Significant systems issues in most organisations are attributable to an absence of IT governance at board levels.
This is according to Alan Calder, CEO of UK-based IT Governance, who says IT itself is not to blame.
He explains: "I would argue that systems issues exist primarily because of an absence of IT governance, in the sense that the organisational governance framework has failed to consider what information and, therefore, what systems requirements the organisation will have."
According to Calder, the board should own IT governance. "It`s not an IT management responsibility any more than financial governance is a functional financial responsibility. Governance is the board`s job. The board is quite capable of governing IT, if it would only put its mind to it."
He also points out there are a number of respectable IT governance frameworks that reflect this fundamental principle.
More insight
Calder will be offering more insight into this issue when he is in SA later this month. His keynote presentation on 26 July at the ITWeb IT Governance 2006 conference will explore the issue of IT governance and value creation, specifically leveraging best-practice frameworks to simplify regulatory compliance.
Other speakers at the conference include Judge Mervyn King, chairman of the King Committee on Corporate Governance, who will explore international governance issues in the context of SA.
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