The Society for Information Management recently released a report on how CIOs can use metrics to further their goals. It offers guidance on organizing different metrics, but of greater use are its findings on how to use metrics when discussing IT value with business leaders, writes Madeline Weiss, director of the SIM Advanced Practices Council.

Businesses today expect their CIOs to provide more than high performing IT services at the lowest possible cost along with innovation. They also want IT to give them a competitive edge, Weiss writes in a post at InformationWeek. CIOs today therefore need metrics that demonstrate which IT investments have generated value in terms of improving business processes, growth and the capacity to innovate. It is these metrics that give CIOs the credibility they need.

The report sets out a framework of the performance metrics and scope metrics relevant in today's business climate and offers recommendations on how CIOs can use it in discussions with business leaders. The first recommendation is to select your metrics strategically. Keep the focus on the performance issues that business leaders care most about and can relate to. If you were the CIO at a huge retailer, for example, you might want to choose metrics dealing with growth and improvement of store operations.

Business leaders may find metrics particularly useful if they can be used to increase their own compensation, which should improve your relationship too. Asking executives what their measures of success are and how you can contribute to them can go a long way in building trust.

For more:
- see Madeline Weiss's post at InformationWeek

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