From Goals to Actions: Providing Guidance to Software Practitioners with KPIs

Monitoring performance in organizations can act as a catalyst for fostering a culture of continuous improvement to achieve their overarching business goals. Organizations employ Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to monitor their performance over-time. However, a common pitfall observed is the collection of excessive data and fails to establish its intended connection to strategic goals. In this study, we propose a KPI framework in the form of a model, an associated template, and a checklist with the aim of providing guidance to practitioners for developing sound KPIs. We examine KPI development and monitoring through four case studies in the context of software systems in two organizations. Through these case studies, we evaluate our KPI framework for its utility in practice and gain insights to uncover underlying challenges.