IT PERFORMANCE

METRICS AND
STRATEGY

RAYMART D. ETCHON, CPA

BASIC RULES

LISTEN! WRITE! ASK!

 WHAT ARE PERFORMANCE METRICS?

Performance metrics are defined as figures and data representative of an organization’s

actions, abilities, and overall quality. There are many different forms of performance metrics,
including sales, profit, return on investment, customer happiness, customer reviews, personal
reviews, overall quality, and reputation in a marketplace. Performance metrics can vary
considerably when viewed through different industries.

Performance metrics are integral to an organization's success. It's important that

organizations select their chief performance metrics and focus on these areas because these
metrics help guide and gauge an organization’s success. Key success factors are only useful
if they are acknowledged and tracked. Business measurements must also be carefully
managed to make sure that they give right answers, and that the right questions are being
asked.
 WHAT ARE PERFORMANCE METRICS?

Traditionally, businesses have viewed the following financial measurements as indicators of

success:
• Return on capital employed or return on investment (ROI)
• Profit
• Market share
• Earnings growth
• Stock price
 WHAT ARE PERFORMANCE METRICS?

Non-financial measurements are also useful to help assess, report, and drive success. Most
notably, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award's Criteria for Performance Excellence
non-financial success metrics include:
• Customer satisfaction
• Process excellence
• Employee satisfaction
 WHAT ARE PERFORMANCE METRICS?

Organizations across most industries rely on these indicators as well as:

• Fast, responsive time to market
• A loyal customer base
• Outstanding processes for quality and timeliness
• Mechanisms that ensure learning, growth, and continual improvement

Organizations may define their own indicators of performance in key areas. Such metrics are
often useful because they reduce complex measurements and results to a single value that
can be tracked, managed, and improved. These “shortcuts” can be misleading, however, when
used either for process improvement or for other feedback such as promotion, recognition, or
compensation.
 WHAT ARE IT METRICS?

IT metrics are quantifiable measurements that help IT leaders efficiently manage the
business of IT. Traditionally operational, today’s IT metrics also help align IT investment to
business strategy, customer experience, and cloud optimization. IT metrics help CIOs
determine the value of technology and build confidence in IT performance.
CIOs increase the impact and strategic role of IT by taking charge of the IT value
conversation. They use performance measures to focus decision, improve relationships and
find new sources of value from IT. Metrics complement relationship building, helping IT
leaders evolve into strategic partnership with business executives.
Defining, measuring, and reviewing IT metrics helps IT leaders build a foundation for
conversations about the value technology provides to the business.
*The chief information officer (CIO) oversees the people, processes and technologies within a company's IT
organization to ensure they deliver outcomes that support the goals of the business.
 IT METRICS VS. IT KPIS

A KPI (shorthand for “key performance indicator”) is a metric used to evaluate whether or not
an organization is meeting its objectives. By definition, not all metrics can be “key” so KPIs
are a select grouping of metrics deemed essential to meeting business objectives. These
indicators help teams focus on areas that generate the most value and have the greatest
impact on business outcomes.
Within IT, KPIs are very effective for answering the following questions: are we making
investments in the right places, are we getting the results we expect to see, and are our
customers satisfied with the value they’ve received?
 WHY ARE IT METRICS IMPORTANT?

There’s an old saying that you can’t manage what you can’t measure. That may be true, but
it’s also true that there are spreadsheets full of dollar signs, percentages, and bolded
numbers—“measurements”—that don’t necessarily make management easy. Measurements
are only as good as the story they tell.
Good IT metrics establish a fact-based methodology for measuring your progress toward
business goals, leveraging data to tell a story. It’s easy to capture IT’s annual spend but
comparing that data point to IT spend year over year makes the data meaningful. The first is
simply a measurement. The second is a metric that tells a story.
When IT metrics are relevant, they guide decision making that helps companies achieve
strategic goals, focusing the IT team around true drivers of business performance. This has
never been more important, as IT teams are asked to balance increasing business demand
with static or decreasing budgets. IT metrics support discipline and objectivity for measuring
technology’s impact on both.
 WHY ARE IT METRICS IMPORTANT?

Relevant and impactful metrics will:

• focus employees around company priorities
• communicate data in business terms
• improve decision-making
• drive performance
• evolve as the company matures
 WHO USES IT METRICS AND KPIS?

