Governance Is an Important Component of Each

¶ … governance is an important component of each and every IT project implementation process. Project governance refers to the infrastructure as well as processes that are put in place by a given organization in order to be used for steering the functions as well as mechanisms for assuring compliance. In this paper, we present an elaborate governance structure that will oversee the entire System Development Life Cycle process of an Enterprise Resource Planning finance system throughout an organization that only operates domestically.

We also assume that the governance structure has the following three levels: executive, program implementation, and ongoing operations. Importance of governance structure for the implementation of an IT project Project governance is noted by BIS (2010) to be a management framework within which various project decisions are made. It forms a critical component of any project due to the fact that accountabilities as well as responsibilities that are associated with a given organization's business are laid down in their organizational governance plans.

For instance, organizational charts are a very good indication of who in the given organization is directly responsible for any given operational activity that the firm does. Therefore, unless a given organization has a clearly outlined project governance policy, then there is no way in which such a chart can exist for the purpose of project development activity.

The role of the project governance component is to provide a very clear decision making framework that is robust, logical as well as repeatable to be used for governing a given organization's investments. In this manner, a given organization would have a highly structured approach to taking care of its business as well as everyday activities. This way, accountability and transparency is encouraged.

The 3 pillars of project governance According to the work of Klakegg, Williams, Magnussen and Glasspool (2008), the decision making framework of any project governance initiative is supported by a total of three pillars; structure, people as well as information. Structure Structure refers to the nature of governance committee. The Project Steering Committee and the Project Board must exist. The larger governance environment must include several stakeholder groups as well as user groups. People The effectiveness of any committee structure is hugely dependent on the individuals that occupy the governance committee.

Membership to these committee is determined both by the nature of the project as well as other factors. Information Information is mainly concerned with the data that informs the decision makers and is made up of regular reports, issues as well as risks that the Project manager escalates. Certain key ideas and documents that fully describe the project also form part of this information.

The governance structure The governance structure to be used for overseeing the entire System Development Life Cycle process of an Enterprise Resource Planning finance system throughout our organization that only operates domestically comprises of three levels; executive, program implementation, and ongoing operations. The roles and components of these three levels are indicated below. Executive The Project Executive plays significant role in the governance of any given project.

This is because it is the one that is ultimately held responsible as well as accountable for the acts of realizing the very benefits of a give project to an organization. This is to say that the Project Executive is the one who owns the business case. The Project Executive has several names including the Steering Committee, Project Owner, Chairperson as well as Project Sponsor. His or her role is basically project governance.

The executive sponsor is indicated by the work of Lynn and Cooke-Davies (2012) to be very pivotal in ensuring project governance is achieved. According to Crawford et al. (2008), it is he responsibility of the project or organization directors to ensure that accountability and transparency rein throughout the project operations and that they provide a structure via which the objectives of a given organization are appropriately set.

They are also responsible for coming up with the means of realizing the set objectives as well as monitoring the performance of the project as noted by OECD (2004).Visibility as well as control must always be maintained throughout all the process of ongoing operations. The Project Executive must act as the business leader, decision maker as well as change agent.

The role of executive in determining the project's overall success is tied to the fact that he or she must ensure that the business or project needs are addresses by championing the Project to the Programme Manager. He or she also ensures that the right PM team and Project Board is appointed. He also reviews the project on a regular basis. he/she also authorizes the project expenditure for changes in plan or next stage.

He also ensures that the project is aligned with the overall strategic plan of the organization. he/she is authorized to resolve project issues that lie outside the Project Manager's delegation. Program implementation The System Development Life Cycle process of the Enterprise Resource Planning finance system throughout an organization would be implemented by a governance structure that relies on the Life Cycle Model as proposed by Pratt (2011). The Project Manager is the overall authority at this stage. At this stage, a clear objective for the project implementation must be drawn.

Ongoing operations Ongoing operations are not similar to projects since they are indefinite while projects have and end date (Chatfield & Johnson,2007).Governance is achieved but auditing of he various processes that are involved in the ongoing operations. The.