Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking

Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking

Author: Lizy Kurian John

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2018-10-03

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1420037420

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Computer and microprocessor architectures are advancing at an astounding pace. However, increasing demands on performance coupled with a wide variety of specialized operating environments act to slow this pace by complicating the performance evaluation process. Carefully balancing efficiency and accuracy is key to avoid slowdowns, and such a balance can be achieved with an in-depth understanding of the available evaluation methodologies. Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking outlines a variety of evaluation methods and benchmark suites, considering their strengths, weaknesses, and when each is appropriate to use. Following a general overview of important performance analysis techniques, the book surveys contemporary benchmark suites for specific areas, such as Java, embedded systems, CPUs, and Web servers. Subsequent chapters explain how to choose appropriate averages for reporting metrics and provide a detailed treatment of statistical methods, including a summary of statistics, how to apply statistical sampling for simulation, how to apply SimPoint, and a comprehensive overview of statistical simulation. The discussion then turns to benchmark subsetting methodologies and the fundamentals of analytical modeling, including queuing models and Petri nets. Three chapters devoted to hardware performance counters conclude the book. Supplying abundant illustrations, examples, and case studies, Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking offers a firm foundation in evaluation methods along with up-to-date techniques that are necessary to develop next-generation architectures.


Book Synopsis Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking by : Lizy Kurian John

Download or read book Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking written by Lizy Kurian John and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2018-10-03 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Computer and microprocessor architectures are advancing at an astounding pace. However, increasing demands on performance coupled with a wide variety of specialized operating environments act to slow this pace by complicating the performance evaluation process. Carefully balancing efficiency and accuracy is key to avoid slowdowns, and such a balance can be achieved with an in-depth understanding of the available evaluation methodologies. Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking outlines a variety of evaluation methods and benchmark suites, considering their strengths, weaknesses, and when each is appropriate to use. Following a general overview of important performance analysis techniques, the book surveys contemporary benchmark suites for specific areas, such as Java, embedded systems, CPUs, and Web servers. Subsequent chapters explain how to choose appropriate averages for reporting metrics and provide a detailed treatment of statistical methods, including a summary of statistics, how to apply statistical sampling for simulation, how to apply SimPoint, and a comprehensive overview of statistical simulation. The discussion then turns to benchmark subsetting methodologies and the fundamentals of analytical modeling, including queuing models and Petri nets. Three chapters devoted to hardware performance counters conclude the book. Supplying abundant illustrations, examples, and case studies, Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking offers a firm foundation in evaluation methods along with up-to-date techniques that are necessary to develop next-generation architectures.


Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking

Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking

Author: Raghunath Nambiar

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-08-03

Total Pages: 124

ISBN-13: 3030849244

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings of the 12th TPC Technology Conference on Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking, TPCTC 2020, held in August 2020.The 8 papers presented were carefully reviewed and cover the following topics: testing ACID compliance in the LDBC social network benchmark; experimental performance evaluation of stream processing engines made easy; revisiting issues in benchmarking metric selection; performance evaluation for digital transformation; experimental comparison of relational and NoSQL document systems; a framework for supporting repetition and evaluation in the process of cloud-based DBMS performance benchmarking; benchmarking AI inference; a domain independent benchmark evolution model for the transaction processing performance council.


Book Synopsis Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking by : Raghunath Nambiar

Download or read book Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking written by Raghunath Nambiar and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-08-03 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings of the 12th TPC Technology Conference on Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking, TPCTC 2020, held in August 2020.The 8 papers presented were carefully reviewed and cover the following topics: testing ACID compliance in the LDBC social network benchmark; experimental performance evaluation of stream processing engines made easy; revisiting issues in benchmarking metric selection; performance evaluation for digital transformation; experimental comparison of relational and NoSQL document systems; a framework for supporting repetition and evaluation in the process of cloud-based DBMS performance benchmarking; benchmarking AI inference; a domain independent benchmark evolution model for the transaction processing performance council.


Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking

Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking

Author: Raghunath Nambiar

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2009-11-05

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 3642104231

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book constitutes the reviewed proceedings of the first Conference on Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking, TPCTC 2009, held in Lyon, France, August 24-28,2009. The 16 full papers and two keynote papers were carefully selected from 34 submissions. This book considers issues such as appliance, business intelligence, cloud computing, complex event processing, database performance optimizations, green computing, data compression, disaster tolerance and recovery, energy and space efficiency, hardware innovations, high speed data generation, hybrid workloads or operational data warehousing, unstructured data management, software management and maintenance, virtualization and very large memory systems


Book Synopsis Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking by : Raghunath Nambiar

Download or read book Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking written by Raghunath Nambiar and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-11-05 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book constitutes the reviewed proceedings of the first Conference on Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking, TPCTC 2009, held in Lyon, France, August 24-28,2009. The 16 full papers and two keynote papers were carefully selected from 34 submissions. This book considers issues such as appliance, business intelligence, cloud computing, complex event processing, database performance optimizations, green computing, data compression, disaster tolerance and recovery, energy and space efficiency, hardware innovations, high speed data generation, hybrid workloads or operational data warehousing, unstructured data management, software management and maintenance, virtualization and very large memory systems


Quantitative Models for Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking

Quantitative Models for Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking

Author: Joe Zhu

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-05-04

Total Pages: 414

ISBN-13: 9783319374383

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The author is one of the prominent researchers in the field of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a powerful data analysis tool that can be used in performance evaluation and benchmarking. This book is based upon the author’s years of research and teaching experiences. It is difficult to evaluate an organization’s performance when multiple performance metrics are present. The difficulties are further enhanced when the relationships among the performance metrics are complex and involve unknown tradeoffs. This book introduces Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) as a multiple-measure performance evaluation and benchmarking tool. The focus of performance evaluation and benchmarking is shifted from characterizing performance in terms of single measures to evaluating performance as a multidimensional systems perspective. Conventional and new DEA approaches are presented and discussed using Excel spreadsheets — one of the most effective ways to analyze and evaluate decision alternatives. The user can easily develop and customize new DEA models based upon these spreadsheets. DEA models and approaches are presented to deal with performance evaluation problems in a variety of contexts. For example, a context-dependent DEA measures the relative attractiveness of similar operations/processes/products. Sensitivity analysis techniques can be easily applied, and used to identify critical performance measures. Two-stage network efficiency models can be utilized to study performance of supply chain. DEA benchmarking models extend DEA’s ability in performance evaluation. Various cross efficiency approaches are presented to provide peer evaluation scores. This book also provides an easy-to-use DEA software — DEAFrontier. This DEAFrontier is an Add-In for Microsoft® Excel and provides a custom menu of DEA approaches. This version of DEAFrontier is for use with Excel 97-2013 under Windows and can solve up to 50 DMUs, subject to the capacity of Excel Solver. It is an extremely powerful tool that can assist decision-makers in benchmarking and analyzing complex operational performance issues in manufacturing organizations as well as evaluating processes in banking, retail, franchising, health care, public services and many other industries.


Book Synopsis Quantitative Models for Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking by : Joe Zhu

Download or read book Quantitative Models for Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking written by Joe Zhu and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-05-04 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author is one of the prominent researchers in the field of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a powerful data analysis tool that can be used in performance evaluation and benchmarking. This book is based upon the author’s years of research and teaching experiences. It is difficult to evaluate an organization’s performance when multiple performance metrics are present. The difficulties are further enhanced when the relationships among the performance metrics are complex and involve unknown tradeoffs. This book introduces Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) as a multiple-measure performance evaluation and benchmarking tool. The focus of performance evaluation and benchmarking is shifted from characterizing performance in terms of single measures to evaluating performance as a multidimensional systems perspective. Conventional and new DEA approaches are presented and discussed using Excel spreadsheets — one of the most effective ways to analyze and evaluate decision alternatives. The user can easily develop and customize new DEA models based upon these spreadsheets. DEA models and approaches are presented to deal with performance evaluation problems in a variety of contexts. For example, a context-dependent DEA measures the relative attractiveness of similar operations/processes/products. Sensitivity analysis techniques can be easily applied, and used to identify critical performance measures. Two-stage network efficiency models can be utilized to study performance of supply chain. DEA benchmarking models extend DEA’s ability in performance evaluation. Various cross efficiency approaches are presented to provide peer evaluation scores. This book also provides an easy-to-use DEA software — DEAFrontier. This DEAFrontier is an Add-In for Microsoft® Excel and provides a custom menu of DEA approaches. This version of DEAFrontier is for use with Excel 97-2013 under Windows and can solve up to 50 DMUs, subject to the capacity of Excel Solver. It is an extremely powerful tool that can assist decision-makers in benchmarking and analyzing complex operational performance issues in manufacturing organizations as well as evaluating processes in banking, retail, franchising, health care, public services and many other industries.


