15 customisable OKR examples for It Department
What are It Department OKRs?
The OKR acronym stands for Objectives and Key Results. It's a goal-setting framework that was introduced at Intel by Andy Grove in the 70s, and it became popular after John Doerr introduced it to Google in the 90s. OKRs helps teams has a shared language to set ambitious goals and track progress towards them.
Formulating strong OKRs can be a complex endeavor, particularly for first-timers. Prioritizing outcomes over projects is crucial when developing your plans.
We've tailored a list of OKRs examples for It Department to help you. You can look at any of the templates below to get some inspiration for your own goals.
If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read our OKR guide online.
Building your own It Department OKRs with AI
While we have some examples available, it's likely that you'll have specific scenarios that aren't covered here. You can use our free AI generator below or our more complete goal-setting system to generate your own OKRs.
Feel free to explore our tools:
- Use our free OKR generator
- Use Tability, a complete platform to set and track OKRs and initiatives, including a GPT-4 powered goal generator
Our customisable It Department OKRs examples
You'll find below a list of Objectives and Key Results templates for It Department. We also included strategic projects for each template to make it easier to understand the difference between key results and projects.
Hope you'll find this helpful!
1. OKRs to optimize IT costs by reducing expenses by 20%
Reduce IT expenses by 20%
Analyze previous quarter expenses and identify areas for cost reduction
Determine cost-saving opportunities- Identify spending patterns
- Review expenses
- Implement cost reduction measures
- Educate employees on cost-saving practices and enforce IT policies
- Regularly remind staff of cost-cutting policies
- Contain training sessions for IT policy adoption
- Monitor employee compliance with IT policies and address non-compliance
- Hold information sessions about cost-saving practices
- Negotiate with vendors for better pricing
- Research vendor's competitors and their rates
- Highlight your previous purchasing history with them
- Offer to sign a long-term contract for a discount
- Ask for a volume discount based on the forecasted quantity
- Implement solutions and track savings
- Identify opportunities for cost reduction
- Implement cost-saving solutions
- Track and report realized savings
- Prioritize solutions based on potential savings
2. OKRs to implement up-to-date IT systems
- Implement up-to-date IT systems
- Train all IT staff on new systems, achieving 90% proficiency rating
- Schedule regular training sessions for IT staff
- Conduct proficiency assessments post-training
- Identify necessary training programs for new systems
- Identify and acquire latest IT systems by assessing 5 different vendors
- Identify five vendors offering the latest IT systems
- Evaluate each vendor based on system capabilities and support
- Finalize and acquire the most suitable IT system
- Launch and integrate new IT systems with 0% downtime
- Streamline integration tasks to minimize potential interruptions
- Implement a phased rollout approach for new systems deployment
- Set up a parallel operational environment for new systems testing
3. OKRs to successfully procure and implement a smart workplace management system
- Successfully procure and implement a smart workplace management system
- Train all relevant staff and fully implement the system by week 12
- Identify all staff requiring system training
- Fully implement the system by week 12
- Organize in-depth system training for selected staff
- Source and evaluate 5 potential management systems by week 3
- Identify 5 promising management systems
- Gather detailed information about each system
- Assess each management system's effectiveness and suitability
- Secure budget approval and purchase selected management system by week 6
- Follow-up for budget approval by week 5
- Purchase selected management system by week 6
- Submit project budget for approval by the end of week 3
4. OKRs to enhance visibility over cloud and on-prem patchmanagement and configurations
- Enhance visibility over cloud and on-prem patchmanagement and configurations
- Complete training for IT team on latest best practices regarding configurations and patch management
- Identify relevant training programs on configurations and patch management
- Enroll IT team members in selected training courses
- Monitor team's progression and verify training completion
- Implement a centralized system to track and report all cloud resource configurations
- Train staff to report configurations
- Deploy the system across all cloud resources
- Identify necessary components for the centralized tracking system
- Establish a schedule and process for regular patch updates and audits
- Identify software and systems that require regular patching
- Determine frequency for updates and audits
- Create SOP for patch management process
5. OKRs to streamline administrative tasks in sales department
- Streamline administrative tasks in sales department
- Implement new software to automate at least 50% of repetitive tasks
- Identify repetitive tasks suitable for software automation
- Install and test automation software
- Research and select appropriate automation software
- Reduce sales report generation time by 30%
- Streamline the sales data input process
- Train team on faster report generation methods
- Implement efficient sales reporting software
- Improve data entry accuracy to 98%
- Utilize automated data validation software
- Establish robust data auditing processes
- Implement rigorous data entry training programs
6. OKRs to develop a comprehensive IT upskilling program for colleagues
- Develop a comprehensive IT upskilling program for colleagues
- Identify 3 major IT skill gaps in the team within 7 days
- Compare findings with current IT skill standards
- Analyze team's recent project performance
- Survey team to identify perceived IT skills deficiencies
