The monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation processes
The guidance describes six operating steps and one management step above them.
What the published 2016 guidance says
The guidance describes six operating steps and one management step above them. The six are: establish the information needs; create and maintain the measures; write the procedures; monitor and measure; analyse the results; and evaluate performance and effectiveness. The management step reviews and improves the whole set. A programme that begins at monitoring has skipped the two steps that decide whether the data means anything. The chain is a useful diagnostic: find the step with no documented output and fix that before adding another measure.
What it means in practice
The six processes are a chain: information needs, measures, procedures, monitoring, analysis and evaluation, with a management process over them. A programme that skips the first two and starts at monitoring is collecting data, not measuring. Use the chain to locate the weakest link before adding another tool.
Status of this record. For 8.1, this page states the published 2016 guidance, not the DIS text. The DIS is at stage 40.60 and is not public. Check the published edition before you rely on the row.
What good looks like
Use the six-process chain as a health check. Ask which step has no documented output. Fix that step before adding measures. Keep the chain diagram with the procedure and update it when a process changes.
Evidence an assessor asks for
- Process managementA documented measurement process covering the six activities and their review
- Performance evaluationOwnership of each of the six processes
The question an assessor will ask
An assessor will ask for A documented measurement process covering the six activities and their review. The test for 8.1 is whether that record can be produced for a live sample, not whether the guidance is described in a procedure.
Common gaps
- Measurement run as an annual scramble for audit evidence rather than as a process
- No review of the measurement process itself
Before the next review
Before the next review, test this against one live record: measurement run as an annual scramble for audit evidence rather than as a process.
What to check when the revision publishes
When DIS 27004 is published, compare the 8.1 The monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation processes record with this page. Ask whether the information need, the formula, the target, the frequency or the owner changes. Update the measure register and the kit, not the requirement, because the clause 9.1 duty stays as it is.