduce the overall cost of doing business?
• increase revenue generation?
• reduce the management complexity?
• make the infrastructure more flexible and responsive to business change

We still need the micro metrics but they must be adapted to support the overall measures as they incorporate quality, cost control, effectiveness, efficiency, process improvement, etc.

The macro measures are considered to be immeasurable. The main reasons are because:

• it isn't easy for managers to think at the macro level,
• the instrumentation does not exist as we measure at the micro level

As IT professionals we have to step up to this challenge and begin to think like business managers otherwise we cannot add any value.