The problem with benchmarking

The IT function in all large organisations is under pressure to demonstrate significant cost reductions, gain measured improvements in service delivery and process efficiencies.  Moreover, they are increasingly required to prove the value of IT to the business.  Benchmarking against other successful organisations and comparing best practice can be a major factor in satisfying these demands. 

Traditional benchmarking is an expensive, resource hungry and inevitably 'one-off' process.  Expensive consultants have to be supplemented by scarce in-house resource.  This makes benchmarking difficult to justify unless guaranteed improvements and cost savings can be gained from the process. 

This traditional approach often fails to offer explanations for poor performance.  The opportunity to debate relevant best practice actions and innovation, with other organisations, is simply not available.  This is because the focus is on consultant-driven processes rather than the comparison of cost and performance measurements as part of good IT governance.  CPI Benchmarking for Enterprise IT addresses all of these issues by making benchmarking user-driven, affordable and results-orientated.

CPI Enterprise delivers high value results at a fraction of the cost you would expect

• A cost effective route to high value savings
• Encourages sharing of best practice with peer organisations through facilitated workshops and one-to-one brokered discussions
• Allows repeat use as often as you like within the subscription year
• Latest results model always available to measure progress
• Fully subscriber-owned process, results and actions
• Backed by CPI Enterprise training & support at every stage

CPI Enterprise brings a different approach to benchmarking:

The emphasis of the CPI Enterprise service is on Continuous Performance Improvement with an easily repeatable process requiring minimum effort. 

CPI Enterprise enables the collection and analysis of a common set of metrics, agreed by all participants, that allows direct comparison with equivalent organisations.  It is this comparative methodology that allows CPI Enterprise to step beyond conventional benchmarking. 

Using CPI Enterprise analysis tools, subscribers can quickly identify areas of potential savings and determine actions to improve performance.  These actions can be discussed with other organisations who have displayed better performance in relevant areas.  The process leads to quicker decision-making with reduced risk.

CPI Enterprise was initiated by some of the UK's largest organisations, to deliver the important ongoing comparisons they required if they were to deliver quality IT services within a best practice environment.  The resultant service is simple to operate and subscribers retain ownership of metrics gathering and analysis.

What is CPI Benchmarking for Enterprise IT?

CPI Enterprise is an intensely practical, results-oriented and solution-led process. It uses key comparative performance measures and customer satisfaction ratings to identify where costs and service delivery can be improved. 

The real value for CPI Enterprise participants is delivered through participation in facilitated workshops and brokered one-to-one discussions.  By enabling collaborative interaction with organisations that have implemented best practice in key areas of under-performance, participants can dramatically reduce time to implementation.

By using a common set of metrics, including normalisation metrics, CPI Enterprise ensures that all participants are able to compare costs and performance on a like-for-like basis.  CPI Enterprise allows rapid development and implementation of actions that lead to improved performance.

The aim is to learn from other benchmark organisations and to adopt and adapt only elements of their best practice that are relevant to your business, culture and structure.

With CPI Enterprise:

Motivation to benchmark with CPI Enterprise comes from tangible benefits including:

• Identify areas for cost reduction.
• Understand what your KPIs should be.
• Measure and improve IT performance.
• Highlight areas of weakness and learn how to improve them.
• Demonstrate costs to senior management.
• Reinforce or inform future strategy.
• Identify opportunities for innovation.
• Benchmark suppliers' performance.
• Substantiate supplier negotiations from real-world data.

CIOs use it as a governance tool.
Managers use it as a communication tool.

No other service can deliver these benefits at such low cost

CPI Enterprise covers services delivered in these areas:

• Server Infrastructure by platform
• Data and Voice Network services including WAN, LAN, RAS, Internet, & Security
• Desktop services
• Help & Service Desks
• Business Application development & support
• Staff by ITIL role

Then use key comparative performance measures and customer satisfaction ratings to identify where costs and service delivery can be improved. 