Health Care Benchmarking and Performance Evaluation

Health Care Benchmarking and Performance Evaluation

Author: Yasar A. Ozcan

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-07-01

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 1489974725

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This new edition continues to emphasize the use of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to create optimization-based benchmarks within hospitals, physician group practices, health maintenance organizations, nursing homes and other health care delivery organizations. Suitable for graduate students learning DEA applications in health care as well as for practicing administrators, it is divided into two sections covering methods and applications. Section I considers efficiency evaluations using DEA; returns to scale; weight restricted (multiplier) models; non-oriented or slack-based models, including in this edition two versions of non-controllable variable models and categorical variable models; longitudinal (panel) evaluations and the effectiveness dimension of performance evaluation. A new chapter then looks at new and advanced models of DEA, including super-efficiency, congestion DEA, network DEA, and dynamic network models. Mathematical formulations of various DEA models are placed in end-of-chapter appendices. Section II then looks at health care applications within particular settings, chapter-by-chapter, including hospitals, physician practices, nursing homes and health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Other chapters then explore home health care and home health agencies; dialysis centers, community mental health centers, community-based your services, organ procurement organizations, aging agencies and dental providers; DEA models to evaluate provider performance for specific treatments, including stroke, mechanical ventilation and perioperative services. A new chapter then examines international-country-based applications of DEA in health care in 16 different countries, along with OECD and multi-country studies. Most of the existing chapters in this section were expanded with recent applications. Included with the book is online access to a learning version of DEA Solver software, written by Professor Kaoru Tone, which can solve up to 50 DMUs for various DEA models listed in the User’s Guide at the end of the book.


Book Synopsis Health Care Benchmarking and Performance Evaluation by : Yasar A. Ozcan

Download or read book Health Care Benchmarking and Performance Evaluation written by Yasar A. Ozcan and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-07-01 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new edition continues to emphasize the use of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to create optimization-based benchmarks within hospitals, physician group practices, health maintenance organizations, nursing homes and other health care delivery organizations. Suitable for graduate students learning DEA applications in health care as well as for practicing administrators, it is divided into two sections covering methods and applications. Section I considers efficiency evaluations using DEA; returns to scale; weight restricted (multiplier) models; non-oriented or slack-based models, including in this edition two versions of non-controllable variable models and categorical variable models; longitudinal (panel) evaluations and the effectiveness dimension of performance evaluation. A new chapter then looks at new and advanced models of DEA, including super-efficiency, congestion DEA, network DEA, and dynamic network models. Mathematical formulations of various DEA models are placed in end-of-chapter appendices. Section II then looks at health care applications within particular settings, chapter-by-chapter, including hospitals, physician practices, nursing homes and health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Other chapters then explore home health care and home health agencies; dialysis centers, community mental health centers, community-based your services, organ procurement organizations, aging agencies and dental providers; DEA models to evaluate provider performance for specific treatments, including stroke, mechanical ventilation and perioperative services. A new chapter then examines international-country-based applications of DEA in health care in 16 different countries, along with OECD and multi-country studies. Most of the existing chapters in this section were expanded with recent applications. Included with the book is online access to a learning version of DEA Solver software, written by Professor Kaoru Tone, which can solve up to 50 DMUs for various DEA models listed in the User’s Guide at the end of the book.


Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking of Intelligent Systems

Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking of Intelligent Systems

Author: Raj Madhavan

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2009-09-18

Total Pages: 351

ISBN-13: 1441904921

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

To design and develop capable, dependable, and affordable intelligent systems, their performance must be measurable. Scienti?c methodologies for standardization and benchmarking are crucial for quantitatively evaluating the performance of eme- ing robotic and intelligent systems’ technologies. There is currently no accepted standard for quantitatively measuring the performance of these systems against user-de?ned requirements; and furthermore, there is no consensus on what obj- tive evaluation procedures need to be followed to understand the performance of these systems. The lack of reproducible and repeatable test methods has precluded researchers working towards a common goal from exchanging and communic- ing results, inter-comparing system performance, and leveraging previous work that could otherwise avoid duplication and expedite technology transfer. Currently, this lack of cohesion in the community hinders progress in many domains, such as m- ufacturing, service, healthcare, and security. By providing the research community with access to standardized tools, reference data sets, and open source libraries of solutions, researchers and consumers will be able to evaluate the cost and be- ?ts associated with intelligent systems and associated technologies. In this vein, the edited book volume addresses performance evaluation and metrics for intel- gent systems, in general, while emphasizing the need and solutions for standardized methods. To the knowledge of the editors, there is not a single book on the market that is solely dedicated to the subject of performance evaluation and benchmarking of intelligent systems.


