App Dev Leaders — Got Metrics?

Managing an application development organization is complex. App dev leaders manage staff and budgets, keep production systems healthy, and deliver new and enhanced solutions based on both custom and packaged applications. At the same time, the business wants better solutions delivered faster and cheaper. As an application development professional, you need continuous measurement to be effective. Metrics help you manage staff, vendors, systems, and projects. They demonstrate your productivity and improvement. But implementing metrics the "right" way is challenging. Data sits in various places in varying formats, and it takes a lot of time to collect, compile, and analyze the information. Plus, people really dislike being measured. It's important to take a practical — and purposeful — approach to designing your metrics program, emphasizing: 1) alignment of metrics with goals; 2) creation of your own organizational baselines; 3) tool set and data quality; 4) attention to cultural challenges; and 5) continual tuning of your program. You can overcome the metrics challenge to increase your team's value to IT and the business.