Developing a Service Measurement Framework

A challenge many organizations face is the creation of a Service Measurement Framework that leads to value-added reporting.

Setting up a framework is as much an art as a science. It may prove difficult at first but the results over time are worth the effort. An organization may go through some trial and error in the beginning so it should not be afraid to admit mistakes on particular measures or targets and make adjustments to the framework.

Keep in mind that service measurement is not an end in itself. The end result should be to improve services and also improve accountability.

One of the first steps in developing a Service Measurement Framework is to understand the business process es and to identify those that are most critical to the delivery of value to the business. The IT goals and objective s must support the business goals and objectives. There also needs to be a strong link between the operational, tactical and strategic level goals and objectives, otherwise an organization will find itself measuring and reporting on performance that may not add any value.

Service measurement is not only looking at the past but also the future – what do we need to be able to do and how can we do things better? The output of any Service Measurement Framework should allow individuals to make operational, tactical or strategic decisions.

Building a Service Measurement Framework means deciding which of the following need to be monitored and measured:

• Services
• Component s
• Service Management processes that support the services
• Activities within the process
• Outputs.

Selecting a combination of measures is important to provide an accurate and balanced perspective. The measurement framework as a whole should be balanced and unbiased, and able to withstand change, i.e. the measures are still applicable (or available) after a change has been made.

Whether measuring one or multiple services the following steps are key to service measurement.

Origins

• Defining what success looks like. What are we trying to achieve and how will we know when we’ve achieved it?

Building the framework and choosing measures

• What do we need to measure that will provide us with useful information that allows us to make strategic, tactical and/or operational decisions?
• What measures will provide us with the data and information we need?
• Setting targets for all measures. This may be set by Service Level Agreement s or service level target s/objectives that have been agreed internally within IT.

Defining the procedures and policies

• Define the procedures for making the measurements and determine the tools to be used to support gathering of the data and other measurement activities defined at the beginning of Chapter 4.
• Identify the role s and responsibilities for service measurement – who will do what?
• Define any policies necessary to support service measurement.
• Decide the criteria for continual improvement initiatives.
• Consider when targets should be raised?

Critical elements of a Service Measurement Framework

For a successful Service Measurement Framework the following critical elements are required.

A Performance Framework that is:

• Integrated into business planning
• Focused on business and IT goals and objective s
• Cost-effective
• Balanced in its approach on what is measured
• Able to withstand change.

Performance measures that:

• Are accurate and reliable
• Are well defined, specific and clear
• Are relevant to meeting the objectives
• Do not create a negative behaviour
• Lead to improvement opportunities.

Performance targets that:

• Are SMART.

Defined roles and responsibilities

• Who defines the measures and targets?
• Who monitors and measures?
• Who gathers the data?
• Who processes and analyses the data?
• Who prepares the reports?
• Who presents the reports?

Дата добавления: 2015-10-02