Set Goals and Metrics

Now that you know your selected business use case, identify goals that will help you achieve it. Clear goals help teams make decisions and keep the implementation on track. It will also set you up to be able to measure return on investment (ROI) later. Work with the same group of people who determined the business use case for ThingWorx Navigate.

Your goals should address the business challenges that you'e using ThingWorx Navigate to solve. Each goal should be measurable.

Here are some examples of goals:

• Increase the number of people who can access data by a specific amount
• Decrease the amount of time engineering dedicates to answering calls by a specific percentage
• Reduce product development costs by a specific amount
• Reduce time to market by a specific amount

Next, determine what metrics, or key performance indicators (KPIs), you can use to measure progress toward your goals.

Some examples of metrics to measure progress are:

• The number of users accessing information in ThingWorx Navigate
• The number of new users from specific groups or work areas
• The frequency with which users access data
• The number of calls and/or meetings between groups

For a more specific example, imagine using the out-of-the-box app in ThingWorx Navigate called "My Tasks." It helps users track and review change requests assigned to them, including where a request is within a process and how others have responded. This provides data that you can measure, such as how long it takes for change requests to be approved, and what the trend is over time.

Whatever your goals and metrics are, check whether you can track the metrics that you listed. Talk with people in your organization who have access to data or collect data. That way you can set realistic expectations of what is possible. If you're not actively measuring these things, begin now.

Collaborate with stakeholders and executive leadership to finalize your goals and metrics. Make sure the project sponsor, key leaders, and other team members agree on the goals.

Get agreement on:

• What the goals are
• What metrics will be tracked
• When and how metrics will be tracked
• Who the person/group is that's responsible for tracking metrics

If possible, document your company's "as-is" state, or baseline metrics. This will help you prove ROI later. For example, if your goal is to reduce time to market, record the metrics of your current state of time to market before you implement ThingWorx Navigate.

In some cases, it may not be possible to get accurate baseline metrics. Maybe you're not able to measure the right things right now, but you will be able to after implementation. If exact metrics are not available or not accurate, estimate high-level baseline metrics.

After you identify your goals and metrics, document a plan for how you'll measure progress and success.

In your plan, outline the following:

• Goals
• Metrics
• Roles and responsibilities
  • Who will track and report performance?
  • Who needs to be informed?
• Key milestones
• Baseline metrics (current state)

Share your plan to measure progress with stakeholders. Refer to it throughout the project to make sure you're on track.