ABSTRACT
There is much to be gained by learning from the successes and failures of others. It is not unusual for CIOs and IT senior-level managers to join various industry groups and organizations to develop a network of contacts willing to share information. It is also common practice for organizations to look for ways in which they can compare their IT performance levels with performance indicators from other similar industries or technical environments. The previous two chapters addressed how to measure IT performance and how to measure IT effectiveness. Improving performance means improving the level of productivity and quality. In this chapter, we will build upon that information and learn how key performance data points can be used to make comparisons to industry benchmark data. Once again, in this chapter we are using application development, enhancement, and maintenance (AD/M) functions for our examples. We will explore how to develop a representative baseline of performance using common industry indicators. In addition, we will look at selected sources of industry data and learn more about how they can be used as an effective tool to improve performance. IT Providers use their performance data results to make strategic and tactical decisions. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that the data and the results be reliable and accurate. Towards that end, we will also discuss the need for auditing.
