We made it, the 5th and final blog of the series. The other 4 can be found at the bottom of this blurb.
As is tradition, lets start with a definition:
The discovery and communication of meaningful patterns in data … or
Finding things out!
Many organizations have metrics and KPIs set that are measured on a frequent basis. That's not new, not a differentiation nor a competitive advantage. Too often these indicators are set based on what we already know or what has already happened. Consider the analogy of driving a car, we look in mirror to see what has already passed us, rarely does it tell us whats coming or what to anticipate, looking backwards. With the advent of technology and all sorts of wonderful gadgets, GPS and HUD's are now common place in modern cars, reacting to now only past conditions but also trying to predict and show us meaningful information ahead of us, as to upcoming conditions, maybe a turn I should take to ensure I get to the right place first time every time, almost like a target or goal.
Reporting is fairly limited, similar to the rear view mirror, and is contained to a certain scope of insight in terms of the questions it can answer.
• RAW Data - What happened?
• Standard Reports - How Many, How Often, Where?
• Query Drill Down - Where Exactly is The Problem?
• Alerts - What Actions Are Needed?
Analytics exponentially increases the amount of insight we have, like a GPS or HUD in that it can provide:
• Statistical Analysis - Why is this happening?
• Forecasting - What if these trends continue?
• Predictability - What will happen next?
• Optimise - What is the best that can happen?
I like to approach reporting and analytics with a simple question of: If I had all the things I needed, what are the 3 most important changes or improvements I can make to my services to deliver better outcomes to my customer? Then, if you back away from that, you can start to figure out the important things you want to track, and therefore measure, and therefore count. A book I read early in my career and still refer to today is by Randy Steinberg (Measuring ITIL). If you ignore the title and focus on the 3 tiers of measurements, it does a wonderful job of framing these, but also can be used to drive maturity of measurement. Showing how the ultimate customer outcomes are tied all the way back to how we count the basics.
So, when identifying what to measure, when, its also important to understand the 'how'. Can you even measure and get the data you need, when you need it and can it be trusted. I see too many situations where the most amazing metrics and reporting are part of implementations, yet the basics of the operational processes to support the data gathering and computation are not in place. Often this is exacerbated by the implementation of the wrong tools, massive customization of the existing tools, or failure of delivery to original promises (the salesman's dream).
So that's it! Hopefully you have enjoyed this 5 part series, all links to previous blogs are below…I am off to find the next topic to write about and try to put a dent in the universe…..Thanks for taking the time to read.
#GWP
Previous Blog Entries.
Blog 1 - https://community.servicenow.com/community/blogs/blog/2016/07/19/taxonomy-what-is-that-all-about
Blog 2 - https://community.servicenow.com/community/blogs/blog/2016/07/25/was-it-good-for-you
Blog 3 - https://community.servicenow.com/community/blogs/blog/2016/09/26/special-deliveryor-is-it
Blog 4 - https://community.servicenow.com/community/blogs/blog/2016/10/03/are-we-good-yeah-we-are-good
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