IT leaders in a variety of roles and responsibilities have much to gain from continuous review
of IT metrics and KPIs. Here are a few examples of how IT metrics can be used to manage
cost, performance, innovation, and business value:

1. Office of the CIO

Is IT investing the right amount of spend to support growth and innovation in the business? To
answer this question, the CIO might follow a metric that calculates and tracks the % of total IT
spend attributed to activities that run the business in its current state, projects that support
growth in the current business, and initiatives that transform the business with new products
or new markets. She or he might also look at the % of discretionary spend going to these
same categories.
 WHO USES IT METRICS AND KPIS?

2. IT Finance
Does IT have the financial agility needed to keep up with the changes to the business
demand, strategy, or markets? An IT Finance Analyst will look at the variable spend against
total IT spend to answer this question. This will help him understand where the balance of
fixed assets and variable resources can be adjusted to better align costs with business
demand. Is the IT cost structure heavily fixed? Where can IT leverage vendor resources &
outsourced services, including the cloud, in a variable, on-demand manner?
 WHO USES IT METRICS AND KPIS?

3. Infrastructure & Operations

Where can I trim costs and re-invest the savings to pay off technical debt or invest in new
capabilities requested by the business? To identify candidates for optimization, an I&O leader
might consistently review volumes and total costs associated with data center, compute,
storage, and network capacity. By dividing total costs by volume, unit costs can be assessed
for efficiency and contrasted with benchmarks or alternative suppliers.
 WHO USES IT METRICS AND KPIS?

4. Application & Services

Does IT investment & prioritization match where the business is headed? Where do we have
duplication or under-use, and which applications should we retire? One way to answer these
questions is to create a portfolio investment comparison across application run and build
costs. This metric could look at the total costs of infrastructure applications and service,
business capabilities, and/or external customer-facing services, including everything from
hardware & software to labor & outside services. It could further divide the spend by volume
to calculate unit costs that reveal the relative efficiencies among multiple alternatives.
 WHO USES IT METRICS AND KPIS?

5. Business Relationship Manager

How can we help the business understand the connection between their consumption
behavior and the cost of IT in order to reduce those costs year over year? A business
relationship manager can look at IT spend for each business unit, broken out by service, to
answer this question. This metric would reveal the volume consumed and associated unit
costs.
 HOW DO I TRACK IT METRICS?

Data is central to tracking IT metrics and is the backbone of any program. Great metrics
require identifying the right sources, integrating appropriate source data columns, and
aligning formats.
What kind of data is needed?
Many IT teams start with 3–5 data sources from various disciplines in the organization,
including:
• Finance: general ledger, fixed asset register, chart of accounts, budget
• Technology: servers, network, cloud provider, storage, CMDB
• Portfolios: applications, projects, labor, vendors
• Service: tickets, service catalog
 WHEN ARE IT METRICS USED?

IT metrics can only do their job when IT decision makers pay attention to them. Establishing a
regular cadence of IT metrics reviews for different audiences and aspects of IT performance
is important. This helps the team derive relevant insights and take appropriate action in a
timely manner.
Monthly leadership reviews
There’s a direct benefit to CIOs gathering their direct reports on a monthly basis and
reviewing the performance of the organization. This internal-facing update keeps everyone on
the same page. The agenda may include an overview of what’s happened in IT over the course
of the month, how various KPIs are trending, and whether or not corrective actions are
needed. It may also include a summary of variances between budgeted and actual costs, and
a look ahead at the impact on forecasted spend.
 WHEN ARE IT METRICS USED?

Quarterly business reviews

On a quarterly basis, CIOs and Business Relationship Managers should conduct reviews with
the business unit partners who consume services from IT. This outward-facing conversation
promotes alignment between teams. The agenda may focus on the value IT is delivering to the
business, how the business’ consumption choices influence their IT costs, and where IT
investments might need adjustment to align to future business priorities. These reviews are
crucial for providing the transparency that builds trust with partners and encourages them to
view IT as a preferred partner for technology services.
 WHEN ARE IT METRICS USED?

Annual planning process

During the latter half of each fiscal year, most businesses execute a strategic planning
process to identify objectives, strategies, tactics, and investments for the following year. IT
metrics are crucial to this process because they help IT decision-makers understand how
their plans for the current year match up to reality and they provide a basis against which to
plan adjustments for the new year. Armed with this knowledge, IT leaders can weigh strategic
options and make wise investment decisions with confidence.
 WHAT IT METRICS AND KPIS SHOULD I BE TRACKING?