Book Synopsis Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking of Intelligent Systems by : Raj Madhavan

Download or read book Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking of Intelligent Systems written by Raj Madhavan and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-09-18 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To design and develop capable, dependable, and affordable intelligent systems, their performance must be measurable. Scienti?c methodologies for standardization and benchmarking are crucial for quantitatively evaluating the performance of eme- ing robotic and intelligent systems’ technologies. There is currently no accepted standard for quantitatively measuring the performance of these systems against user-de?ned requirements; and furthermore, there is no consensus on what obj- tive evaluation procedures need to be followed to understand the performance of these systems. The lack of reproducible and repeatable test methods has precluded researchers working towards a common goal from exchanging and communic- ing results, inter-comparing system performance, and leveraging previous work that could otherwise avoid duplication and expedite technology transfer. Currently, this lack of cohesion in the community hinders progress in many domains, such as m- ufacturing, service, healthcare, and security. By providing the research community with access to standardized tools, reference data sets, and open source libraries of solutions, researchers and consumers will be able to evaluate the cost and be- ?ts associated with intelligent systems and associated technologies. In this vein, the edited book volume addresses performance evaluation and metrics for intel- gent systems, in general, while emphasizing the need and solutions for standardized methods. To the knowledge of the editors, there is not a single book on the market that is solely dedicated to the subject of performance evaluation and benchmarking of intelligent systems.


Benchmarking for Performance Evaluation

Benchmarking for Performance Evaluation

Author: Subhash C. Ray

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-03-25

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 8132222539

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book provides a detailed introduction to the theoretical and methodological foundations of production efficiency analysis using benchmarking. Two of the more popular methods of efficiency evaluation are Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), both of which are based on the concept of a production possibility set and its frontier. Depending on the assumed objectives of the decision-making unit, a Production, Cost, or Profit Frontier is constructed from observed data on input and output quantities and prices. While SFA uses different maximum likelihood estimation techniques to estimate a parametric frontier, DEA relies on mathematical programming to create a nonparametric frontier. Yet another alternative is the Convex Nonparametric Frontier, which is based on the assumed convexity of the production possibility set and creates a piecewise linear frontier consisting of a number of tangent hyper planes. Three of the papers in this volume provide a detailed and relatively easy to follow exposition of the underlying theory from neoclassical production economics and offer step-by-step instructions on the appropriate model to apply in different contexts and how to implement them. Of particular appeal are the instructions on (i) how to write the codes for different SFA models on STATA, (ii) how to write a VBA Macro for repetitive solution of the DEA problem for each production unit on Excel Solver, and (iii) how to write the codes for the Nonparametric Convex Frontier estimation. The three other papers in the volume are primarily theoretical and will be of interest to PhD students and researchers hoping to make methodological and conceptual contributions to the field of nonparametric efficiency analysis.


Book Synopsis Benchmarking for Performance Evaluation by : Subhash C. Ray

Download or read book Benchmarking for Performance Evaluation written by Subhash C. Ray and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-03-25 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a detailed introduction to the theoretical and methodological foundations of production efficiency analysis using benchmarking. Two of the more popular methods of efficiency evaluation are Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), both of which are based on the concept of a production possibility set and its frontier. Depending on the assumed objectives of the decision-making unit, a Production, Cost, or Profit Frontier is constructed from observed data on input and output quantities and prices. While SFA uses different maximum likelihood estimation techniques to estimate a parametric frontier, DEA relies on mathematical programming to create a nonparametric frontier. Yet another alternative is the Convex Nonparametric Frontier, which is based on the assumed convexity of the production possibility set and creates a piecewise linear frontier consisting of a number of tangent hyper planes. Three of the papers in this volume provide a detailed and relatively easy to follow exposition of the underlying theory from neoclassical production economics and offer step-by-step instructions on the appropriate model to apply in different contexts and how to implement them. Of particular appeal are the instructions on (i) how to write the codes for different SFA models on STATA, (ii) how to write a VBA Macro for repetitive solution of the DEA problem for each production unit on Excel Solver, and (iii) how to write the codes for the Nonparametric Convex Frontier estimation. The three other papers in the volume are primarily theoretical and will be of interest to PhD students and researchers hoping to make methodological and conceptual contributions to the field of nonparametric efficiency analysis.


Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking for the Analytics Era

Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking for the Analytics Era

Author: Raghunath Nambiar

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-01-02

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 3319724010

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-conference proceedings of the 8th TPC Technology Conference, on Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking, TPCTC 2017, held in conjunction with the43rd International Conference on Very Large Databases (VLDB 2017) in August/September 2017. The 12 papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from numeroussubmissions. The TPC remains committed to developing new benchmark standards to keep pace with these rapid changes in technology.


