Research Reveals Need For Change In IT Measurement

HP has unveiled research that reveals a growing need for IT performance measurements to be more automated and more closely aligned to organisational objectives in Asia Pacific and Japan.

According to a study from Coleman Parkes Research, commissioned by HP, nine out of ten business and technology executives recognise IT performance measurement as a critical tool. However, only half of the respondents said they are using this measurement data to help inform decision making.

It is critical for business and governments to have real-time visibility into and control over the IT that underpins many of the innovations they provide to their customers and citizens. These include online payments, mobile solutions and social media services. Organisations need to manage not only the delivery of the services but have the right insight to balance resources and IT investments.

More than 70 percent of executives believe IT should be measured against their organisation’s core performance metrics. However, the survey revealed that the most common assessments of IT performance today are traditional IT metrics, such as “quality of service” (71 percent) and “speed of ticket resolution” (66 percent). Meanwhile, business-focused metrics, such as “cost” and “customer satisfaction” are used by only 56 percent and 41 percent of respondents, respectively.

As organisations use IT to communicate and deliver services to customers and citizens, it is critical that IT performance is measured against business metrics to ensure alignment with an organisation’s objectives.

The research also suggests that information silos are hindering alignment between IT and the organisation. Only 44 percent of executives said that IT performance information is shared widely across the organisation. This figure underscores a deficiency in the important communications link between IT and the business.

The study also highlights a need for increased IT automation. More than 70 percent of executives said that manual processes are part of their IT monitoring. Among those respondents, 71 percent said manual processes add time to or delay valuable information and feedback to the organisation. These delays—combined with insufficient IT measurement—further hamper organisational agility.

“As IT is increasingly expected to align with business objectives and to respond quickly to changing priorities, IT leaders need ways of monitoring and reporting performance that is relevant, insightful and timely,” said Amit Chatterjee, Country Director, HP Software, India. “IT can achieve this by automating manual processes and focusing on how IT contributes to more strategic measures such as customer satisfaction, cost and revenue growth.”