For those in a hurry…
- Budgeted It Spend vs Actual Spend
- Percentage of Infrastructure Projects Delivered on Time, to Budget and Spec
- Average Time to Solve a Problem
- Uptime vs Planned/Unexpected Downtime
- Recovery Point Objective and Recovery Time Objective
- Mean Time Between Failures
- Mean Time To Recovery
The 7 KPIs to measure IT ROI
Small business owners in London and across the UK know that well-executed IT is essential. But are you spending your money in the right way? Are you seeing a good return on investment (ROI) from your IT spending?
If not, don’t worry – we’re here to help. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the seven key performance indicators (KPIs) you should be looking at to measure the ROI from your IT spend.
We’ve noticed two distinct ways business owners and managers acquire IT and technology over the years. Some see it as a cost, while others see it as an investment.
We don’t work with the first group. It’s a disaster from start to finish! The issue is when this becomes the long-term engine of the business, and all expenditures are made on a bargain basis.
The second group understands that technology is the foundation of their business, and they don’t want to take any chances with the quality. Today, technology is at its centre, no matter what sort of company you run. And it will become increasingly critical in the future.
Savvy business owners think of IT as a long-term investment. They recognise the close link between short-term cash flow and long-term business development, increased productivity, and delighted staff and customers.
If you’re nodding your head in agreement, we should talk; our companies appear to be a good fit. However, before you dial the phone, consider this:
It’s not that we don’t focus very, very hard on providing excellent ROI to our customers – Return On Investment. It is a major driving force for us in technology planning and regular strategic reviews with clients.
As the saying goes, “you can’t manage what you can’t measure.” So here are 7 Computer KPIs – Key Performance Indicators – that you may use to ensure that you’re getting your investment back.
The old way of viewing IT investments was that they were a necessary evil. You had to have them, and you might as well try to make the most of them. But nowadays, with the proper planning and execution, your IT investments can be a crucial part of your overall growth strategy. And that’s where Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) come in.
Please be advised that we do not necessarily, use all of these KPIs with each customer. We work with each client individually to figure out what kind of reporting is most essential to them. And then we deliver it. So there’s no point in doing reporting if it isn’t being utilised to make sound strategic judgments.
1. Budgeted It Spend vs Actual Spend
It’s pretty feasible to predict technology expenses and significantly decrease the chance of “urgent, emergency spending.” But, of course, you must do this over time. Accurate forecasts can only be obtained by investing in high-quality infrastructure that allows for faster growth and never inhibits it. This is why you need a technological partner intimately involved with your business and long-term planning. If someone doesn’t understand where you’re going or why, how can they advise you on technology?
2. Percentage of IT Infrastructure Projects Delivered on Time, to Budget and Spec
This is a simple KPI to understand and measure. You urge your IT partner to provide realistic project duration and cost estimates by tracking this. Experienced IT professionals should not have difficulties incorporating an allowance for unanticipated issues into their calculations.
When looking for an IT Support partner, it is essential to find one with a good track record of delivering projects on time, within budget, and spec. This will ensure that your investment in IT is always seen as an investment and never as an expense. Experienced IT professionals should not have difficulties incorporating an allowance for unanticipated issues into their calculations.
The percentage of projects that go over budget is another crucial indicator of an IT Support partner’s ability to deliver value for money. By tracking this KPI, you can ensure that your IT budget is always spent in the most effective way possible.
3. Average Time for Help Desk to Solve a Problem
Most IT support firms receive this inquiry from potential new clients: How long would it take to fix issues? “It depends,” is the reply. The problem and its consequences are two factors that influence how long it would take to solve them. In addition, just like A&E doctors in hospitals, IT companies use a form.
You wouldn’t expect a broken arm to be given the same level of urgency and attention as a heart attack since resources aren’t unlimited. It’s the same with technological problems. What matters is that your IT partner understands which of your systems are crucial to normal operations and what’s “annoying” when they don’t function properly for a period of time.
