Measuring Itil: Measuring, Reporting and Modeling the It Service Management Metrics That Matter Most to It Senior Executives

I found this book very interesting and I highly recommend it for Lean Six Sigma practitioners who work on IT teams or, are involved in IT integration within their process workflows. It provides useful measures (metrics) which describe the performance of information technology systems. The metrics are divided into categories which include operations, key performance indicators, tolerances, critical success factors, dashboards and outcomes. This extensive metric listing is also integrated into a DICE model at the end of the book. DICE is an acronym representing project duration, integrity, commitment and effort. These elements form the basis of a project success prediction score. The DICE model was published in the Harvard Business Review in the article, title, The Hard Side of Change Management. It was authored by Harold L. Sirkin, Perry Keenan and Alan Jackson (Reprint R0510G).

I wanted some specific examples and that is what I got. The CD was great because it had all of the examples used in the book already all typed up.

Wouldn't it be nice if you knew what you desired to measure and analyze prior to rolling out new ITSM processes or their enabling tools? What if you have no former point of reference or an entire lack of metrics? You could start from scratch or use this book as a starting point and modify accordingly. The later option will provide more time for determining how best to capture, disseminate, report and conduct trending - which is what you really care about anyways... Don't expect a silver bullet. This book (more like a booklet) provides generic quality metrics spanning the data, operational and service perspectives. It is short and concise using mostly tables and lists and draws upon many of the KPIs included within the ITIL core texts. It's a great way to save time and get diverse IT folks operating from a common reference but like all successful metric initiatives, customization and targeted efforts will still be necessary. It also includes a decent excel dashboard to get you rolling. As a previous reviewer mentioned, it is best when paired with other texts for a more comprehensive presentation of metrics theory, challenges, benefits and techniques. I too would recommend "Visible Ops" and add to that list "Metrics for IT Service Management" by Peter Brooks. Each book promotes a different perspective and breadth but together they cover all the bases particularly well.

This text presents the components of evaluating your IT Organization with clear and concise terms and offers a practical terms and approach. It is a quick read but extremely informative. It's fully aligned with ITIL but cuts through much of the complexity to provide a clear path for implementing a metrics program. I highly recommend this book to senior management, the program manager and his/her team and the participants from within the organization that will be charged with identifying Key Performance Indicators and Critical Success factors for their areas of the business.

Folks, After you have suffered sitting through the courses on the philosohy of ITIL, buy this book, "Measuring ITIL", and also purchase "Visible OPS". These two books will give you a practicum on implementing ITIL for your infrastructure operations. And yes, your IT infrastructure operations will improve as a result!