Who benefits from Measurement?  In IT, the measurement food chain must begin with the person doing work.  The people doing work create the raw material of measurement.  The raw material of metrics is create as projects and application support consume raw materials such as effort, ideas, time by leveraging tools to produce an output and habits.  Managers and administrators monitor the consumption of inputs, the process of transformation and the outputs.  Each of these components can be analyzed and measured; transformed into a number that equates value or cost.  The comparison of value to cost can be evaluated against the trials and tribulation of production, adding a significant component to the overall value equation.  The question begs to be asked, who needs this data?  Who can and does leverage the output of measurement?  Does the audience for measurement include the project and support personnel that create and maintain the functionality that is the reason for IT to exist?  Or is measurement merely a tool to control the work and workers?   In order to maximize value of you metrics program all constituencies must derive value, software engineers, administrators, project mangers and organizational managers.  Design measures with the end in mind.  — Your thoughts?