Allegro: A Metrics Framework for Globally Distributed Service Delivery

Abstract

Globalization and specialization are growing trends in service organizations. Engineering and operating optimal structures within these service organizations requires coordinating the doing of service work, which in turn requires capturing and sharing information across localized teams. There is a need for a metrics framework, implemented in information technology, to make this possible. This paper describes the need for a metrics framework in global service delivery, properties of effective metrics frameworks, and Allegro, a metrics framework that is designed specifically to support globally distributed human intensive work, such as complex software development. Allegro is based on an abstract model of service delivery as a decomposition into a network of atomic service requests, each formalized according to a protocol we call Work-as-a-Service (WaaS). In this approach, Metrics do not only fulfill their traditional roles in driving quality and improvement. They also serve as configurable sensors essential to the effective coordination of a distributed service network.