Whether you are measuring to direct,
intervene, or justify, or validate you should follow
the same simple process:
Figure 2: Simple monitoring
and measuring process.
The process may be simple, but the activities may
be time-consuming and difficult. Let's look at the
process in more detail:
Gathering: Gathering concentrates
on collecting the raw data required for monitoring
and measuring IT services and components. At first
glance, it may appear that gathering the necessary
data is easy, because IT automatically collects
huge amounts of data. However, this is not always
true. For example, a Service Desk tool primarily
collects data entered by the Service Desk agents,
but if a key field is not on the Incident record,
then no data can be gathered for that parameter.
You should ensure that you have the correct data
collection methodology in place.
In addition, it is often necessary to collect
more information than is required, so that, in
the event of a poor measurement, a base of data
is available for further investigation. One thing
is certain-to be successful, you must collect
the correct data. To do so, you must know why
you're gathering the data-is it to direct, intervene,
validate, or justify?
Processing: Once you have gathered
the data, the next step is to process the data
into the required format. For example, you may
have 3,000 Incidents a week, but only want to
see the hourly totals to determine staff loading.
You use report-generating technologies at this
stage. Normally, this means taking huge amounts
of data and condensing it into information for
use in the succeeding stages.
Analyzing: Once the data is
processed into information, you can then analyze
the results, looking for answers to questions
such as:
· Are there any trends?
· Are changes required?
· Are we operating according to plan?
· Are we meeting targets?
· Are corrective actions required?
· Are there underlying structural Problems?
Here you apply knowledge to your information.
Without this, you have nothing more than a string
of numbers showing metrics that are meaningless.
It is not enough to simply look at this month's
figures and accept them without question, even
if they meet SLA targets. You should analyze the
figures to stay ahead of the game. Without analysis
you merely have information. With analysis you
have knowledge. If you find anomalies or poor
results, then look for ways to improve.
Presenting or Using: The final
stage is to take our knowledge and present it,
that is, turn it into wisdom by utilizing:
· Reports
· Monitors
· Action plans
· Reviews
· Evaluations
· Requests For Changes
· New opportunities
As you can see, measuring and monitoring allows
you to make informed decisions, taking IT forward
in a constructive and structured manner. The two
previous graphics can now be merged, mapping the
Wisdom Hierarchy onto the Measuring Process:
Figure 3: Combined wisdom hierarchy
and simple process.
This process defines a logical approach to follow,
but how can you be sure that you are monitoring
and measuring effectively? You need to have in place
driving factors to ensure that you will produce
effective metrics:
Figure 4: The definitive measuring
process.
The driving factors affect the data that you collect
as well as all the other stages in the process.
There is no point in gathering huge amounts of data
unless you are going to use it constructively. First,
decide why you are going to monitor a parameter.
Armed with this information, you can determine what
data is required and where you can obtain that data.
From here you can follow the process, but remember
that success lies in identifying the driving factors
at the outset.
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