Are your organization’s reports hitting the mark or are they to IT Metrics what the “Skoltimaier 7even” are to the music industry?

All too often we see organizations where countless IT reports are generated each week, month etc.. Often such reports are based on Andy’s clever Crystal Report or some other SQL query, the data is then exported to MS Excel  where it is massaged so that pretty charts can be exported to MS PowerPoint. Although these reports take a huge chunk of time consuming manual labor, it is important to question how good these reports really are. Ask yourself the following questions for each of the reports:

-          Is there a clearly defined and communicated goal and purpose for the report?

-          Who is the audience for the report? Who is receiving the report? Why?

-          Do you know who actually looks at the reports?

-          Are there any formal communications conducted that use the reports as their basis and do the reports ever lead to concrete follow up actions?

-          Is there a feedback loop in place to validate the purpose and contents of the reports?

-          Are you able to respond and keep reports current and valid in the goals they are trying to meet?

It takes a considerable effort to be in a situation where the above questions can be answered in a positive and mature manner. However with the right reporting solution and the correct approach it is possible starting tomorrow.

So what’s it going to be? Are you going to continue ‘banging glasses in flashy suits’ or are you going to make some music?

David dSA