Seven Change Management KPI Metrics in ITIL v3
So how do you know when change management is really working? We use change management KPI metrics, that’s how. Key performance indicators (KPI) are values that every business can measure and track – values that show the effectiveness of your performance as an organization toward your business objectives.
Establishing what these should be for your organization doesn’t mean that you necessarily have to get creative and reinvent the wheel. In ITIL v3, change management metrics examples include the following seven optimal KPIs.
1 - An increase in the percentage of changes implemented to services that met your customer’s requirements.
Measuring the number of changes that were successful—from a customer service standpoint—in relationship to the number of changes overall is a great way to tell how well your change management strategy is working.
2 - A reduction in the number of unauthorized changes.
One of the primary goals of
change management in ITIL v3 is the establishment of a culture of change management throughout your organization, one that has no tolerance for authorized changes of any kind. A great way to measure how well your organization and change management strategy is living up to this ideal is to track the number of authorized changes, with the goal of getting them as close to nonexistent as possible.
3 - A reduction in the backlog of change requests.
In a perfect world (or organization), change requests would be handled as they were received. Formal proposals for alterations to product and systems would not accumulate, awaiting action and potentially frustrating the client. This perfect world likely doesn’t exist, but minimizing the accumulation of backlogged change requests is an ideal worth working toward—and measuring.
4 - An increase in your overall change success rate.
Tracking the percentage of successful changes, either at review or through the mechanism of an approved RFC, is another terrific KPI to pay attention to. Any increase in your overall change success rate is worth celebrating, and an indication that your organization is moving in the right direction.
5 - An overall reduction in the number of failed changes.
This is technically the inverse of number four: tracking your organizational success is a natural partner to tracking where you struggled to come up with results.
6 - An improvement in the average time to implement changes based on their priority, their urgency, and/or the type of change.
Tracking how long it takes for your organization to respond to requested (and other) changes is essential to improving your change management performance. But not all changes are the same, nor should they all be given equal weight when measured. Different types of changes, as well as their urgency and priority, need to be taken into account when measuring this KPI.
7 - A reduction in the number of incidents attributable to changes.
Lastly, an overall reduction in the number of incidents that can be traced back to changes is ideal. Incidents are generally unavoidable, but the amount of incidents attributable to changes indicates how well you’re managing change as an organization.
Change Management KPI Metrics Measure Value
Measuring value, performance, and improvement is a key part of any solid change management strategy. Through the tracking of these seven important KPIs, you can get a clearer picture of where your organization is excelling in terms of change management, and where you may need to apply a little more effort, strategy, or insight. In the end, KPIs are there to help you measure the value of what you are doing, so be sure to use them.