- Achieve 80% completion rate across all training modules over the quarter
- Regularly monitor and review completion progress
- Implement incentives to motivate completion
- Develop engaging and comprehensive training modules
- Design 2 in-depth training modules per identified gap in the subsequent 3 weeks
- Design and finalize two training modules per gap
- Identify the gaps that need training modules
- Develop detailed outlines for each module
7. OKRs to reduce overall IT expenditure per employee
- Reduce overall IT expenditure per employee
- Decrease hardware renewal cost by 20%
- Identify and eliminate unnecessary hardware assets
- Implement preventative maintenance strategies on existing hardware
- Negotiate better contracts with hardware vendors
- Implement software use audits to identify 15% cost-saving opportunities
- Identify key software used in organization operations
- Analyze audit findings to identify cost-saving opportunities
- Develop and implement a software auditing process
- Achieve a 10% reduction in IT service contractor expenses
- Explore cheaper alternatives or in-house solutions for IT services
- Evaluate current IT service contracts for potential cost-saving opportunities
- Negotify renegotiations or cancellations of costly contracts
8. OKRs to enhance company security standards to safeguard against potential threats
- Enhance company security standards to safeguard against potential threats
- Achieve a 100% completion rate of all recommended security updates and patches
- Conduct routine audits to ensure all devices and systems have the latest security patches
- Provide ongoing training and awareness programs to educate employees on the importance of installing security updates
- Implement an automated system to regularly scan and identify available security updates
- Establish a policy for prompt installation and deployment of all identified security updates
- Implement a comprehensive training program on cybersecurity for all employees
- Create an online platform to provide ongoing access to cybersecurity resources and learning materials
- Schedule regular training sessions to ensure all employees receive cybersecurity education
- Assign qualified trainers to deliver interactive and engaging cybersecurity training sessions
- Develop a customized cybersecurity training curriculum tailored to different employee roles
- Reduce the average response time to security incidents by 20%
- Streamline incident response workflows to remove unnecessary steps and improve efficiency
- Develop a clear escalation process and ensure all stakeholders are aware and trained
- Conduct regular simulations and exercises to enhance incident response readiness and identify areas for improvement
- Implement automated monitoring systems to identify and alert on security incidents promptly
- Increase the frequency of security audits to at least once every quarter
- Assign specific personnel responsible for conducting security audits
- Develop a standardized reporting format for security audit findings and recommendations
- Implement regular communication channels to track and monitor security audit progress
- Review and update security audit checklist to ensure comprehensive coverage
9. OKRs to upgrade System Scalability and Maturity
- Upgrade System Scalability and Maturity
- Decrease system downtime by 15% by improving performance
- Implement regular system performance analysis and monitoring
- Improve fault detection and recovery measures
- Regularly update and optimize software
- Introduce two new maturity models to improve system maturity
- Train staff on implementing and using the new models
- Integrate new maturity models into the existing system
- Identify suitable maturity models for our system
- Increase system capacity by 25% to support growth
- Purchase and install additional server hardware
- Evaluate current system capacities and identify limitations
- Optimize system configuration for enhanced performance
10. OKRs to successfully onboard an enterprise data catalog tool
- Successfully onboard an enterprise data catalog tool
- Complete tool selection process by comparing at least 4 potential solutions
- Finalize and select the most efficient solution
- Conduct a thorough comparison of the identified tools
- Identify at least four potential tool solutions
- Transition 70% of eligible data to the new catalog tool
- Identify eligible data for the new catalog tool transition
- Initiate migration process of 70% eligible data
- Verify successful transition and rectify any issues
- Train 90% of relevant employees to correctly use the new tool
- Implement the training and track progress
- Develop a simple, effective training program
- Identify employees who need training on the new tool
11. OKRs to decommission all identified systems by 2024
- Decommission all identified systems by 2024
- Conduct final review to ensure all decommissioned systems are properly shut down
- Document final review findings
- Confirm cessation of systems via verification protocols
- Identify all systems slated for decommission
- Successfully decommission 50% of identified systems by end of quarter
- Execute decommissioning safely and efficiently
- Identify essential vs. non-essential systems for business operations
- Develop a detailed decommissioning plan and schedule
- Complete inventory of all systems slated for decommission by end of quarter
- Finalize and document inventory report
- Conduct thorough inventory of these systems
- Identify all systems scheduled for decommissioning
12. OKRs to improve Access control, management, and automation efforts
- Improve Access control, management, and automation efforts
- Decrease access control approval cycle time by 15% with efficient automation application
- Measure and adjust automation efficiency to hit the 15% reduction target
- Identify bottlenecks in the current access control approval process
- Implement an automation software to streamline approval tasks
- Implement automation in 2 new critical systems, preparing for 1 click deployment
- Test one-click deployment and resolve issues
- Develop automation scripts for the identified systems
