SaaS Notes

Leadership - Defining IT Performance Measures

Determining and establishing performance measures prior to a project's planning process assists in defining if the project was successful. Measurements assess whether the IT initiatives align with business strategies, ensure that the funding allocated was appropriate based on organizational priorities, and demonstrate that your investment produced the positive results you expected. What should those performance metrics be measuring?

 

For every IT initiative and project, key performance indicators (KPIs) need to be defined. KPIs are concrete, measurable indicators that can be used to report the progress of the project or the new result against its predefined goals.  It is vitally important that realistic, measurable telemetry are used in the planning stage.  Changing metrics after a project has begun or at its completion obviates the ability to measure project success, or where along the implementation process the project could be improved for a more rapid deployment in the next iteration. Additionally, changing metrics in mid-project makes it difficult to measure the project's total value to the company.

 

Established metrics identify the strengths and weaknesses of each project plan, providing the continuous feedback loop necessary to make incremental improvements providing continuous process gains.  There are five major areas for defining projects. Each area must have specific, measurable KPIs to establish the project's value to the company.

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