SLAs, SLOs and Other Metrics...

 

 

 

 

 

"If you want to fix it, chart it, so we can see where the problems are..."

 

 

My second career in industry was working in the wild world of IT. My job was to be one of the "cops", to ensure the company did what they signed up to do. How this works is as follows: First marketing approaches a company and tells them their IT outsource company will do more for less, therby saving the client company money. The client company usually replies with, "Okay, I am interested. However, you need to back up your claims with dollars". Part of the negotiation for the outsourcing deal is the establishment of solid metrics which both parties agree on.

 

The usual metrics in outsourcing are the establishment of SLAs (Service Level Agreements), SLOs (Service Level Objectives), or some other viable metric. The metrics are absolute - if a metric is missed, money is withheld from the outsourcer's next billing. If enough metrics are missed, the contract is terminated and there are huge termination costs for the outsourcer to assume. To say the least, missing a metric is a huge, huge "no-no", and to do so, can shorten many careers.

 

Right now in the State of Minnesota, many on the Left are clamoring for the House and Senate to spend more money on education. Keep in mind, this state spends an enormous amount on education already. Some want Pre-K, all day K, more for troubled districts (who already get an disproportionate amount of the funding), and of course, more for Education Minnesota. Millions more to be spent, and not one metric to measure it. Not one measure to let the taxpayers know if this is a good way to spend valuable tax dollars or not. Not one metric to hold ANYONE responsible for poor performance or failure.

 

The results in Minneapolis after spending over $20k per student is nothing less than criminal. It is a train wreck. The solution? Spend more money on a system which does not work. How about some skin in the game? Not a penny for any superintendent other than performance bonuses. If the yearly result "stink on ice" as it does in Minneapolis, not a dime in compensation, followed by immediate termination. This would at least hold someone responsible. Excellent results would be rewarded handsomely, average results would receive moderate compensation, status quo results would receive zero.

 

If we want to fix a broken system, we need to think outside the box. We need solid metrics which raise the bar. We don't need to lower the standards, we need to raise them. If we don't want our kids to work for companies owned by the Chinese or the Indians, we need to bump our game. Failure cannot be an option. Poor performance cannot not be tolerated. Teachers who just "mail it in", will be shown the door.

 

We need to treat public investments the same way as private investments. Then we will see some results to be proud of.