1. MONEYBALL FOR IT SUPPORT
Using Data-Driven Management to Achieve
World-Class Support.
DFW Chapter of HDI
March 15, 2012
Terry Allen

2. “MONEYBALL”
Reshaping a laggard team into a world-class winner–with one of the lowest budgets
“Willingness to re-think baseball: how it is managed, how it is played, who is best suited to play it, and why. “– Michael Lewis, author
Which statistics are most correlated to winning games
Focus on these success metrics and actually use them for recruiting, player development, and game-time decisions.
Full management commitment
This approach has come to the fore-front of best practices in driving business execution.
Since the book, and especially the movie, many companies and industries are asking “how can this apply to us”?
For example, recent article in Business Week – “Tracking the wrong metrics can be expressed and lead to the wrong results.”
HR company, customer service group, etc.

3. IT Support Centers
A strong environment for data-driven management (analytics)
Rich in under-used data and under-tracked processes
There are efficiency and quality gains to be captured by uncovering and leveraging the value in existing systems and stores of data
You can’t manage what you don’t measure
Focus on desktop support as well as service desk
Lack of measures and management is particularly true of desktop support.
When it comes to end-user support, most often think of Level 1 help desk. Extensively studied – best practices are well documented and understood. In 2011 Practices Surveys, 91% of SDs measure and track metrics, while less than 50% of desktop organizations do!

4. IT Support Centers
Performance Management in the Support Center – Service Desk and Desktop Support
A set of practices and tools used to systematically measure, improve, and manage the operation
A means of defining and delivering metrics to every employee and stakeholder
A process for aligning goals and objectives across all levels of the organization
The means for management and individuals to diagnose and take action based on full information
Why not?
But not all measures are equally important
Too often favor metrics that are easiest to get or those “everyone uses”
And don’t forget: “You get what you measure”
You can’t manage what you don’t measure – have heard this for quite a while. But despite this few support centers really use KPI’s to their full potential – especially desktop support teams.
But what to measure?
Efficiency and quality gains
Early detection of problems and trends
Continual process improvement
Why Not? – key data may be difficult to access, organize, and put in context
Don’t want to “fight the good fight”

5. Metrics Average speed to answer*/service level (% within x seconds)
Call abandonment rate*
Contacts/Tickets handled/resolved per FTE*
First call resolution*
Average handling time/wrap up time
Average response time*
Resolution times by category/classification – Mean time to resolve*
Percent of tickets reopened*
Cost per contact/incident*
First level resolution
Staff turnover
Staff absenteeism
Staff utilization/Work time per ticket*
Percent of day on incidents*
Number of exchanges required to resolve*
Customer satisfaction*
Staff satisfaction*
Training days per staff member*
Percentage of tickets resolved by level*
Percent of incidents caused by change
Percent resolved Level 1*
Average queue time per ticket*
Ratio of staff per customer….. and many more……….
Included in HDI Practices Surveys – Service Desk and Desktop
! Common to track over metrics!

7. Moneyball Metrics Not all measures are equally important (80/20)
Watch out for “analysis paralysis”.
What are the most meaningful measures?
Less is more. Allows focus.
What processes are intuitively managed that could be better run based on statistical facts?
How would this affect your culture and how you hire, develop, promote, and field a support team based on these insights?
Recent Business Week article stated that: “Tracking the wrong metrics can be expensive and lead to the wrong result.”
And need to take action Most are marginally relevant, at best.
What are the primary measures for baseball? - Profit, and Winning World Series, total games won? Butts in seat…..
Define and clarify goals
Measure performance
Improve results

8. Moneyball Metrics Key to the value of Moneyball Metrics
True potential = not just measure, but also:
Track and trend performance over time
Benchmark performance vs. self (and peers)
Identify strengths and weaknesses
Diagnose - understand the interrelationships and underlying drivers of performance
Prescribe actions to improve performance
Establish performance goals for both individuals and support team overall
Become “World-Class”
All metrics are worthless – unless you do something with them.
Very hard to focus on “actionable data” if you look at too much.
True potential of metrics, only if you: (see list)
Benchmark – get a baseline to see progress and continual improvement

