AQI, VO₂max, ITQI, SQCI – Composite Quality Indicators
The Air Quality Index (AQI) has been added to many weather monitoring and forecasting systems. It helps people grasp, through a single metric, what would otherwise be a set of diverse air-quality indicators that most people do not understand. Today, AQI directly informs decisions—such as whether air quality might affect your next vacation.
VO₂max is a metric representing overall physical fitness. Measuring it traditionally requires a specialized laboratory, which is why it was long used mainly by professional athletes. Nevertheless, with the widespread adoption of sports watches, VO₂max can now be estimated with good accuracy based on heart rate and running speed, using complex calculations. This makes VO₂max accessible to the general population as a practical indicator of overall fitness.
The same logic can be applied in IT management. Instead of relying on a vast number of isolated process or service metrics, we can observe composite quality indicators.
For example, an IT Quality Index (ITQI) could provide a single value (0–100%) representing overall IT quality, enabling statistical comparison and trend evaluation.
Similarly, a Support Quality Composite Indicator (SQCI) can reflect both proactive and reactive work. It is calculated from the frequency of support needs (Productivity Indicator PI), the Frictionless Support Indicator (FSI), and the ticket-closure satisfaction scores.
An Innovation Quality Index (INQI) is the result of measuring 24 dimensions of IT management related to innovation and improvement. It provides a clear understanding of IT’s role in innovation and helps inform decisions about whether and how innovations should be addressed, including the level of IT involvement.
A Data Quality Index maps six domains, within which six dimensions are measured, leading to an understanding of data governance quality. Knowing these metrics enables organizations to make adjustments aimed at managing data governance more effectively.
In summary, as complexity continues to grow, composite qualitative metrics will be used more frequently—simply because they are easier to interpret and more actionable.
