IT governance frameworks and principles

IT Governance

What is IT governance? Why we need IT governance? In which historical context does IT governance become important? Who is who in this area? Why do you think IT governance is important (or not important)? How CobiT, BSC and other control and management systems could support IT governance?

The concept of IT governance centers on creating the necessary frameworks and foundations for ensuring compliance to regulatory and legal standards while at the same time ensuring alignment to strategic priorities. IT Governance is critical to ensuring that strategic objectives of any organization get achieved through the effective use of governance and compliance strategies (Van Grembergen, De Haes, & Guldentops, 2004). IT Governance provides the necessary interlinking of strategic objectives and IT initiatives, strategies and programs to ensure compliance to regulatory and legal requirements of the nation and region the company operates in. IT Governance is also critical for the development of ethical standards and the ability to measure adherence to these standards over time. The use of Cobit (Control Objectives for Information and related Technology) is one of the several more prevalently used frameworks for defining the methodology for attaining IT governance. The Cobit Model is specifically organized to include steps for planning and organization, acquisition and implementation, delivery and support, and monitoring. Subsequent use of the Cobit Model in conjunction with Balanced Scorecard (BSC) methodologies to create measurable and effective Service Level Agreements (SLA) is one of the more balanced approaches to using these techniques in conjunction with each other (Van Gremberge et al., 2003). The use of BSCs and the COBIT Model give organizations and opportunity to quantify the performance of their IT governance efforts over time. The use of Cobit in conjunction with BSC also forms the foundation for creating the monitoring process workflows critical for keeping IT governance focused and continually moving to its objectives. Dr. Van Grembergen, one of the authors of both cited articles (Van Gremberge et al., 2003) (Van Grembergen, De Haes, & Guldentops, 2004) is one of the global thought leaders in the area of IT governance, is professor and chair of the MIS Department at the University of Antwerp. Dr. Van Grembergen's research seeks to quantify and provide insights into how organizations can attain their strategic objectives while also attaining IT governance and compliance objectives.