9. What is “World-Class”? “Ranking among the foremost in the world”
“First-rate”, “Exceptional”, “Superlative”…
Exceed “Industry standards?”
We often hear and use the term “World class”.
I would contend that these are the only two things that really matter!
This may not apply to baseball. Yankees are considered “world class” – but certainly not based on wins per dollar spent. Highest payroll in baseball by far. 
not about just having the “best performance metrics in the industry” – despite the cost! That’s not world class in my opinion. Doing the best you can with the budget available. This gives a smaller support center a chance to be “world class”. May not be able to have the highest First call resolution or response times, but can do a good job on a low budget.
……..as you make decisions and try different actions, ask how do I improve performance AND lower cost.

10. World-Class
Goal of every business is to achieve the highest possible quality at the lowest possible cost.
“World-class” implies optimization:
Best quality/performance for the dollars available.
Great quality at very high cost - just as low cost with low quality - is not world-class! Requires careful balance with calibration/benchmarking
DUH – hence Moneyball Metrics and Performance Management.
Discuss this more: again
So what are the Moneyball Metrics?
I will suggest 7 specific metrics for service desk and 8 for desktop support. These are based on my years of experience working with dozens of companies and on industry research.
However, let me say at this point, that the key metrics that I will submit and discuss may not be exactly the ones for your organization – I think they are, but you need to identify for yourself through careful benchmarking and calibration what is best for you.

11. World-Class Two primary measures of success – Prime Factors:
Effectiveness and Efficiency, or
Quality vs. Cost

12. Moneyball Metrics
Best indicator of effectiveness/quality = Customer Satisfaction
Best indicator of efficiency = Cost per Contact/Incident (fully burdened) – measure of Total Cost of Ownership
Prime Moneyball Metrics – perhaps the only two that really matter
World Class:
Consistently exceed customer expectations
Costs are managed at or below industry average levels
So what are the key influencers of these prime factors?
I realize that there are many issues around how to define specific metrics, how to measure them, and how to compare with others. Will not have time to get in depth on these issues. Could spend a good day or two. Food for other presentations.

13. Customer Satisfaction
Single biggest driver of Customer Satisfaction is First Contact Resolution
Training, Knowledge Management, Incentives
So if there is problem with customer satisfaction – look first to First Contact Resolution. Not that others do not have an impact, but much less and not always a plus factor!
Just ask yourself what you want most when you ask for help – a solution in a reasonable amount of time. Depends upon the complexity of the issue.

14. Customer Satisfaction
Single biggest driver of Customer Satisfaction is First Contact Resolution
Training, Knowledge Management, Incentives
And the next most critical driver of Customer Satisfaction is Staff Satisfaction
Measure at least 2/year
Training, Coaching, Career Path, Recognition

15. Customer Satisfaction
Single biggest driver of Customer Satisfaction is First Contact Resolution
Training, Knowledge Management, Incentives
And the next most critical driver of Customer Satisfaction is Staff Satisfaction
Training, Coaching, Career Path, Recognition
Measure at least 2/year
Then Service Levels, e.g.
MTTR (desktop)/Resolution time
Response times – phone,
ASA/Abandon rate
Others

16. Customer Satisfaction
FCR
Service Levels
Staff Satisfaction
Career Path
Training Hours
Coaching

17. Cost per Incident Single biggest factor of Cost is Staff Utilization
Labor is biggest expense
Best measure of labor efficiency is utilization
Key factors: Service Levels and Scheduling Efficiency
Staff utilization:
Time working on incidents/Time worked
Caution – 80-90% can lead to high turnover
But have to be careful – too high utilization will lead to low Analyst Satisfaction and turnover - and low service levels

18. Cost per Incident First Level Resolution
Key factor in Total Cost of Ownership
Cost per incident at different support levels
Self-service $3-8
Level 1 (chat, , phone) $10-17
Level 2 (not deskside visits) $20-30
Level 2 (deskside visits) $50-60
Level 3/Vendor $
Note: Service Desk can have low cost/contact but may drive a high TCO (overall cost/incident) by transfers
Caution: FLR over 90-95% can increase overall cost per incident – again, it’s about balance!
Again training, coaching, etc can help FLR.