Book Synopsis Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking for the Analytics Era by : Raghunath Nambiar

Download or read book Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking for the Analytics Era written by Raghunath Nambiar and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-01-02 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-conference proceedings of the 8th TPC Technology Conference, on Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking, TPCTC 2017, held in conjunction with the43rd International Conference on Very Large Databases (VLDB 2017) in August/September 2017. The 12 papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from numeroussubmissions. The TPC remains committed to developing new benchmark standards to keep pace with these rapid changes in technology.


Measuring Performance and Benchmarking Project Management at the Department of Energy

Measuring Performance and Benchmarking Project Management at the Department of Energy

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2005-08-01

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13: 0309181763

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In 1997, Congress, in the conference report, H.R. 105-271, to the FY1998 Energy and Water Development Appropriation Bill, directed the National Research Council (NRC) to carry out a series of assessments of project management at the Department of Energy (DOE). The final report in that series noted that DOE lacked an objective set of measures for assessing project management quality. The department set up a committee to develop performance measures and benchmarking procedures and asked the NRC for assistance in this effort. This report presents information and guidance for use as a first step toward development of a viable methodology to suit DOE's needs. It provides a number of possible performance measures, an analysis of the benchmarking process, and a description ways to implement the measures and benchmarking process.


Book Synopsis Measuring Performance and Benchmarking Project Management at the Department of Energy by : National Research Council

Download or read book Measuring Performance and Benchmarking Project Management at the Department of Energy written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2005-08-01 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1997, Congress, in the conference report, H.R. 105-271, to the FY1998 Energy and Water Development Appropriation Bill, directed the National Research Council (NRC) to carry out a series of assessments of project management at the Department of Energy (DOE). The final report in that series noted that DOE lacked an objective set of measures for assessing project management quality. The department set up a committee to develop performance measures and benchmarking procedures and asked the NRC for assistance in this effort. This report presents information and guidance for use as a first step toward development of a viable methodology to suit DOE's needs. It provides a number of possible performance measures, an analysis of the benchmarking process, and a description ways to implement the measures and benchmarking process.


Benchmarking for Nonprofits

Benchmarking for Nonprofits

Author: Jason Saul

Publisher: Fieldstone Alliance

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 0940069431

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The no-cost way to improve your organization on a daily basis Most nonprofits are already benchmarking informally. This unique book defines a formal way to benchmark. You'll learn how to prepare your organization, measure performance, and implement best practices as well as learning the five key steps of benchmarking, the arguments against benchmarking--and why you should disregard them, how benchmarking differs from evaluation and assessment, how to form a benchmarking team, how to create a "success equation" that helps you measure your organization's performance, how to make sure to measure what matters, how to choose your benchmarking partners--and what you can learn from the "wrong" partner, and how to overcome staff resistance to benchmarking. Practical tools help you benchmark what matters Real-world examples illustrate benchmarking in action. Exercises and worksheets guide you through processes such as drafting a benchmarking plan; identifying and analyzing the things in your organization that need improvement; prioritizing which processes to focus on; identifying your CTQ (critical to quality) outcomes; and more. The way to survive as a nonprofit in today's market is to thrive. With so many organizations seeking the same dollars, only the best will endure. Benchmarking ensures that your organization is always operating at peak performance. It's something you can't afford not to do--especially since you can do it for free!


Book Synopsis Benchmarking for Nonprofits by : Jason Saul

Download or read book Benchmarking for Nonprofits written by Jason Saul and published by Fieldstone Alliance. This book was released on 2004 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The no-cost way to improve your organization on a daily basis Most nonprofits are already benchmarking informally. This unique book defines a formal way to benchmark. You'll learn how to prepare your organization, measure performance, and implement best practices as well as learning the five key steps of benchmarking, the arguments against benchmarking--and why you should disregard them, how benchmarking differs from evaluation and assessment, how to form a benchmarking team, how to create a "success equation" that helps you measure your organization's performance, how to make sure to measure what matters, how to choose your benchmarking partners--and what you can learn from the "wrong" partner, and how to overcome staff resistance to benchmarking. Practical tools help you benchmark what matters Real-world examples illustrate benchmarking in action. Exercises and worksheets guide you through processes such as drafting a benchmarking plan; identifying and analyzing the things in your organization that need improvement; prioritizing which processes to focus on; identifying your CTQ (critical to quality) outcomes; and more. The way to survive as a nonprofit in today's market is to thrive. With so many organizations seeking the same dollars, only the best will endure. Benchmarking ensures that your organization is always operating at peak performance. It's something you can't afford not to do--especially since you can do it for free!