Measuring benefits achieved

While the initial identification of benefits is an estimate of those likely to be realized by the proposed process improvement initiative, there is also a need to subsequently measure the benefits actually achieved. These measurements attest to whether the improvement activity achieved the intended outcomes and should consider:

• Whether the envisaged improvements were realized
• Whether the benefits arising from the improvements were achieved
• Whether the target ROI was achieved
• Whether the intended value-added was actually achieved (VOI)
• Whether the outcome s of the preceding points lead to further process improvement actions being re-evaluated
• Whether enough time has passed before measuring the benefits. Some benefits will not be immediately apparent; and it is likely that benefits will continue to change over time, as both ongoing cost s and ongoing benefits continue to move.

A further consideration in the measurement of benefits is that data quality and measurement precision pre- and post-improvement could be different, thus giving rise to the direct comparison not being valid. If this is the case, the data will need to be normalized before validating benefits.

In 2006, the state of North Carolina implemented some improvements based on the ITIL framework. The improvements took place in a span of less than three months. ITS is the name of their IT department. These are the results of tactical quick-win efforts targeted in tandem with the training programme and the state’s awareness campaign. This information is reproduced with permission:

• ITS improved its ability to resolve incident s within their target timeframe by 32%.
• ITS improved its ability to resolve Service Request s within its target timeframe by 20%.
• Change Management process compliance increased more than two-fold resulting in fewer incidents and reduced downtime.

The first two processes to be developed and implemented were Incident and Change Management. As with most organizations they already had an existing change and incident process. This organization started showing immediate improvement before any formal improvement programme was implemented simply by identifying and communicating the key metric s that were going to be reviewed by senior management. Staff began following their existing process simply because they knew reporting against certain performance measures had started and that these performance measures were discussed among senior managers. Not only were these discussions held but there was clear guidance that the performance measures had to improve.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-02