There are thousands of metrics that shed light on IT cost, performance, and output. But more
is not better. In fact, more can be overwhelming and unproductive.
Instead, a top-down approach to metric development ensures IT leaders focus only on the
data that informs key business decisions. Zeroing in on the essentials will ensure IT teams
are better positioned to understand and communicate impacts on specific outcomes.
When Apptio surveyed CIOs and asked them to prioritize an optimal set of metrics for running
IT as a business, the following categories emerged.

Top-down analysis generally refers to using comprehensive factors as a basis for decision-making. The top-down
approach seeks to identify the big picture and all of its components. These components are usually the driving
force for the end goal. Top-down is commonly associated with the word "macro" or macroeconomics.
FINANCIAL FUNDAMENTAL METRICS
FINANCIAL FUNDAMENTAL METRICS
FINANCIAL FUNDAMENTAL METRICS
DELIVERY METRICS
DELIVERY METRICS
INNOVATION & AGILITY METRICS
INNOVATION & AGILITY METRICS
BUSINESS VALUE METRICS
BUSINESS VALUE METRICS
BUSINESS VALUE METRICS
 WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES WITH IT METRICS?

Bad data
“My data isn’t ready” is a common excuse for not embracing IT metrics or KPIs. Validity,
integrity, consistency, relevancy—these are all concerns when setting up IT metrics that will
drive analysis and decision-making. But just as the cost of bad data can be daunting, the
savings and value realized from having even just a few accurate metrics in place can be a
reason to get started.
Data will never improve in a vacuum. Just like muscles need exercise to grow strong, data
must be put to use in order for it to improve. So, don’t wait for your data to be perfect.
Instead, use your data to make it perfect.
 WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES WITH IT METRICS?

Misaligned terminology
Getting IT, finance, and the business on the same page with a common taxonomy of IT
functions is crucial to creating IT metrics that tie back to business goals. One of the biggest
challenges today is that IT financial metrics are often coming from the general ledger to the
CIO.
To drive accountability, it’s important that the IT team is able to translate cost data into
language both IT and the business can understand and use to motivate better performance.
Ideally, IT is using this data to make better decisions about investments and working with the
business to communicate value more effectively.
 WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES WITH IT METRICS?

Fear of transparency
IT leaders often know that they have some “skeletons in the closet”—inefficient areas
requiring better stewardship—that they are reluctant to bring to light. The reality of the
situation is generally two-fold.
First, the situation is not as bad as they think. IT leaders make reasonable decisions on
sparse data every day.
Second, there are skeletons in everyone’s IT closet. Identifying weaknesses and correcting
them is good for business.
 WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES WITH IT METRICS?

Analysis lag time

Data freshness itself can be an important metric. If the IT team is loading the GL monthly (or
more frequently) and looking at their costs, the CIO is far more likely to catch problems before
they escalate. Unfortunately, what often happens is that metrics are assessed when the
reconciliation with finance occurs, when it’s already too late to address issues that develop
quickly.
In today’s cloud-enabled world, this is a critical issue. Cloud spend can get out of hand in a
matter of days. If you’re waiting a whole quarter for finance to reconcile cost, there’s a high
likelihood of surprise. CIOs may find themselves wondering, “Why didn’t somebody tell me I
budgeted $10,000 but ended up spending $200,000 on the cloud this quarter?”
 WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES WITH IT METRICS?

Labor/time intensive
It takes labor and time to set up good metrics, especially if you don’t have access to software
built specifically for calculating accurate metrics about IT cost and value. Because most IT
leaders struggle to calculate and report the right IT metrics using general purpose tools like
spreadsheets, corporate finance systems, and business intelligence systems, they find it
requires costly labor and time to get it even close to right.
Often, the result is a brittle model that is not nimble enough to keep up with requests for new
analyses or changes to the business.
 THE IT BALANCED SCORECARD (BSC)

