Empirical observations suggest that executives and IT leaders often have diverging perceptions of the level of IT quality.
A/ Business leaders commonly associate IT quality with specific events they remember, such as a significant IT outage, a delayed project, or a failed change that caused negative consequences.
B/ IT leaders tend to perceive IT quality through the lens of continuous efforts and activities aimed at improving resilience, increasing automation, reducing technical debt, and, not least, strengthening overall IT governance to remain aligned with regulations and best practices.
This contrast between event-oriented and multidimensional perceptions of IT quality naturally leads to differences. In many cases, business leaders are likely to perceive IT quality more critically.
However, an even more fundamental question arises:
Can we agree on what IT quality actually is?
The IT industry typically answers this question by defining quality as the “degree to which customer requirements are met,” implicitly assuming that the customer is a separate organization interacting only through service interfaces.
For internal IT, which is an integral part of the organization, this approach is misleading. For example, the quality of people skills within IT contributes to overall IT quality. Therefore, IT quality should be elevated to a systemic and multidimensional perspective.
Overall IT quality can be assessed through an independent and structured evaluation process based on a consistent scale, multiple dimensions, mediated assessment, and transparent data-processing logic. The result is a single figure that can be regarded as an objective representation of overall IT quality.
This is where the IT Quality Index provides value. It transforms quality measurement from subjective perception into a documented and repeatable process, helping to align event-oriented and effort-oriented viewpoints through a systemic approach to IT quality measurement.
Aligned perceptions of IT quality are a critical element of effective IT governance. Moreover, measuring IT quality sends a clear signal that quality matters. As a result, the measurement process itself contributes to better governance and structured IT quality management.
This is why regular IT quality assessments should be an integral part of every CIO’s agenda. After all, quality cannot be governed effectively if it is perceived differently by different stakeholders.
The book IT Quality Index is available on Amazon, ISBN 9798269810812