Benchmarking & Metrics: Save your Bacon with Apples and Apples

Have you fielded questions like this from your Senior Administration: 1) “You need a lot of money – Maybe we are spending too much on IT?” 2) “Why do you need so many IT staff? People are expensive!” If you... [ view full abstract ]

Have you fielded questions like this from your Senior Administration:
1) “You need a lot of money – Maybe we are spending too much on IT?”
2) “Why do you need so many IT staff? People are expensive!”

If you haven’t been in that position, odds are you will someday. When the time comes, have some basic metrics in your pocket. Then, put your numbers in their context: “Spending on IT relative to….”

You can deflate arbitrary or anecdotal questioning by showing how your expenditure and staffing numbers compare with peers. Better to have this information than be caught flat-footed. And when you need to advocate for change, have metrics to support your reasoning.

In December 2015, CUCCIO released its very first Annual Benchmarking Report to 29 participating universities. The report provides IT leaders with a tool for comparing IT expenditures and staffing for their institution with other Canadian universities. There is also the Educause Core Data Service (CDS) Benchmarking program, which is more comprehensive.

This interactive session is meant for all CUCCIO members, whether they contributed data for the first report or not. Jim Lesslie, a member of the CUCCIO Standing Committee on Benchmarking, will summarize the CUCCIO program, briefly compare it with Educause CDS, and address questions such as:

1) Why participate and contribute data?
2) What Metrics Are Available?
3) Is the Data Accurate? Can We Trust It?
4) How can we improve these Benchmarking Programs?
5) What Questions will we be asking 2-3 years from now?