What are some of the common challenges and pitfalls of using IT Operations metrics and KPIs?

IT departments tend to use metrics and KPIs that demonstrate how much work they are doing and how fast they are doing it. As usual, most KPIs or metrics are standardized in IT and are part of internal IT business as usual. What’s important are the metrics and KPIs business units require IT to display to ensure they can provide service and deliver business outcomes that support defined goals. All most everything can be measured, and it’s essential to measure the right metrics and KPIs tied to business outcomes; everything else is informational but not insightful. There are two types of metrics and KPIs, those that provide information that drives a reaction and those that provide insight that drives change.

Choosing the right mix of metrics is the key. You want to have measurements across the IT realm that have a direct correlation with operations. I totally agree that metrics should be “SMART”. From my experience, the relevancy and time-bound are the ones that get to be tough to manage. There is a tendency to focus on a point-in-time that may be one to two weeks old. Values have changed and the data management is making decisions on is outdated.

Having near real-time data is crucial when dealing with IT systems. This is especially important when dealing with systems such as storage capacity and network bandwidth. It is also important, if you manage your own datacenter(s) to monitor electrical and cooling capacity. Utilizing real-time data along with historical trends should allow you to better forecast future needs and organic growth.

It seems the further up the chain you go with information the more you have to “dumb” it down. When dealing with C-suite and above, it is imperative the story you present to them is concise, easy to understand, and gives a clear direction for which they can go based on the data. Unfortunately, it is so easy to get caught up in the minutiae that the overarching concern can be lost. Again, this is where making sure the story you are telling is at a level high enough that your audience can understand and doesn’t go into the details very far.

Metrics and KPIs offer numerical representations of performance but often lack context. Without proper context, understanding the causes and implications of metric values is challenging. For example, a high incident count metric may indicate a problem, but without additional context, identifying the root cause or prioritizing the response is difficult. To address this, supplement metrics with contextual information like trend analysis, benchmarks, and qualitative data. Involving experts and stakeholders in interpretation provides valuable insights. Incorporating context and interpretation enables a comprehensive understanding of performance and informed decision-making.