If you are an IT expert or if you work in a tech company, it is likely that you heard about the term IT governance. It is also a term that you might not fully understand. IT governance is an important and critical part of any organizations, and it is quite possible that you implement governance features without knowing you are doing so.
In this article, you will be able to read about what IT governance is, what role does it have in your organization, as well as why you might need to implement it.
What is IT Governance?
IT governance can be referred to as a formal framework that will ensure IT investments support your business goals and needs. Basically, the governance infrastructure is what will allow specific users to do specific things, while other users would be prohibited to use it. The concept of IT governance was a product of legislation and regulations that were first established in the late ‘90s to regulate the increasing usage of tech in businesses.
Should your company care about it?
There are a few companies and organizations with whom this concept is most likely to resonate:
1. Organizations and companies that are subjected to regulatory compliance
2. Companies or organizations that have business models and goals driven by optimization and efficiency
3. Organizations that gave demonstrated expert IT operations
What are the principles of IT governance?
Here is a list of the basic principle of IT governance:
1. The Risk Principle – controls and measures need to be adjusted to the levels of potential risk.
2. The Suitability Principle – the needs of a company to determine a strategy for the level and style of governance.
3. The Behavior Principle – the governance plan and solution will drive the organizational behavior
4. The Deployment Principle – the governance solution needs to be implemented
5. The Automation Principle – technology makes the governance solution empowering
How do you implement an IT governance strategy?
The easiest way to do so is to start with the frameworks that have been developed by leading experts and that are used by thousands of companies. Many frameworks will include guides for implementation in order to help companies. The most commonly used frameworks are:
1. COBIT – Published by ISACA, this is a comprehensive framework of practices, analytical tools, and models designed for governance and management of IT systems. It is widely used by companies to focus on mitigation and risk management.
2. ITIL – this framework focuses on IT service management. Its goal is to ensure that the IT service supports the most important processes of the company. It has five sets of management practices for design, service strategy, transition, service improvement, and operation.
3. COSO – it features is less IT-oriented models since it concentrates more on fraud deterrence and risk management.
How do you choose the framework?
According to the IT service provider ICS, most frameworks are made to help you choose how your IT department will function, what important metrics management it needs and what IT is giving back to the company from its investments. When considering which framework to use, think about your corporate culture. Does a specific framework seem like a good fit for your company? Does it resonate with stakeholders? That framework will be the best choice.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article helped you understand what IT governance is, why it is important, and how you can implement it into your organization. Hence, do not waste any more time and start planning a strategy for your IT governance.
