4 | 2006

Why are seminars on measuring IT performance so well attended but implementation of performance management programs so rare? Could it be that we are afraid to manage IT like a business? Tune in next month as we look IT performance management full in the face — and live to tell the tale. Our expert authors will show you how to design a dashboard with leading indicators that help you take action. You’ll discover how to identify true KPIs (and eliminate mere metrics). You’ll learn how the wrong dashboard can destroy performance, demotivate your people, and mask serious problems — and what you can do to avoid this fate. Join us for a lively discussion of ways to measure IT performance so you can manage it.

"There has been a love-hate relationship between IT and performance measurement ever since IT emerged from the freight elevator, stumbled into the express elevator, emerged on the executive floor, and became a reluctant member of the business’s management team."

- Kenneth Rau, Guest Editor

Go for the Quick Win

The right metrics can pull your organization into alignment and propel you to outstanding levels of breakthrough performance. Don’t delay — implement a CIO dashboard to capture and report on IT’s value contribution.

Take a Programmatic Approach

Managing IT’s performance involves more than just slam-dunking a dashboard into place. It requires understanding which metrics are key to demonstrating value, working out the kinks with data and reports, addressing change management issues, and then — and only then — automating and summarizing results via a customized BI-driven dashboard.

Next Issue

Securing Cyberspace: Part II

Guest Editor: Larry Clinton
In the first installment of "Securing Cyberspace," we asked, "Is it time to rethink our strategy?" The answer was a resounding "yes." In next month’s issue, our authors discuss a bevy of innovative ways we can protect our cyber infrastructure, from managing cyber risk through cyber insurance to reengineering the base protocols of TCP/IP. Discover how to write service agreements that can help you achieve effective information security in your organization. Learn why companies must move with all deliberate speed to adopt information security best practices (hint: so government mandates don’t force them to). Be sure to join us next month as we do "more new thinking and more hard work on cyber security."