The Balanced Scorecard is a management system that clarifies the strategy and vision of an
organization, translating them into action that can be tracked. In simple terms, it’s a way of
understanding how well the department or entire organization is doing – an alternate, or
preferred, way to measure successful strategy implementation that goes beyond financials.
Initially, the balanced scorecard (BSC) turns strategy into something tangible, so that it can
be measured. But the real success of a BSC lies in its prioritization of measurements that are
most meaningful to the organization. It is this prioritization that makes the BSC approach a
true management system, going beyond a mere measurement system .
As organizations adopted the Balanced Scorecard in the 1990s, however, one issue emerged
universally: how to measure the IT department’s contribution to the Balanced Scorecard, and
ultimately to the bottom line. Today, the BSC for IT is one of several IT frameworks you can
implement .
 THE IT BALANCED SCORECARD (BSC)

In the early 1990s, two professors at Harvard Business School found that the vast majority of
companies managed their business based solely on financial measurements. Robert Kaplan
and David Norton recognized a significant shortcoming: while finance is imperative to
business health, it only reports what has already happened. Finances can’t define where a
business will head.
Together, Kaplan and Norton wanted to develop a way to manage strategy performance – and
strategy isn’t something that easily translates to numbers and metrics. They built the
Balanced Scorecard as the solution to this problem. The main objective of the BSC is to
translate corporate strategy and mission into tangible objects that can be measured, and
prioritizing which measurements are most meaningful.
 THE IT BALANCED SCORECARD (BSC)

The Balanced Scorecard defined four perspective that help managers plan, implement, and
achieve the business strategy:
• Financial Perspective: tracking financial requirements and performance
• Internal Business Process Perspective: measuring critical-to-customer process
requirements
• Customer Perspective: measuring the satisfaction and performance requirements of
customers, as it applies to both the organization and what it delivers (products or services)
• Knowledge, Education, and Growth Perspective: measuring how the organization educates
employees, gains and captures knowledges, and uses this information to grow and stay
competitive
The vital part of
maintaining a BSC is that
all four arenas must be
evaluated consistently. To
delay examination or
ignore a metric altogether
will lead to an unbalanced
business situation with
inevitable and significant
negative impact.
 THE IT BALANCED SCORECARD (BSC)

Anyone in the industry knows that IT is changing drastically. A necessary component of any
company in the 21st century, IT is no longer solely the bearer of hardware and software
support. In fact, enterprises understand that IT is just as relevant to service delivery as any
other business function within an organization, like marketing and finance. IT is also starting
to support intelligent software development and implementation.
Perhaps the biggest shift, however, is that IT has increasingly become the product. Whether
your company is selling an app or an enterprise system, technology fuels it. Even if your
company’s product is sustainably sourced bedsheets or print-to-order artwork, your company
must have top-of-the-line technology to support it, from customer service to order
management to logistics .
 THE IT BALANCED SCORECARD (BSC)

With the original scorecard system, IT was difficult to measure with the pre-existing
measurements, perhaps due to its place as “only” a utility. But since IT is a business partner,
no longer a mere utility, it must be managed strategically and forecast accurately.
The tricky part is this: IT often resides in its own business silo, away from other “vital”
business partners, the industry typically relies on its own unique, IT-centric metrics to track
performance. IT has often also been reactive in their work, responding to outages or help
desk issues once they arise; as such, IT teams aren’t traditionally poised to think or act
strategically.
A strong performance in the IT department may not translate to a positive performance to
other parts of the enterprise.
 THE IT BALANCED SCORECARD (BSC)

Not long after Kaplan and Norton developed their Balanced Scorecard, Belgian organizational
theorist Wim Van Grembergen and IT specialist Rik Van Bruggen adopted the traditional BSC.
They saw the difficulties in applying the four legs of the traditional BSC to an IT environment.
In 1997, they modified the four areas to better fit an IT environment:
• Corporate contribution
• Customer (User) Orientation
• Operational Excellence
• Future Orientation
 THE IT BALANCED SCORECARD (BSC)

The goal of this revised IT Balanced Scorecard is to align the IT department with the rest of
the organization, so that its metrics can be tracked alongside enterprise-wide metrics. It’s
easy to see why. Imagine that IT is helping other business units improve their efficiency and
customer satisfaction – that’s a value-add for the enterprise. Historically, however, no metrics
track these contributions.
Organizations must decide how to employ the Balanced Scorecard in the most beneficial way
for their bottom line. Some enterprises take a top-down approach that puts all departments,
including IT, on the same scorecard. Others opt to customize their scorecards, providing a
specific IT Balanced Scorecard.
 THE IT BALANCED SCORECARD (BSC)