Documented response times
The IT company should provide you with a table or graph that documents the average time it usually takes to solve a problem. The data in this table or chart should be based on the company’s experience rather than the client’s perception.
This document would also show how long it took to solve a problem in the past. It would be essential information to help you make future decisions.
The table or graph should show the average time it took to solve a problem, not the longest it ever took to solve one.
4. Network Uptime vs Planned/Unexpected Downtime
Downtime occurs when systems and equipment are not accessible to your staff for their regular activities. There are two sorts of rest: planned and unanticipated. A competent IT partner will work with you to ensure that scheduled maintenance periods have the least possible impact on your employees’ productivity while maintaining essential functionality.
Of course, eliminating all unexpected downtime is impossible. Although internet outage in the broader area is unavoidable, not just in your office, some of them may be avoided. All the rest of the time when your systems are functioning correctly is known as uptime.
5. Recovery Point Objective and Recovery Time Objective
We just threw a bunch of technical words at you. Here’s what they all mean. The recovery point objective (RPO) aims to figure out how often your data should be backed up. This will be determined by how frequently it changes and the importance of the data.
For example, if you worked in the banking industry, you’d want an RPO of zero minutes. However, if a bank’s computer systems go down, it must recover all transactions before the outage.
However, let’s assume you own an architects’ practice. For example, your employees may only save a few files each day. As a result, an RPO of 2 hours may be acceptable. However, it implies that the maximum amount of data that can be lost in the case of a major catastrophe is 2 hours’ worth.
Setting an RPO is always a balance between cost and convenience. There are almost always helpful solutions that a competent IT partner can come up with for you – backing everything up in real-time within your office, then only sending it to a secure data centre twice a day away from your workplace, for example.
The Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is the amount of downtime your organisation can absorb before data restoration. Put another way. It’s how long you have to bring everything back up and running correctly. Your most vital systems will have a longer RTO than others. This is an important topic to discuss with your IT partner. For example, your RTO for email maybe 24 hours, but your RTO for credit card processing may only be 2 hours.
Both RPO and RTO are essential concepts to understand when planning your backup and disaster recovery strategy. By understanding these key performance indicators, you’ll be in a much better position to make informed decisions about your IT spending.
6. Mean Time Between Failures
The average duration between system failures is known as Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF). Knowing this might assist you in measuring the efficiency and dependability of your infrastructure. Real-life insights into how robust your systems are may be obtained by tracking them. Your team may believe there are “always issues,” but taking the MTBF can show that your
This holds true for both sides of the equation: When you find a problem, there’s always another layer of challenges below it. For example, you can investigate your failure rate to see whether you’re suffering more failures than would be anticipated. This may help you justify an investment in new software, hardware, or systems by providing evidence for a business case.
Some companies set a goal to achieve MTBFs as close to zero as possible. By doing this, they make sure that their systems are always up and running. This can be costly, so it’s essential to weigh the cost of downtime against the price of prevention.
7. Mean Time To Recovery
The Mean Time To Recovery (MTTR) is the final KPI, which indicates how long it takes your company to recover from a breakdown: From discovery to resolution. Simply stated, this reflects how long it takes your firm to get back up and running after a failure. It may also be helpful when determining where to put long-term investments.
If you’re making a significant investment in IT, you need to be sure that the MTTR is low. This metric can help you understand how quickly your team can respond to a problem and get your systems up and running again.
A high MTTR means that your company is losing money with each outage. However, it also indicates problems with your incident response process.
Of course, there are other KPIs that you might track to get a deeper understanding of your IT systems. However, these are the ones we recommend starting with. Not only will they tell you a lot about how well your current technology infrastructure is functioning, but they’ll also provide insight into how well your IT provider is performing.
If you’re looking for assistance with your KPIs or IT support in London, our team at iceConnect can help. We have a wide range of services that can cater to your specific needs, and we’re always happy to help businesses achieve their ROI from IT. Get in touch today to learn more. iceConnect is also glad to offer assistance understanding and calculating your company’s KPIs. To learn more, visit our website or give us a call today.
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