There is a different type and level of thinking required for planning and analyzing systems for an enterprise. These systems are so strategically important for the organization and involve so many stakeholders that alignment between business functions is vital. There is no simple answer in any book about how to address all of the issues involved, but there is a practical approach presented in this book.

It describes a three-stage, seven-phase process called the GQM⁺Strategies approach for meeting the business, technical, and people challenges inherent in engineering enterprise systems. GQM⁺Strategies evolved from and uses the goal-question-metrics approach, a popular method utilized in systems and software development.

This book consists of two parts. Part 1 describes the GQM⁺Strategies approach. Chapter 2 outlines the components, stages, and phases of GQM⁺Strategies in a nutshell. Chapters 3 through 9 detail each phase in depth.

The first component of GQM⁺Strategies develops a model, or planning grid, of organizational goals, strategies, and associated measurement models. Goals answer the question, “What is to be achieved?” Strategies answer, “How is the goal to be achieved?” The second component is a comprehensive process for creating the model, implementing the strategies, and learning from the results.

Part 2 provides industrial applications and compares GQM⁺Strategies to other approaches such as the pervasive balanced scorecard [1]. It demonstrates how GQM⁺Strategies can improve alignment, communication, and decision making in an organization.

Like wine and chocolate, the GQM⁺Strategies approach should pair well with the incremental commitment spiral model (ICSM), which defines principles and methods for engineering complex systems [2].

If you are an organizational effectiveness consultant, organizational change manager, program manager, or business analyst, the approach in this book should increase the value you bring to your organization.