You're wondering if your IT services are delivering value. How can you know for sure?

it requires a comprehensive evaluation around followings : - Well Defined goals and Objectives - Cost benefit analysis - Bench marking - Well defined SLA there can be several other parameters as well to check the overall performance and values delivered by IT Services

clearly defined SLA's and what the organization want to measure in terms of scorecard / OKR / KPIs - if the organization has these, then it is easy to measure the progress and improve the services

First, you need to know exactly what your IT services are supposed to do. What kind of help or support are they offering? Who are they for? By writing down the services and what they're meant to achieve, you can start figuring out if they're really helping.

It's crucial to set up alerts and notifications that can inform you of any anomalies or issues that affect your IT services. You can use thresholds, baselines, or machine learning algorithms to detect abnormal behavior and trigger alerts. You can also use automation tools to perform remediation actions or escalate issues to the appropriate teams.

Keep an eye on how your IT services are doing. Are they up and running smoothly, or do they keep breaking down? Monitoring tools can help you see how things are going in real time. This way, you can catch any problems early and fix them before they get bigger.

All of this can also be termed as operational excellence. Excellence in this category is like any other category - gradual and deliberate. Once you set KPIs make sure they tie to the end goal I.e User Experience and Revenue. Start small in terms of priority and get better on them. Once you reach the benchmark, expand the coverage to lower priority KPIs.

Start by selecting a subject to benchmark. You need to decide which aspect or dimension of your IT services you want to benchmark, such as cost, quality, speed, innovation, or customer satisfaction. Remember to choose a subject that aligns with your business goals and priorities, and that can provide meaningful and actionable information.

Compare your IT services to similar services from other companies or industry standards. This is like checking to see if you're running as fast as other runners in a race. It helps you understand where you stand and what you might need to improve.

IT services monitoring internally and its benchmarking externally against the industry practices are two important steps for Quality Monitoring of IT services. However, the questionnaires may not always uncover business goal alignment. It will be prudent to have certain questions incorporated in project/program management where the success or failure of projects may unravel if this is due to IT service anticipation, quality, timeliness, solution fitment etc. The questions should be mixed for good and bad; not skewed to find only faults. And then qualitative remarks can explain which way it has helped or harmed the project, e.g., GPU cluster availability for an AI project.

Every now and then, take a step back and look at how your IT services have been doing. Are people happy with them? Are they really solving the problems they're supposed to solve? Talking to the users of your services and looking at feedback can give you a lot of insights.

One of the best practices to optimize your IT services is to start focusing on delivering a positive and satisfying customer experience for your IT services, and measure your success by customer satisfaction and loyalty. Make sure to engage and communicate with your customers frequently, and collect and act on their feedback and suggestions. You should also design and deliver your IT services from the customer’s perspective, and use customer journey mapping and personas to understand their needs and expectations.

Based on what you learn from monitoring, benchmarking, and reviewing, you might find ways to make your IT services better. Maybe there's a way to solve problems faster, or maybe you can make a service easier for people to use. Always look for ways to improve.

I am big fan of Nearshore IT services to provide value through reduced costs, cultural fit, high work ethic, technical proficiency, and operating in the same time zone. Nearshore provides offer cost advantages compared to onshore services while maintaining quality. Cultural fit enhances communication and collaboration. Nearshore teams exhibit a strong work ethic, delivering quality results on time. They possess technical expertise, keeping up with the latest technologies. Being in the same time zone facilitates seamless communication and quick response times. Nearshore IT services combine affordability, cultural alignment, professionalism, technical proficiency, and convenience, making them a valuable choice for businesses.