IT Governance simplified
I was witnessing an interesting discussion today on what IT Governance is all about. There were a lot of quotes, including definitions from ITGI and CIOs of large corporations.
I had an “aha” moment when I heard a wonderful definition – IT Management is within the IT function, whereas IT Governance is outside it.
In other words, IT Governance is better termed as Business governing of IT to ensure IT is an enabling partner for meeting organizational goals.
Do you have a different take on it?
Related posts:
True, in the sense that business must take control of their IT and leverage technology to gain competitive advantage. Not quite true, because CIO’s and other senior IT staff are responsible for the controls (governance), risk and compliance. IT Governance is about how and who makes effective decisions on IT. Most people don’t understand IT, so they they try to control it by throwing additional audits and more committees.
There is no more ‘us and them’! IT and the business is now integrated.
It also depends on the type of business, IT as an enabler or driver?
Rakesh Beekum
12 Nov 10 at 4:38 pm
Rakesh
There are two distinct activities – one is the GRC part of IT and the other is the ensuring of business alignment of IT. While the first is key and is the most common definition of IT Governance, the real value of IT comes when it is aligned to the overall Business objectives. I did not say that IT always needs to provide a “competitive advantage”, since IT may just be a “lights-on” operation in some organizations.
Also, the enablers vs drivers distinction is getting blurred, since it plays a different role in different segments or areas of the enterprise. In some channels, it may be revenue-generating, while in another area, it may be be a support system, while being the only channel in yet another business process.
Sridhar
17 Nov 10 at 11:32 pm