Many organizations, however, have adopted approaches to measurement that are not providing the benefits of improved performance and the ability to make better, more informed decisions. In effect, most attempts at measurements provide a type of “placebo effect” rather than the direct impact of understanding the cause and effect linkage between the measurements and their underlying cause agents. The organization may feel progress is being made, but there is little objective and/or scientific evidence that better decisions are being made. In other instances, the decision maker feels that the issue is an “intangible” which defies the ability to measurement it.

Managers need real quantitative measurement solutions. The qualities of risk, value, process alignment, and portfolio priority appear to be intangible, but in fact can be measured in the same manner as an actuary, economist or financial analyst would measure them.

Our affordable, fixed-price IT Measurements Rapid Review Assessment provides a fast, economical and efficient assessment of the current IT measurements, which enables organizations to track progress, evaluate process and organizational alignment, assess investments, prioritize portfolios, develop business cases, and reorient business decision making.

Our goal is to help our clients understand how effective measurements can be used to ensure a greater degree of insights into high performance actions. Effective measurements will also help clients mitigate the risk of executing incorrect actions, and often point out unexpected opportunities.

Description

Our IT Infrastructure Rapid Review Assessment provides a fast and efficient assessment and analysis which provides:

• An assessment and evaluation of your organization’s current IT measurements
• A gap analysis comparing the current IT measurements to best practices
• A recommended foundation set of IT measurements
• Optionally, a set of “business related” IT measures

Our Experts have experience in working with both large and small enterprises. We have assisted clients achieve the maximum benefits of their IT organization, and assisted them in building IT performance measurements programs that drove changes/improvements highlighted by the measurements. OUr team also has experience in performing performance management process maturity assessments, developing actionable IT strategies and plans, and improving overall IT performance.

We partner with our clients to develop the assessment based on their goals and business requirements, and educate their team in the assessment process. We feel that this is important so our clients can take ownership for the recommendations, and are capable of making continual adjustments to any recommendations as changing business needs demand.

Deliverables

Standard

Our offering delivers the following results:

• An assessment and evaluation of the current IT measurements. We review all current IT measurements, related processes and alignment assumptions.
• A gap analysis comparing your IT measurements to best practices
• A recommended foundation set of IT measurements
• An IT metrics data dictionary

Our Experts will deliver a detailed report that includes the above deliverables, and present the findings to our client’s management.

Work effort may be conducted on-site or off-site as follows:

• Work effort is limited to two days for data gathering and assessment, and one day for presenting findings in an interactive session.
• TAC assumes client has readily available inventory, process descriptions, current measurements, and organizational alignment documentation, and/or will send to TAC within two business days upon request.
• TAC will present findings and recommendations within seven business days after receipt of all information/data from the client, and present to the client’s senior management team.

Optional

In addition to the deliverables listed above, we can also assist our clients in a more detailed, complete IT measurement assessment, create a client unique set of measurements, design a measurement process, design a measurement dashboard, and help implement the approved performance measurements and management system.

Target Audience

CIO, COO, CFO

IT executives and senior management who are responsible for IT performance management and measurement across the enterprise, and who want to gain alignment between their IT initiatives, their business strategy, and their current priorities. This assessment will help ensure that IT investments yield the expected benefits. It will also help improve alignment between the IT function and the business.

About The Advisory Council

Founded in 2002, The Advisory Council provides IT organizations with enterprise-wide access to objective, actionable advice for resolving IT challenges and issues. Through its suite of services, products and workshops, TAC helps IT organizations make decisions more quickly and cost effectively. TAC’s Expert Decision Support Network consists of more than 200 Experts, covering 97% of all IT practice areas. Clients include Fortune 1000 and midsize companies, government, and educational institutions.