White Paper on

Role of CIO in Effective Measurement Program

By

Sachin K. Patil

Sachin K. Patil is a Lead Business Consultant at Zensar Technologies. He has 11+ years of experience in
Process Consulting and Software Quality Assurance. He has consulted the clients Discovery Health
Systems (SA), National Grid (UK) and Assurant Health (US) to drive process improvements and metrics
programs. Sachin is B.E. and MBA in Systems from University of Pune, India.

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 Introduction

‘Nearly 80% of software measurement programs fail within the first two years’ - Dr. Howard Rubin

Even though organizations have spent a lot of resources to collect and report metrics and made
significant improvements in implementing measurement programs; research undertaken by Rubin
Systems shows that nearly 80% of metrics programs failed within the first two years.

Like any other initiative, measurement programs face some unique challenges that need to be tackled
successfully in order to derive the real benefits. According to Rubins, the primary reasons of
measurement program failure are not technical issues but organizational issues like:

 Not aligned to business goals

 Irrelevant or not understood by key stakeholders
 Perceived to be unfair, resisted
 Expensive, cumbersome
 No action based on the numbers
 No sustained management sponsorship

An effective measurement program is more than collecting data. Its benefit and value comes from the
decisions and actions taken in response to analysis of the data, not from the collection of the data.

Following are the key recommendations that CIO can ensure or implement to make organization
measurement program effective and successful.

1. Long Term Commitment

It is a marathon not a sprint.

Top Management commitment is the significant driver of any organizational initiative, which can be
shown by long term investment. It becomes essential for CIO to allocate budget for a long period to
support the measurement program. Such investment also highlights the importance of the
measurement program to the implementers and practitioners.

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 2. Drive Measurement Program Through Business Needs

Most of the times, measurement programs shift their focus from ‘alignment with business needs/ goals’
to ‘localized improvements’. It impacts negatively on the achievement of business goals and in turn
affects the success of the measurement program, as un-directional localized improvements may not
help to achieve or improve the business goals. CIO needs to set the overall directions for measurement
program and continuously monitor the progress towards the objectives.

Vital activities to perform -

 Define quantitative business objectives aligned to business goals

 Drive identification of best means to achieve the goals e.g. GQM, CMMI, Six Sigma, Lean, ITIL,
ISO etc. Ensure it remains as the means and does not become the target.
 Establish monitoring and tracking mechanism to keep an eye on progress towards business goals
3. Allocate Required Resources

“The manager is to be blamed who distributes parts to his players which they are unable to act”
- Franz Schubert

Initial set up of any program takes extra efforts. Hence it becomes essential for CIO to allocate necessary
resources to set up and operate the measurement program. It also shows the management
commitment for the initiative.

Resources required for measurement program includes infrastructure and supporting tools besides
human efforts. Human efforts allocation can be achieved by allocating new resources or keeping hours
aside of existing resources for these initiatives.

4. Internal Communication

“We are doing this to get certification XYZ”

This kind of management communication to justify the new initiative to the organization can be
troublesome when middle management articulates it below saying "We are doing this because
Certification XYZ is a goal" which gets interpreted to the practitioners as "We need Certification XYZ to
get good performance appraisal”. It certainly backfires; as such communications miss the essence of
purpose or intend of an initiative.

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 The practitioners involved in the measurement program and people who gets affected by it, need to
know why they are doing it, and what benefit they will see from it. Hence CIO shall communicate the
necessity of the measurement program and required level of commitment to the entire organization;
throughout the program lifecycle.

5. Encourage Automation

“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation
will magnify the efficiency” - Bill Gates

Automation helps to save human efforts, energy and materials and it also improves quality, accuracy
and precision. Automation in measurement program helps getting quick buy-in of project teams and
related stakeholders. It is helpful to implement the tools for data collection, measurement analysis,
report generation, dashboard preparation, communication etc. However ensure that tool is configured
to fit the process, not the other way around.

CIO shall encourage the automation in measurement program to maximize the returns of relevant
information, minimize data collection efforts and reduce the institutionalization time of the program.

6. Involve to Act

“An employee’s motivation is a direct result of the sum of interactions with his or her manager”
- Bob Nelson

Senior management involvement in every phase of measurement program drives the active
participation of relevant stakeholders. It enables shared vision and creates sense of common goal for
which everyone contributes in the improvement efforts and the success.

Measurements must support process improvement and provide a return on investment if it is to survive
when times are tough. CIO needs to ensure the usage of the measurement results to support key
decision making processes, maximize the usage of data collected and to launch improvement initiatives
for weak areas. It will ensure the continuous involvement and commitment of all stakeholders in the
measurement program.

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 7. Encourage honest data

"Garbage in, garbage out”

Garbage in will lead to garbage out no matter how good your measurement program is.

One of the keys to effective measurement program is the ability to collect and accurately report true
data. True picture of the project enables managers to identify corrective actions that results in real
process improvement.

CIO needs to establish an environment of trust for collecting and reporting the data. If people are too
afraid to report the true data, measurement will only mask problems, and it will fail because it will not
deliver the purpose.

8. Focus on Processes not People

Using measurement program to assess people performance instead of process performance may lead to
data manipulation or underreporting of metrics. When people’s careers get impacted by reported
metrics, there is a tendency to hide facts or report incorrect data.

Even though Individual performance is important, focus of measurement program should be on process
performance. This will ensure active involvement of participants and stakeholders, and when processes
improve in performance, everybody wins. CIO shall develop the culture to reward people and teams for
improvements on process performance. This practice also complements the environment of trust to
ensure true data.

9. Drive Change Management

“Resistance is thought transformed into feeling. Change the thought that creates the resistance, and
there is no more resistance.” - Robert Conklin

Implementing new or reviving existing measurement program requires strategic change management.
Change is easier when there is widespread agreement. CIO shall act as a Change Leader to drive the
measurement program implementation. It will include the activities like -

 Create an urge among all employees for need of new or revised measurement program

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  Communicate appropriate information regarding the program
 Get agreement on why and whether instead of how and what aspects of measurement program

Conclusion

There may be other points to think over but focusing on above recommendations will definitely lead to
the successful and effective measurement program. Measurement program is a means to achieve the
business goal, not an end in itself. Hence continual improvement and consistent focus needs to be an
integral part of the measurement program.

“The journey toward excellence is made on a never-ending road” - H. James Harrington

References

1. Carol Dekkers, “The Secrets of Highly Successful Measurement Programs”

2. Abhash Chandra, “Tips for Avoiding Common Metrics Challenges”
3. George Forrest, “The Importance of Implementing Effective Metrics”
4. Wolfhart Goethert and Will Hayes, “Experiences in Implementing Measurement Programs”
5. Dave Zubrow, SEI, “Measurement with a Focus: Goal-Driven Software Measurement”
6. Sandra Gauvin, “Boost Your Quality AND Operational Performance By Following These 3 Simple
Rules”
7. http://www.linkedin.com

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