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The main metrics a CIO should measure and monitor have very little to do with IT and everything to do with business success.

TORONTO, December 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ – In today’s data-saturated world, CIOs can often find it difficult to define and refine metrics that support an organization’s vision, key stakeholders, and IT function. Metrics can be used as a tool to make informed decisions that enable the right actions to drive value, but they are often measured without any method or idea of ​​how to take concrete action. To help technology leaders successfully define a set of priority-based metrics and increase the impact of initiatives, global IT research and consulting firm Info-Tech Research Group has released its new blueprint titled Key metrics for every CIO.

According to the company’s research, every CIO has the same set of priorities, regardless of their organization or industry, as these metrics are influenced by similar organizations goals. By using prioritized metrics, CIOs can make incremental improvements that can be measured and reported, making program maturation a natural progress.

“Strategic CIOs monitor the right metrics relevant to their priorities, regardless of industry or organization,” said Lutes from Brittanysenior research analyst at Info-Tech Research Group. “When CIOs provide a long list of metrics to stakeholders, it demonstrates that they are probably measuring more metrics than they could really act on. It also indicates a lack of trust in their IT leadership team, who are the ones who should oversee these mundane operational measures.”

According to the blueprint, the right metrics can help CIOs ensure their team members are focused on the right priorities, that IT is constantly adapting to meet changing business demands, and that Corporate communications use language that resonates with stakeholders.

The firm recommends that CIOs measure strategic business metrics related to the people or stakeholders that will impact the business. For example, these metrics can relate to customers who will buy the product or service, decision makers who fund IT initiatives, or IT employees who will be motivated to succeed. CIOs should avoid spending time on operational metrics such as delivery times, ticket resolutions, or the number of phishing attempts. While these operational metrics are important, CIOs need to empower their IT managers to be responsible for managing them.

“Metrics are tools that can quantifiably and proactively indicate whether a goal is on track to be achieved, or retroactively whether it has been successfully achieved”, adds Lutes. “CIOs should use data from these metrics to inform their actions instead of just collecting data just to know a data point. They need to be ready to act.”

The Info-Tech Blueprint defines the six areas that inform the key strategic indicators that every CIO should measure and monitor:

1. Risk management – Few people in an organization understand IT risks and can proactively plan to prevent these threats. This gap makes the CIO responsible and accountable for IT risks, especially cybersecurity-related components. The key indicator to measure and monitor should be the number of critical IT threats detected and prevented before impacting the organization.
2. Achieve business goals – CIOs often want to know how the organization is performing relative to its competitors. However, this comparison adds no value in demonstrating an understanding of the business or its goals since each organization will have different sets of goals. A CIO’s business goal alignment metric should be the percentage of IT metrics that directly impact business goals.
3. Client satisfaction – Today more than ever, IT can have a positive impact on customer satisfaction with a product or service, directly or indirectly. CIOs should be the ones to suggest new IT initiatives that will improve the customer experience. The customer satisfaction indicator measures the positive impact of IT initiatives on customer satisfaction.
4. Employee contract – The employee engagement metric measures the number of employees who feel empowered to perform meaningful work-related activities every day. As a leader, CIOs must always understand how engaged their employees are. Engagement includes three types of factors: organizational, professional and retention. CIOs have a direct impact on all three.
5. Corporate Leadership Relationships – The Business Leadership Relationship metric measures a CIO’s ability to influence business decisions with trusted partners. CIOs who have established relationships with influential leaders, such as chief revenue officers or marketing managers, are more likely to have their IT team recognized by other leaders. This builds the value of IT.
6. Budget management – Every CIO should view their IT function as a business, and the ability to control costs and expenses within a defined budget is key to building trust with the business and increasing the value of IT. The budget management indicator measures the proportion of strategic IT budget compared to operational.

By unlocking the value of data from the right metrics, CIOs are more likely to increase their IT department’s performance, have better insights to make better decisions, and be viewed as leaders by the business. and its management team.

For more information and information on the research methodology and each key indicator, download the Key metrics for every CIO plan.

To learn more about Info-Tech Research Group, visit infotech.com and connect via LinkedIn and Twitter.

About the Info-Tech Research Group
Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world’s leading information technology research and consulting companies, proudly serving more than 30,000 IT professionals. The company produces unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT managers make strategic, timely and well-informed decisions. For 25 years, Info-Tech has worked closely with IT teams to provide them with everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

Media professionals can sign up for unlimited access to IT, HR and software research and more than 200 IT and industry analysts through the ITRG Media Insiders program. To access it, contact [email protected].

SOURCE Info-Tech Research Group