19. Cost per Incident Turnover/Absenteeism
Very costly impacts on labor costs
Key driver here: Staff Satisfaction
High staff satisfaction drives lower turnover and absenteeism, more experience, lower handle times, higher first contact resolution and first level resolution rates, lower MTTR.
Training, Coaching, Career Path, Recognition
Work Time to handle/resolve incidents
Work time, plus travel (deskside support)

20. Cost per Contact/Incident
Staff Utilization
Absenteeism/ Turnover
FLR
AHT
Service Levels
Training
Staff Satisfaction
Career Path
Scheduling Efficiency
Training Hours
Coaching

21. Not So Much Average Speed to Answer/ Abandonment Rate
Almost no impact on Customer Satisfaction (if business reasonable)
Can have a great impact on Cost per Contact - adversely
Can increase costs without corresponding increase in customer satisfaction
Determine goals based on business need
Key is consistency
There are many other metrics that have relatively little impact on Moneyball Metrics
Do have value as part of diagnostic analysis

22. Summary of Major Correlations
Customer Satisfaction
Cost per Contact/Incident
FCR
Staff Utilization
Service Levels
Absenteeism/ Turnover
FLR
AHT
Service Levels
Training
Staff Satisfaction
Career Path
Scheduling Efficiency
Training Hours
Coaching

23. Scorecard Metric
Single overall measure to track and communicate performance
Aggregate/Balanced Scorecard
Enables management to easily communicate an overall picture of performance to stakeholders(e.g., GD/BD or Red/Yellow/Green)
Tracked over time it helps determine if support is improving or declining
Avoids focusing and drawing conclusions on less important metrics
Beginning of diagnosis

24. Sample Scorecard Metric Weight % Bench Mark Performance Result
Balanced
Score
Cost/Contact
25%
$30
$35
86%
21.4%
Customer Sat.
90%
88%
98%
24.4%
Analyst Utilization
10%
85%
80%
94%
9.4%
FCR
70%
72%
103%
10.3%
Analyst Sat.
20%
82%
96%
19.3%
First Level Res.
(% L1 Capable) 5%
78%
4.9%
ASA (or MTTR) 60 65
92%
4.6%
Total
100%
94.4%

25. Summary Three major mistakes Seven Moneyball Metrics
Tracking/Reporting too many metrics
Focusing on the wrong (less important) metrics
Not exploiting the full potential of performance metrics as a diagnostic tool
Seven Moneyball Metrics
Two Prime MM’s – Cost and Customer Satisfaction
First Contact Resolution
Staff Satisfaction – impacts many other key metrics
Staff Utilization
First Level Resolution (TCO) – overall efficiency
Balanced score – overall measure/communications

26. Summary Moneyball Metrics enable you to:
Track and trend performance over time
Benchmark performance vs. self (and others)
Identify strengths and weaknesses
Diagnose - and understand the underlying drivers of gaps
Prescribe actions to improve performance
Establish performance standards/goals for both individuals and overall

27. Summary Cultural Impact Requires management to implement and enforce
Use data consistently, hold people accountable, build incentive systems around the new model
No more excuses – everyone knows what they’re accountable for; process of commitment
Re-examine processes – hiring, training, quality, all can benefit
Requires a buy-in process
Get people to buy in and use it
Be patient for “Aha!” moments where people understand
Be clear that it’s not “big brother”. Own their own performance, and can even start teaching each other
Transparency – the more you reveal, the greater the impact on acceptance