Applying existing BSC metrics to IT

In this approach, the IT BSC focuses on aligning language, so those within IT and those
outside it are talking about measuring the same sorts of things in the same sorts of ways.
• Think about existing measurements in other areas: for instance, in HR the time-to-hire and
employee turnover metrics, or in accounts and finance, there may be an order-to-cash
measurement.
• What can IT do to contribute to these measurements?
• Once IT is looped into company language, a shift occurs wherein employees understand
how the same terminology applies differently to each department.
 THE IT BALANCED SCORECARD (BSC)

Creating an IT-specific BSC

For other organizations, the best approach is to take inspiration from the four quadrants of
the traditional BSC then customize them to fit IT (use the areas defined by Van Grembergen
and Van Bruggen, or choose others entirely).
Or, IT performance experts suggest using the IT BSC quadrants, but changing which key
performance indicators the IT team applies as these are likely different from KPIs for other
business units. For instance:
• The “customer” quadrant can be measured by “IT equipment users”, wherein the
customers become whoever partners with IT. These quadrants could have KPIs that track
development of these partnerships and the satisfaction of these users.
• The “operational excellence” quadrant could have KPIs that measure help desk efficiency,
time-to-respond, efficient software development, etc., as align with the organization’s
overall strategy.
 WHAT IS IT STRATEGY?

IT strategy (information technology strategy) is a comprehensive plan that outlines how

technology should be used to meet IT and business goals. An IT strategy is a written
document that details the multiple factors that affect the organization's investment in and
use of technology. Ideally, this strategy should support and shape an organization's overall
business strategy.
IT strategies should cover all facets of technology management, including cost management,
human capital management, hardware and software management, vendor management and
risk management.
Executing an IT strategy requires strong IT leadership; the chief information officer (CIO) and
chief technology officer (CTO) need to work closely with business, budget and legal
departments and other lines of business and user groups to achieve its success.
 WHAT IS IT STRATEGY?

Organizations formalize their IT strategy in a written document or balanced scorecard strategy

map. The plan and its documentation should be flexible enough to change in response to new
organizational circumstances, market and industry conditions, business priorities and
objectives, budgetary constraints, available skill sets and core competencies, technology
advances, and user need.
IT strategies are also called technology strategies or an IT technology strategic plan. IT
strategies should also be designed to be agile. For example, IT strategies for some
organizations had to change in 2020 due to the pandemic.
 WHY COMPANIES NEED AN IT STRATEGY

An IT strategy has become a critical element for organizational leadership. Its importance
mirrors the rise of technology as a critical element for business success. The importance of
an IT strategy has been amplified as organizations focus on digital transformation.
Technology is essential for creating new business models, products and services; enhancing
customer service and customer experience; increasing sales; enabling workers and improving
productivity; and supporting interactions with vendors and other business partners. As such,
organizations must make a technology strategy to accomplish these and compete against
other organizations with the same objectives.
Some organizations may decide to forgo a separate IT strategy, particularly platform
companies and other businesses whose product is based on technology offerings. Instead,
these organizations may fold IT strategies into the overall business strategy to create a single
unified document.
 BASICS OF AN IT STRATEGY

A strong IT strategy provides a blueprint of how technology supports and shapes the
organization's overall business strategy. Its strategic goals should mirror business projects --
aka business alignment --and take into account the needs of key stakeholders including
employees, customers and business partners.

The strategy should offer a look at the organization's current technology posture and provide
an idea of where IT should head over the next three to five years.
 BASICS OF AN IT STRATEGY

There are different models that can help executives construct an IT strategy. Most contain
certain key elements including:
• A high-level overview of the IT department that covers its mission, core values, objectives and
approaches to accomplishing its goals.
• Current budgets and spending forecasts for a multi-year timeline.
• An outline of current and future IT projects and initiatives with timelines and milestones.
• A catalog of existing enterprise architecture; IT department capabilities and capacities; and future
needs and requirements with details about infrastructure, staffing and other necessary resources.
• An analysis of IT's strengths and weaknesses.
• A list of the internal and external forces -- such as market and industry trends -- that shape current
technology requirements and innovations. This includes the future forces expected to shape IT.
• A prediction of the potential opportunities and vulnerabilities that will necessitate technology
responses to best position the organization for success.
 BASICS OF AN IT STRATEGY

Although the IT strategy by nature needs to address complex technical details, it should not
be considered a technical document. Instead, it should be considered a business document.
As such, it should be written in clear, concise language that's free of technical jargon.
 HOW TO CREATE AN IT STRATEGY

Just as there are varying models for the document itself, there are multiple ways to approach
creating an IT strategy. Commonalities do exist, however. For example, an initial review of the
organization's existing strategic IT plan and related documents is a good first step in any IT
strategy.

