The formula for providing useful performance KPIs

According to a Vanson Bourne survey, 90% of managers in the sample expect business-oriented KPIs to come from the IT oversight department. This confirms that computing performance is no longer a concern of IT alone, but of all departments in the company that use the system on a daily basis.

This represents a significant evolution of the job as an IT supervisor and your responsibility to ensure equipment availability and communicate more actively with users.

Business KPIs: The New Priority for IT Operations Managers

According to another CIO survey, 81% of CIOs face high pressure to justify their technology spending and demonstrate ROI. This is not always easy, since when everything works, nobody is aware of the actions carried out by the operations and supervision teams. Instead, at the slightest failure, it is pointed out to the IT department. That is why it is necessary to regularly provide KPIs and assess the actions of the employees of the IT team.

Gone are the days when business and IT departments were in conflict. Today, they work hand in hand and must communicate. The IT department creates value for the business. Companies have become more technological and are more involved in IT projects. But for this to be effective, they need support and visibility into the performance of their infrastructure and applications. Hence the need to share clear and relevant KPIs such as the availability rate of the equipment, the response time of the applications, the maintenance costs, the number of alerts, the number of connections or the number of unused software.

It is necessary to regularly provide KPIs and assess the actions of the employees of the IT team

These KPIs not only “make the invisible visible”, but can help managers make decisions in real time. These indicators offer a unique view of SI availability performance, guiding on priorities and actions to be carried out. It is a lever to justify an increase in the IT budget. Because if the current infrastructure is holding back the performance of the company, it may be necessary to invest.

It’s time to say goodbye to IT-centric monitoring

IT monitoring is evolving. In fact, there is no longer talk of supervision but of observability. In other words, having permanent access to reliable and consistent information in order to be able to react quickly.

Too often, the field of supervision moves away from the reality of the IS due to its rapid evolution. This reduces the ability to observe and, therefore, to act. However, more and more data related to computer operations is being collected. This data must be analyzed and communicated through accurate and relevant KPIs in real time, such as: Service availability; performance monitoring of service providers; causes of unavailability; among many others.

Another difficulty that often arises is that many IT supervisors send a report in the morning with the status of the SI (the famous “morning report”). A good initiative that is not enough because a few minutes after its publication, the status of the SI may have changed. For this reason, it is important to operate interactively, in real time, and communicate an updated link each time users consult it.

How can we do it? That’s the big question. The simplest way is to offer a “weather forecast” of the information system: sun if all goes well, clouds in case of minor unavailability, storms if critical problems make it impossible to use the equipment. Users greatly appreciate this type of feedback because it reveals the points of blockage and helps to adapt the activity accordingly.

This feedback also improves the image and credibility of the IT department: there is nothing worse than sharing incorrect information. Transparency and trust are essential for good collaboration

The monitoring tool should also allow you to generate dashboards and reports in a few clicks, without having to re-enter the data, that is, with minimal effort. This improves decision making and reduces the risk of errors. Companies thus have all the keys to organize their missions and know the status of the IS at any given time.

Finally, a monitoring tool should help make predictions and suggest areas for improvement such as proposing automation scenarios to anticipate activity spikes, reduce the number of false alarms, anticipate weak signals, etc. This leads to better IS availability and increases the value of IT work to the rest of the business.

By Luis Gonzalez Arias, Customer Success Manager EasyVista Spain