CHAPTER 4 : MEASURING THE SUCCESS OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

MEASURING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY’S SUCCES

Key performance indicator - measures that are tied to business drivers

Metrics - detailed measures that feed KPIs

Performance metrics - fall into the nebulous area of business intelligence that is neither technology, nor business centered, but requires input from both IT and business professionals

EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS

Efficiency IT metric - measure the performance of the IT system itself including throughout speed and availability

Effectiveness IT metric - measures the impact IT has on business processes  and activities including customers satisfaction conversion rates and self-through increases

BENCHMARKING – BASELINING METRICS

Regardless or what is measured, how it is measured and whether it is for the sake of efficiency or effectiveness, there must be

Benchmarks – baseline values the system seek to attain

Benchmarking – a process of continuously measuring system results, comparing those results to optimal system performance and identifying to improve system performance

E-government efficiency metrics

includes:

• the number of computers per 100 citizens

• the number of Internet hosts per 10,000 citizens

• the percentage of the citizen population online

E-government effectiveness metrics include

 CRM practices, customer-service vision, approaches to offering e-government services through multiple-service delivery channels, and

initiatives for identifying services for individual citizen segments.

Efficiency IT metrics focus on technology and include:

Throughput – amount of information that can travel through a system at any point in time

Speed – amount of time to perform a transaction

Availability – number of hours a system is available

Accuracy – extent to which a system generates correct results

Web traffic – includes number of pageviews, number of unique visitors, and time spent on                      a Web page

Response time – time to respond to user interactions

Effectiveness IT metrics focus on an organization’s goals, strategies, & objectives

nUsability – the ease with which people perform transactions and/or find information

nCustomer satisfaction –  such as the percentage of existing customers retained

nConversion rates – number of customers an organization “touches” for the first time and                                      convinces to purchase products or services

nFinancial – such as return on investment, cost-benefit analysis, etc.

The interrelationships between efficiency and effectiveness

nSecurity is an issue for any organization offering products or services over the Internet

nIt is inefficient for an organization to implement Internet security, since it slows down processing time.  However, to be effective it must implement Internet security

nSecure Internet connections must offer encryption and Secure Sockets Layers (SSL denoted by the lock symbol in the lower right corner of a browser)

Determining IT Efficiency and Effectiveness

Customer metrics – assess the management of customer relationships by the                                             organization and include:

nMarket share

nCustomer acquisition

nCustomer satisfaction

nCustomer profitability