IS Program Metrics

IS Program Metrics are quantitative and qualitative measurements that evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency, and business alignment of an Information Security program. They are the evidentiary backbone of IS governance — translating security activities into observable, comparable, and reportable data points that answer: 'Is the program achieving its objectives?' Metrics span six primary categories: compliance metrics (policy adherence, regulatory conformance), risk metrics (vulnerability exposure, threat likelihood), operational efficiency metrics (MTTD, MTTR), budget and resource metrics (cost per controlled risk, training spend), incident metrics (frequency, severity, trend), and business impact metrics (uptime, brand-risk score, customer trust indicators). IS program metrics are derived, aggregated, and contextualized measurements tied to program objectives and stakeholder audiences — not raw security event logs or SIEM alert counts.