ICT Governance & Strategy

The implementation of ICT Governance is now a prerequisite for virtually all organisations regardless of the size of the IT organisation. It involves the application of control practices to increase transparency, reduce complexity, promote learning, provide flexibility and scalability, and avoid breakdowns in internal control and oversight. ICT Governance should lead to the establishment of sound oversight: a controlled environment and culture; a code of conduct; risk assessment as a standard practice; self-assessments; formal compliance on adherence to established standards; and monitoring and follow up of control deficiencies and risk.

ICT Governance is recognised and defined, and its activities should be integrated into the enterprise governance process, giving clear direction for IT strategy, a risk management framework, a system of controls and a security policy. ICT governance focuses on major IT projects, change initiatives and quality efforts, with awareness of major IT processes, responsibilities and the required resources and capabilities.

The key to the successful management of IT is ensuring that the focus remains on adding value through accountability for use of funding to achieve agreed delivery of services to the business. In most businesses this means making the transition from viewing IT as a cost centre to viewing IT as a valued business partner who can support the internal customers to better achieve their own business objectives. Although this transition takes time to achieve and will inevitably result is some dramatic changes in culture within both IT and the customer departments, the methods to achieve this transition are now considered mature.

The key benefits observed by organisations that have made this transition are:

-  Closer alignment with the business;

-  Increased credibility with the business;

-  Improved customer service;

-  IT quality improvements;

-  Increased IT staff productivity;

-  Expense reduction;

-  Better ability to make IT staffing and outsourcing decisions ; and

-  Transparency of costs and benefits of IT.

ISG's consultants can assist you to benchmark your organisation's structures, processes and practices to identify areas where new approaches to management can provide you with opportunities to improve the performance of your IT organisation and improve the support it provides to your business. Through structured techniques such as the use of the IT Balanced Score Card and the introduction of standards such as COBIT and ITIL we are able to assist you to dramatically improve the performance of your IT personnel and resources.