- Identify two critical systems suitable for automation
- Reduce manual intervention in access management processes by 20% using automation
- Monitor system regularly to ensure automated processes are working efficiently
- Train staff on utilizing automation features for access management
- Implement automated access management software in the system
13. OKRs to accelerate response time by 50%
- Accelerate response time by 50%
- Implement automation tools to quicken response turnaround
- Research different automation tools available on the market
- Train staff to effectively use the chosen automation tools
- Choose and purchase the appropriate automation software
- Optimize workflow to increase answer-generation speed by 50%
- Identify bottlenecks slowing down answer-generation process
- Implement proven strategies or tools to improve workflow efficiency
- Regularly monitor and assess performance improvements
- Reduce research time for replies by efficiently managing resources
- Implement efficient documentation and organization systems
- Train staff on advanced research methods
- Utilize automation tools to expedite research processes
14. OKRs to implement a comprehensive, reliable backup system
- Implement a comprehensive, reliable backup system
- Increase redundant storage capacity by 50% to accommodate backups
- Evaluate current storage capacity and needs for backup
- Purchase additional storage equipment for expansion
- Allocate and configure new storage for backups
- Reduce data restoration times by 20% post backup system optimization
- Utilize robust, efficient data backup solutions
- Upgrade hardware to improve restoration speeds
- Implement scheduled system-wide backup procedures
- Implement weekly automatic backups to ensure regular data protection
- Choose an automated backup software suitable for your needs
- Monitor regular backup reports for any errors
- Schedule weekly backup sessions
15. OKRs to improve the reliability and efficiency of IT Infrastructure
- Improve the reliability and efficiency of IT Infrastructure
- Decrease system downtime by 30% through proactive maintenance and upgrades
- Develop a regular schedule for proactive maintenance and system check-ups
- Implement latest upgrades and patches in a timely manner
- Monitor system metrics regularly to spot potential failures
- Improve incident response time by 20% for high-severity issues
- Simplify processes for faster issue resolution
- Train staff on efficient incident response protocol
- Implement an alert system for high-severity issues
- Implement a new automation system reducing manual tasks by 25%
- Train employees on new automation system usage
- Select appropriate automation software or tool
- Identify processes suitable for automation within the company
It Department OKR best practices to boost success
Generally speaking, your objectives should be ambitious yet achievable, and your key results should be measurable and time-bound (using the SMART framework can be helpful). It is also recommended to list strategic initiatives under your key results, as it'll help you avoid the common mistake of listing projects in your KRs.
Here are a couple of best practices extracted from our OKR implementation guide 👇
Tip #1: Limit the number of key results
Focus can only be achieve by limiting the number of competing priorities. It is crucial that you take the time to identify where you need to move the needle, and avoid adding business-as-usual activities to your OKRs.
We recommend having 3-4 objectives, and 3-4 key results per objective. A platform like Tability can run audits on your data to help you identify the plans that have too many goals.
Tability's audit dashboard will highlight opportunities to improve OKRsTip #2: Commit to weekly OKR check-ins
Having good goals is only half the effort. You'll get significant more value from your OKRs if you commit to a weekly check-in process.
Being able to see trends for your key results will also keep yourself honest.
Tability's check-ins will save you hours and increase transparencyTip #3: No more than 2 yellow statuses in a row
Yes, this is another tip for goal-tracking instead of goal-setting (but you'll get plenty of OKR examples above). But, once you have your goals defined, it will be your ability to keep the right sense of urgency that will make the difference.
As a rule of thumb, it's best to avoid having more than 2 yellow/at risk statuses in a row.
Make a call on the 3rd update. You should be either back on track, or off track. This sounds harsh but it's the best way to signal risks early enough to fix things.
How to turn your It Department OKRs in a strategy map
Your quarterly OKRs should be tracked weekly in order to get all the benefits of the OKRs framework. Reviewing progress periodically has several advantages:
- It brings the goals back to the top of the mind
- It will highlight poorly set OKRs
- It will surface execution risks
- It improves transparency and accountability
We recommend using a spreadsheet for your first OKRs cycle. You'll need to get familiar with the scoring and tracking first. Then, you can scale your OKRs process by using a proper OKR-tracking tool for it.
Tability's Strategy Map makes it easy to see all your org's OKRsIf you're not yet set on a tool, you can check out the 5 best OKR tracking templates guide to find the best way to monitor progress during the quarter.
More It Department OKR templates
We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.
- OKRs to raise Customer Score and Customer Engagement Rate
- OKRs to streamline service offering assistance process
- OKRs to improve efficiency of payroll processing metrics
- OKRs to enhance testing effectiveness
- OKRs to establish a strong sales culture within the company
- OKRs to boost asset retention and expansion in vital segments
OKRs resources
Here are a list of resources to help you adopt the Objectives and Key Results framework.
- To learn: What is the meaning of OKRs
- Blog posts: ODT Blog
- Success metrics: KPIs examples
Create more examples in our app
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