By Randall Reid, ICMA Staff

How can you be sure you’re making the right decisions about investments in information technology (IT)? Many of my friends who are IT professionals say they’re frustrated because by the time they can fund and deliver technology through sluggish government rollouts, not only has technology changed, but the technology needs of the local government have changed as well.

As managers, we frequently deal with complex decisions about how to best direct finite financial resources toward the right technology solutions, whether to contract out information services or keep them in-house, and whether to utilize off-the-shelf software and shared platforms or internally developed software.

In “IT and the Metrics That Really Matter,” a recent blog post in Governing, Dr. Kevin Desouza offers recommendations to help chief information officers and local government managers develop meaningful performance metrics that will help them make sound IT decisions. Desouza is associate dean for research at the College of Public Service and Community Solutions and a professor in the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University.

One of the objectives of ICMA is to expand the awareness of performance management and related analytic research around “big data” that directly applies to and affects local government. Desouza is among the academic supporters who are dedicated to helping local government achieve higher performance and efficiency. He has a rich and diverse body of practical research on data and performance metrics on topics from civic engagement to information technology, and you can explore his ideas in his blog.

Performance metrics can guide decisions about other services as well as IT—particularly when it comes to questions of privatization or outsourcing. In order to judge whether a potential vendor’s offerings are better suited or less costly than your current operations, you need to be aware of your current performance and what you can expect or require from the vendor. These things are quantifiable. By collecting and monitoring performance metrics for your existing systems you can prepare meaningful RFPs and contractual performance expectations.

In my experience, knowledge of the performance of your own organization or business unit allows you to both enhance your productive negotiations of service levels in contractual agreements and ward off the occasional sweet-talking or politically connected vendor who advocates taking over segments of existing government operations.

Perhaps most importantly, better metrics can assist us in strategic planning by guiding decisions about where our services need to be in order to serve our residents and our organizations in the future.