A new report published by the IBM Center for the Business of Government says government chief information officers should establish a balanced collection of information technology metrics for innovation and operations and project management in order to achieve mission objectives.
Kevin C. Desouza, a professor at the Arizona State University’s School of Public Affairs, describes in the report four challenges faced by public sector CIOs and IT directors when it comes to the use of IT metrics for managing infrastructure, projects and personnel.
These include the dependence of most IT metrics on other divisions satisfying their performance goals and the requirement for most IT departments to gather real-time information on IT operations, according to the report.
Desouza interviewed 27 CIOs at local, state and federal government agencies and found they understand the significance of IT metrics.
The report offers several recommendations for how to create IT metrics platform and says agencies should establish clear goals prior to metrics selection, align IT plans with the agency’s strategic objectives and involve external and internal stakeholders in metrics development.
CIOs should establish regular communication with key stakeholders on IT metrics and set targets with the metrics when implementing IT metrics initiatives, Desouza noted.
