We have probably all heard the Lord Kelvin quote, “If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it”. So why not place more emphasis on measuring performance of our IT infrastructure? ITIL gives us key performance indicators, KPIs, as guidance, but I wonder what percentage of university IT departments track where they perform relative to defined indicators. My guess is that nearly all departments do some, but few departments are doing this on a large scale department wide. But why not? Especially since this feedback would foster improvement efforts.

Lately I have been thinking about topic of how best practice frameworks fit together. Whether you follow the PMBOK, ITIL CMMI, COBIT, and the list goes on, a good chance exists that you will find times when the schools of thought overlap as well as contradict one another. It is fair to say that all models inevitably have both evangelists and critics, but it is my belief that all the proclaimed “best practice” models have at least some good takeaways. So, to dismiss any one model altogether is a bit close-minded.