This first step should be followed by an assessment of how the organization is meeting
established objectives, milestones, benchmarks and relevant key performance indicators. The
assessment should identify the technology currently in use and the gaps that exist between
these current IT operations and the objectives and strategic goals outlined in the ongoing
strategic plans.
 HOW TO CREATE AN IT STRATEGY

Senior IT leaders then need to collaborate with their business-side counterparts to develop
the IT strategy further. Resources such as research reports should be looked for to
understand the business and technology trends that will impact the organization's market.

This creates a groundwork for IT executives to develop short and long-term objectives, budget
projections, technology predictions, the perceived future opportunities and vulnerabilities
that go into the technology strategy. At this point, an organization should have the
corresponding summaries needed for the final document
 IMPLEMENTATION OF AN IT STRATEGY

A strong IT strategy relies not just on creating the plan, but also on proper implementation of
it. These documents won't do any good if they're ignored after completion.
The documents should be used to guide tactical technology decisions, thereby helping the IT
department align its day-to-day operations with the overall business model and mission.
However, adherence to the IT strategy should not be overly rigid. The potential fast pace of
technology advancements and innovation require organizations to be agile if they want to
seize unforeseen developments. This will help an organization be more competitive and better
serve its market.
 IMPLEMENTATION OF AN IT STRATEGY

The technology strategy needs to be flexible. CIOs, CTOs and other executives must also be
nimble, and they should expect to reassess and redevelop the technology strategy at least
annually and possibly revisit it even more frequently.
Revisits of IT strategies should be done to verify tactical plans align with the technology
strategy, and to verify the technology strategy remains aligned with the overall organizational
mission -- as it changes in response to shifting dynamics.
 IT STEERING COMMITTEE

A steering committee is a group of people, usually managers. It is formed to oversee and

support a project from management level. Committee members are selected based on their
stake in the project. In other words: A steering committee should represent the main
stakeholders.
In this case, an IT steering committee should focus on all IT aspects of an organization to
ensure that all IT initiatives are aligned towards achievement of business goals and
objectives.
 IT STEERING COMMITTEE

Committee Objectives
An IT Steering Committee’s chief objectives are twofold: ensuring that an organization’s IT
strategy and goals are aligned, and making sure that the departments represented on the
committee are involved in making decisions that affect their work.
The IT Steering Committee benefits both the IT department and the entire organization. At
budget time, for example, a steering committee sets priorities for the IT department and
shares and explains them. The priorities list allows other departments to see how the various
projects fit into the organization’s strategic plan. The list also holds the committee, rather
than the department or manager, accountable for decisions.
 IT STEERING COMMITTEE

The IT Steering Committee gives direction and authority to the IT manager, or IT management
team, and supports both of them. In addition, the committee provides a platform for
discussion of IT projects, including how they fit the organization’s needs and why one
proposal takes precedence over another.
IT projects are generally team efforts, and the steering committee encourages priorities that
are in the organization’s best interest.
 IT STEERING COMMITTEE

Committee Membership
In assembling an IT Steering Committee, think small and strategic. The committee should
include representatives from finance, human resources, key areas of operations, and the IT
manager.
Prerequisites should include a strong grasp of the IT department’s policies, procedures, and
practices, and the authority to make decisions. Members need not be department heads, but
they should have knowledge and influence.
 IT STEERING COMMITTEE

Committee Mandate
To get the most benefit from an IT Steering Committee, the organization should clearly define
the committee’s role. Proposed projects to be reviewed by the IT Steering Committee should
be prioritized based on the following:
• Size—Focus on larger projects.
• Cost—Relate costs to capital investment, annual maintenance and support, and other
financial measures.
• Strategy—Focus on projects that have a significant impact on the strategic direction of the
enterprise and return on investment.
• Criticality—Some projects may not meet the threshold for size, cost, and strategy, but they
are nonetheless critical. These include security, time sensitivity, reputation/brand issues,
and regulatory compliance.
 IT STEERING COMMITTEE

Projects should be brought to the steering committee as business cases, and the department
making the proposal should make the pitch. That doesn’t mean a department is on its own,
however. It may allow IT to help it make the case, but it should own the proposal, and deliver
it to the decision makers.

