Ozona Consulting · ISO 20000, ISO 270001, ISO 22301 consultancy

The importance of training in metrics and indicators

We all use metrics and indicators in our work, or at least, we should.

Although performance measurement is a discipline that has always been there, it has gained importance in the past years. This is due to the emergence of a new generation of business intelligence and business analytics tools. Powerful data analysis and display platforms are now accessible, even on cloud models. Plus, many of these platforms have very attractive pricing schemes.

But for what? Surely, many of us do not know what to do with these types of platforms once we access them.

Hoping to shed some light on how to initiate a performance measurement strategy, Ozona has developed a series of workshops on metrics and KPIs that are easily implemented in any organization.

Ozona’s KPI workshops are based on standardized concepts, presented in ISO 15939, the measurement standard from ISO. They introduce step-by-step techniques and methodologies that can be applied immediately in any organization, without the need to acquire any specific tool. As service management specialists, we apply these concepts to IT service management (ITIL, ISO 20000), but they are equally valid for other areas of the organization.

ITSM KPI Foundation (Level 1): Measurements, metrics and indicators

Using the ITIL approach to continual improvement as a reference, the ITSM KPI Foundation workshop covers the last three steps shown in the figure. That is, it focuses on how to combine measures to create metrics and how to convert those metrics into useful indicators.

Metrics and indicators workshops 1

First, the workshop introduces general measurement concepts, which may be unclear. Measurement, metric, indicator… What are the differences between them? Then, it examines the various types of indicators available. Finally, it discusses the characteristics an indicator must have in order to to be considered a KPI. These concepts are of generally applicable and, therefore, valid for any business area.

On the other hand, we believe that when it comes to implementing these concepts, the amount of data available is seldom the problem. The problem is how to use existing data effectively. The vast majority of organizations currently have sufficient data to manage their services IT effectively . However, these data are found in unstructured formats, distributed among multiple tools and under the responsibility of different units or departments.

Monitoring, service desk, and technical platforms management tools, as well as business applications such as ERPs -among others- are valid sources of information for calculating the performance of IT services in real time and aligning them with business needs.

This workshop provides two case studies of the use of metrics and indicators in dashboards and reports to manage IT services. One deals with service desk indicators and the other with availability and service level indicators. Each case uses different techniques to build metrics and indicators that can be easily implemented in any organization.

ITSM KPI Practitioner (Level 2)

the second workshop covers the remaining steps of the continual improvement diagram.

First, the course discusses the company’s vision, mission, and strategic goals. Specifically, it shows how to convert them into a set of measurable objectives.

After exploring both ends of the diagram, it is time to examine the central part. How can an organization align its business objectives with technical indicators built from the data it has available?

These aspects are covered in the second part of the course. It explains how to map strategic objectives with IT objectives and how to build indicator models that provide a holistic view. This way, the organization can have full control over the achievement of its goals.

Metrics and indicators workshops 2

As for ISO 15939, it defines a model of the measurement process organized in various tasks. Among them, the preparation and the execution are at the core of the process itself. These two tasks match with the two main sections of the ITSM KPI Practitioner workshop.Metrics and indicators workshops 4

Mor details about our metrics and indicators workshops

If you want more information about these courses or wish to see the calendar of upcoming editions, please visit Ozona’s ITSM KPI workshops section de Ozona.

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