Any form of IT governance implemented in a business must successfully achieve the benefits and objectives originally envisioned, says Angeli Hoekstra, national leader of PricewaterhouseCoopers SA Technology Advisory Services practice and global leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers IT Governance services.
There is increasing pressure to reduce IT risks and enhance its business value, leading to the drive to manage IT as a business, she notes.
Hoekstra says IT governance objectives must be aligned with and support the business objectives. This, she adds, will identify and enable synergies between various IT initiatives and ensure they serve the best interests of the entire company.
A culture of IT governance needs to be created, states Hoekstra, minimising the risks and giving value to the organisation through optimisation of cost structures, and critical and responsible resource management.
This, together with a culture of compliance, needs to start at the top with the board of directors and filter down through the company, she says. It must also be effectively enforced and monitored with policies and standards (such as those for end-users, security, technical and product specifications) in place.
Hoekstra warns that the overall objectives of IT governance, such as increased IT agility and flexibility, greater IT value delivery and reduced costs through more responsible IT resource use, will not be achieved if a holistic approach is not followed.
According to her, while optimal IT governance arrangements will differ for every organisation, some principles are universal.
"Organisations wanting to improve existing governance should take a gradual rather that a 'big bang' approach. The company should also clearly define what it means by IT governance and this should be communicated across the business. Targets and expectations should be achievable and well understood, and objectives must be clearly measurable," concludes Hoekstra.
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