Most companies understand why they need to implement IT governance. The increasing demand for good corporate governance worldwide has had a ripple effect on the need for improved IT governance, especially in light of the critical dependency on IT for most business processes in the information age.
Unfortunately, IT governance seldom delivers the benefits promised by the abundant literature on the subject and ends up being a glorified paper chase, leaving the company consumed by endless red tape. The most successful implementations can boast that they are now able to pass an audit, but rarely do these implementations add any value to the company in the form of enhanced efficiencies or contributing to the company`s objectives. Too often, IT governance implementations are cut because of a lack of budget or because management has `other` priorities and even the word `IT governance` is met with fierce resistance in some quarters.
According to Delton Sylvester, head of DeARX Specialised Consulting and a contributor to the upcoming fourth release of CobiT, the reason for this is that companies run IT governance and IT strategy as two separate entities, leading to competition between the two. All too often he hears companies remark, "Yes, we agree this needs to be done, but we don`t have the budget."
DeARX`s approach is to fuse the two entities into one. "CobiT (an excellent IT governance tool) provides a sound skeleton from which to craft an IT strategy, given that it covers most known IT processes. CobiT is used to conduct the gap analysis for the IT strategy. The CobiT processes are then prioritised and these become the basis for the IT strategy," explains Sylvester.
"Once you`ve got buy-in to the strategy, it`s time to put numbers to it and produce a business plan. When business sees this they often try to cut back. This can be handled by revisiting the CobiT priorities and tailoring the IT strategy and business plan accordingly," advises Sylvester.
Once you`ve got the money, its time to implement. Sadly, even when companies have the necessary funding, they still fail in implementing an IT strategy. "In my opinion, the primary reason for this is the people factor. People make strategies succeed or fail. You need to realign the IT organisation to ensure that everyone is working towards a common vision or the strategy is doomed," warns Sylvester. "You then need to implement a management cockpit to ensure that progress is continuously tracked and deviations rectified. As this is not a once off, but a process of continuous improvement, the whole cycle is repeated, kicking off with the CobiT assessment," concludes Sylvester.
Share
Editorial contacts