Understanding Frequently used terminologies in IT

IT Industry for long has been out and out people industry wherein the results are tangible in terms of human output instead of machine measurable. This primary difference with any other Industry has made IT being synonymous with few  terminologies which have evolved over the years. However, many times, the terms and definitions are entangled and measured as per every organization’s requirement and approach towards its employees and business constraints.

Few of the definitions which are abundantly used, this blog tries to look into the other side of the same terminology and supports the old analogies being addressed with cohesive definition instead of measurement in silos.

      A. Utilization vs Utility : The typical KPI for measurement of human resource is utilization. It classically measures the percentage of billable hours in the available hours made by the resource on project/task in hands. More the percentage, happier is the unit in terms of having right number of resources on the task and adding to profitability.

However, one needs to look beyond the utilization. A resource can fulfill the utilization formula but one needs to look at his/her utility. Are we going to look at resource only for mathematical output of utilization or are we interested in making most out of the talent presented?  Utility deals with having a measurable output from the resource ensuring utilization and in addition makes use of his/her skill-sets which provide value or benefit to the customer as well as provide satisfaction to the employee him/herself.

Utility is long term whereas utilization is time bound.

Let the two terms be envisaged as utilization of resource improving utility of the resource towards self and the organization.

B. Billing vs Contribution : No organization can survive without billing and billable resource. However, billing is a relative term which provides tangible and time bound results whereas contribution is long term and building sustainable platform.

Only billing per se qualifies for the ‘Work Done * Billing Rate’ and is not justified only in case of failure of output. However, if contribution is amended as an addition to billing , it also takes value addition into consideration. The contribution need not always be part of the billing, instead it can purely be used to improve upon the face of the organization, act as bridge between deliverables and value addition and also to provide IP to customer or the organization.

The two terms need to be closely associated with each other if the agenda is repetitive satisfaction of the customer and annuity billing. Either of these, used independently would not suffice the needs of customer or the organization.

      C. Output vs Input : The most crucial result for any organization is Output and it is independent and relevant for all the functions whether they are billable or non-billable. The output is measurable considering it gives tangible facts, however no output is good enough for increase in efficiency if the input lacks in its strength.

The inputs are basic principles and thought process of any organization. The input could be in terms of ethics or for that matter can come with cost in terms of expenditure for training, quality requirements, infrastructure or organization goal and policies. More the authenticity of the input, better is the output to input ratio.

As an organization , it needs to look at the term as one definition as ‘Input based Output’.

     D. Leader vs Manager : Both the terms include ‘ER’ ( and To err is human) and unless both these terms are empowered to make full use of Lead and Manage functions, both of them could fail in the long run.

A leader is one who leads by example and needs to focus more on tomorrow leaving today as part of the managerial function who is tomorrow’s leader. A Leader is the one who shows the path, provides ground clearance, ensures that he takes on challenges himself with bull’s head and hands over a field for the Manager who then ensures the vision and expectations of the organization are executed with bunch of team members with integrity and clarity.

Both the roles are continuously evolving and need to move forward in tandem with each other. Either of them fails and the result will be collective failure.

     E.  Loyalty vs Assurance (Longevity vs Value Add)

Loyalty need not always be looked in terms of longevity. Instead it is a term which has to be coined with loyalty to self, role and organization.

It is more to do with integrity than the duration. Close in sync with Loyalty is assurance to deliver. Loyalty in terms of Longevity does not provide assurance. Assurance is more to do with value addition and it can come only through Loyalty (self, role and organization).

With virtual world and humans as the only parameters, all the above terms are extremely intrigued with each other and need to be looked as a single pack of Quality deliverables. Each one has got its own importance and leaving one for other may not result in fulfillment of organization’s goals in the longer or short terms.

P.S. The blog is an individual thought process based on frequently coming across the above terminologies and the author’s way of understanding the meaning of each of them. Feel free to share the blog.

- Jayawant