A. The performance indicators that you mention are important; however, they don’t give senior management a complete picture. It is likely that they are looking for: (a) an interpretation of what the technical performance means in business terms, and (b) information about projects that support strategic goals and / or business objectives.

For example, from management’s point of view: (a) knowing that the average response time for a help desk request is one hour is useful; understanding how that is good (or not so good) for business activities is more useful, and (b) knowing whether projects are achieving key milestones on schedule and within budget are important indicators of project performance.

Improved performance monitoring and reporting is an important step toward closing the communication gap between IT organizations and senior management. We suggest you see our Brief, IT Business Performance Management - What is it?, for information on how IT organizations can effectively use performance measurements to meet the information demands of senior management. Also, for further insight on the importance of providing senior management with the necessary information about IT projects/activities, please see our Brief, What can CIOs do to improve communications with senior management?.

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