Defining goal-driven fault management metrics in a real world environment: a case-study from Nokia

Abstract

For measurements to be worthwhile, they must be linked to the goals of an organization. Automated data collection systems are effective, but they can encourage collecting only data that is easily available. The Fixed Switching unit from Nokia has automated data collection systems supporting its processes. It started measurement based improvement of the fault management process by defining goal-driven metrics on top of the existing systems. Fault management includes the analysis and correction of faults, and the delivery of corrections. The work consisted of translating high-level goals into measurement goals, applying the Goal-Question-Metric paradigm to identify questions and indicators, and identifying needed data. Starting with a workshop setting helped to get practitioners involved. Having specified measurement goals helped defining concrete metrics that are targeted at specific audiences. The defined metrics serve the purposes of monitoring fault traffic, and process improvement. Metrics need to evolve, and the metrics implemented first use only data from the fault tracking system, providing the best reporting facilities at the moment. However, metrics that require qualitative checking of data cannot be automated.