The task of the IT steering committee, on the other hand, is to review and recommend IT
projects and prioritize ongoing ones, objectives best met by meeting regularly.
Communication is a very
important part of our day
to day life. it helps us in
our personal, social and
professional areas.
 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION AND ITS PROCESS

The word Communication (derived from the Latin ‘Communicare’ it means ‘to share’) is the
act of sharing ideas, emotions, and feelings between two or more people.
We are aware of the need for and importance of communication as it is a general
phenomenon. Nowadays communication is playing a vital role in every walk of an individual.
Wherever life exists, communication also exists.
There are many changes taking place in the corporate world; it has become an important tool
in the management analysis and managerial process. While considering all these aspects, the
success of any business/profession depends upon proper communication.
70–80 percent of working time is spent on some kind of communication. We are reading,
writing, and listening to our co-workers, or having one-tone conversations with our
supervisors.
 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION AND ITS PROCESS

Features of Communication:
• Communication is an unavoidable system.
• It is a two-way process.
• It is a social activity.
• It is a continuous process.
• It is universal.
• It may be formal or informal.
Process of Communication:

¡To have successful & effective

communication it is very
important to know about the
communication process. It
always guides us towards
realizing effective
communication. Every individual
that follows the communication
process will have the
opportunity to succeed in every
aspect of their profession.
 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION AND ITS PROCESS

Sender:
The sender is the person who sends the information to the receiver. This is why the
communication process has started for the sender. It is also called an encoder because the
sender always puts the message into words or images.
Message:
It is the second aspect of the communication process. It is a kind of information that the
sender wants to convey to the receiver.
Channel:
It is the medium of sharing information from one person to another. It can be a language or
any other. or it simply means various methods of sending the message e.g., telephone,
television etc.
 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION AND ITS PROCESS

Receiver:
The receiver is the person or group who receives the message or information which is
sent/given by the sender. It is also called a decoder because it decodes the information sent
by the sender.
Feedback:
Feedback is the key to any effective/successful communication. It is one of the fundamental
aspects in the process of communication, through which the sender can understand whether
the message has been successfully received or not.
 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION AND ITS PROCESS

Importance of Communication:
Communication is the heart of any organization. Everything you do in the workplace from the
results of communication. While developing your career you will get to know why
communication is important.
In the Organization:
Communication plays a very important role in the management of any organization. As it is a
tool for sharing thoughts, ideas, opinions and plans in various parts of an organization. Good
communication is required not only in building relationships but also for a successful
business. That is why communication is having tremendous importance in the organization.
Communication helps to increase efficiency at the workplace.
 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION AND ITS PROCESS

Importance for Individuals:

Communication is important to express oneself. It also satisfies one's needs. One should
have effective communication for advancement in the career. In your personal life, effective
communication skills can smooth your way and your relationships with others by helping you
to understand others, and to be understood.
To Secure an Interview:
To secure yourself in the interview you should communicate confidently and clearly. Good
communication skills would help you to get selected for the job.
 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION AND ITS PROCESS

For Motivation:
Communication is a basic tool for motivation. This can improve the morale of the people.
To Increase Productivity:
With effective communication, you can maintain relationships. It helps to increase
productivity.
To Develop Professionalism in Students:
In the future students will become doctors and then they need to communicate effectively
with their patients. They need empathy, friendliness in their profession for interacting with
patients. In the future students will become political / business, entrepreneurs, and leaders,
in all these fields they need to communicate effectively.
 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION AND ITS PROCESS

To Increase the Quality of Being Friendly With Others:

It is important to be friendly with others. Good communication builds strong friendships. It
will give confidence. In this way, communication skills enhance the ability to understand and
share the feelings of each other. It is important for making friendly relationships.
To sum up, I would like to say that communication plays a major role in promoting the life of
an individual.
Working in tech often involves solving complex problems, a task which would sometimes be
impossible without the benefits of collaboration. Having strong interpersonal communication
skills makes it much easier for coworkers and teammates to work together to generate ideas,
solve problems, and learn from one another.