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Chapter 8 ■ Continual Service Improvement
autoremind action owners before the milestone deadlines and will send out automated
reports as per the crystal reporting structure.
8.5 Baselines
When you develop reports on performance achieved or any other similar reports, it
is important to have a threshold defined. The performance threshold acts as a point
of comparison, and it helps provide the context for the improvements or downturns.
This threshold is called a baseline in ITIL. We use baselines in a number of processes
in ITIL, such as creating configuration baselines in the service asset and configuration
management process.
In CSI lifecycle phase, the baselines play an important role in measuring the level of
improvement that was brought about through the undertaken improvement initiatives. It
provides a basis for the extent of the improvements applied.
When a baseline is drawn, it needs to be documented, circulated, and agreed upon
by all involved stakeholders to achieve transparency and agreement of the comparison
marker. Baselines come in different levels: strategic, tactical, and operational baselines.
When baselines are created, they need to be examined at all three levels.
If a baseline is not obtained before embarking on an improvement project, the
extent of improvements achieved will be questioned, and the measurements taken
postimprovements will be set as the baseline for upcoming improvements.
8.6 Types of Metrics
The performed improvements need to be measured to determine whether they have
accomplished their intended purpose. This is achieved through metrics, which is defined
in ITIL CSI as a scale of measurement defined in terms of a standard (well-defined unit).
Let’s say that you have performed an improvement initiative to reduce the overall
number of incidents. How do you measure it? Through metrics. For this example, the
number of incidents logged in a calendar month is the metric that provides the needed
measurement to vet whether the improvement has been effective. Generally speaking,
metrics provide the quantitative view of the activity or the process or anything that needs
to be measured.
Metrics are generally tailor made for the activity you are trying to measure. A metric
defined for one activity cannot be readily used for another activity. Let’s say that you have
another requirement for a metric to measure the percentage of failed changes in a month.
You cannot use the incident metric to measure this.
For failed changes, you need a separate metric:
Percentage of failed changes in a calendar month
= (failed changes / overall changes) × 100
However, there are some generic metrics, such as number of incidents, number of
changes, and percentage of service uptime, that can be used across the board.
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