The CPI Enterprise Process

• Compare key performance metrics against those of similar organisations.
• Evaluate the service delivered against IT costs.
• Assess the trade-offs between IT resources and the service value to the business.
• Make decisions based on actual, real-world data from comparable organisations.

International

CPI Enterprise offers great flexibility to organisations operating across international boundaries by offering currency conversion using appropriate exchange rates. 
 

Group Organisations with multiple IT functions

CPI Enterprise can also be applied to Groups of companies to provide an internal benchmark as well as outside comparison.  It enables companies or IT functions within a group to compare IT service performance on a consistent basis throughout the group.  This helps to ensure best practice and consistent service levels across all business units.

A Simple Process for Gathering Metrics

The strength of the CPI Enterprise benchmarking model lies in the definition and selection of the metrics used.  CPI Enterprise's cost model is said to be "…the best benchmarking cost model available" according to one IT Director.  The collaborative nature of the CPI Enterprise process ensures that metrics required to complete the template are the relevant costs, cost drivers, and key performance indicators typically available in most organisations. Participants complete the standard data collection template for costs & metrics.  Each metric has a concise definition and has been defined by participants to concentrate on key areas and minimise collection effort.

Induction Workshop ensures efficient metrics collection

At the beginning of the process CPI Enterprise provides onsite support workshops to guide personnel in understanding terminology, definitions, and requirements.  Telephone support is available throughout.

Data validation to ensure consistency

Integrity and consistency of data are paramount to successful benchmarking and CPI Enterprise checks metrics both manually and automatically to maximise consistency and minimise errors.

Help with Results Analysis

The CPI Enterprise Results Model is very easy to use.  Nonetheless it helps to have access and support from the team of experts at CPI Enterprise and other participating organisations that can assist in the production of the management report.  Onsite support workshops help managers access and get value from the analysis of data.

Key Information for Management

The CPI Enterprise Results Model includes an Executive Summary that is immediately accessible for presentation to senior management.  In order to get behind the data, the model includes analysis, chart, and pivot tools that enable drill down to investigate specific areas of interest.

Workshops - Analysis to Actions

CPI Enterprise takes full advantage of its ability to provide direct, peer-to-peer interaction with organisations that have experienced similar issues.  This ensures actions are based on real-world, practical knowledge that allows faster, more confident decision-making.

CPI Enterprise workshops regularly generate actions that have saved, and are saving, participants hundreds of thousands of pounds, and more.  It is this ability to get behind the numbers, to identify serious opportunities for continuous and sustainable improvement that makes the service so valuable.

CPI Internal Customer  Views - Completing the Circle

As well as tracking IT resources deployed, CPI Enterprise additionally provides the opportunity to monitor and compare the results of actions, as measured by the level of customer satisfaction achieved.

Participants can utilise the CPI Internal Customer Views Survey tools, or their own survey processes, to measure comparative performance in terms of internal customer satisfaction and the gap between expectations and performance, and then to benchmark the summary results.

The specific needs of two distinct customer groups are addressed by tailored questionnaires:

Business Managers/Directors whose business operation is impacted by the quality of IT services.
End-Users where IT services determine the ability to perform everyday tasks efficiently 

The core survey questions embody the industry standard RATER framework, ensuring they cover the key service dimensions: Reliability, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy, and Responsiveness.

This has the benefit of giving organisations the information they need to target their investment on specific areas, and to measure the outcome.

Combining such survey results with managed service measures, offers a complete view of performance and how the delivery of IT service could be improved to align with business needs.

The CPI Results Model

Costs per topic as percentage

What is IT spending money on and is this typical?  Another Executive Summary Chart helps senior managers to get a rapid appreciation of resource allocation.

Key Costs per user

Participants learn from a glance at the CPI Executive Summary Chart how their various topic-level costs per user compare with CPI norms. Results Model tools offer full analysis drill-down and multiple ratios to normalise in order to compare like-for-like.