Managing the Information Technology Resource Instructor’s Manual
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CHAPTER 13 – MEASURING, REPORTING, AND
CONTROLLING
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
Study of this chapter will enable the student to:
1. Understand the importance of measurement
2. Be aware of what and how to measure
3. Understand quality and efficacy of measures
5. Understand controlling IT through effective service level agreements
6. Be familiar with negotiating a service level agreement
7. Understand making SLAs work with metrics
9. Be aware of SLA myths
10. Understand who owns measurements
11. Understand how to use measurements and when they should be taken
12. Understand whether the enterprise can succeed with or without measurements
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
This chapter discusses the concept of measurement. A 10 step process is outlined to enable firms to
build their own measurement model and customize it to their environment. The role of Service Level
Agreements is presented to identify significant additional measures and encourage continuous
monitoring of many IT processes. The chapter emphasizes the role of IT performance measurement in
enabling companies to make continuous improvement to their processes through effective use of
measurement, monitoring, and enforcement.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Managing the Information Technology Resource Instructor’s Manual
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I. IT – Necessary or Necessary Evil?
II. Measuring IT
III. The Importance of Measurement
IV. What and How to Measure
V. A Unique 10 Step Approach to Developing Measurements
A. Benchmarking Works Well with the Measurement Process
B. Quality and Efficacy of Measures
VI. Reporting in IT
A. Audiences of IT Reports
B. Variety in Reporting
C. Controlling IT
D. Making SLAs Work – Metrics
H. SLA Myths
VII. Remaining Issues of IT Controls
A. Who Owns Measurements?
B. What to Do with the Measurements
C. When Measurements Should Be Done
D. The Difference between Monitoring and Simply Measuring IT
E. Can the Enterprise Succeed without Measurements?
F. How Does the Enterprise Benefit from Measurement?
EXAMPLES IN ACTION
• A Single Snapshot versus a Series of Measures – p. 355
• Measuring Projects Iteratively – pp. 355-356
• Quality of Measures – p. 361
• Negotiating a Service Level Agreement – p. 368
ANSWERS TO END–OF-CHAPTER REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What are the major components of measurement that can be used to measure performance of
Information Technology?
2. Why are financial measures often not good indicators of performance?
3. Why are nonquantifiable measures of performance better indicators than quantifiable measures?
What intangible items would be evidence of effective performance indicators?
4. Return on investments (ROI) has always been a main focus of financial analysts. What
intangible benefits of Information Technology are often difficult to quantify for this
measurement?
5. Some say that the progress toward building a comprehensive framework for IT assessment has
begun, but may never finish. Explain.
6. How would you suggest a company begin to develop performance measures for their
Information Technology function?
1. Obtain commitment and buy-in from senior business and IT management.
2. Review business and IT strategic plans.
ANSWERS TO END-OF-CHAPTER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why aren’t many measures sufficient to evaluate the effectiveness and level of performance that
Information Technology provides?
2. Does your company have an effective set of tools to measure the performance of Information
Technology? Has it been published or otherwise communicated? What are its main components
and measures?
3. What do you think are Information Technology’s distinctive competencies?
4. Does your IT function have systemic competencies? What are they? How are they measured?
5. What do you think are the main weaknesses in evaluating the performance of Information
Technology? Is your company better or worse than average when evaluating IT?