Information Technology Governance - Problems With IT Governance

Problems With IT Governance

Is IT governance different from IT management and IT controls? The problem with IT governance is that often it is confused with good management practices and IT control frameworks. A short way to explain the difference is by researching the following statement: "management is not leadership". While IT management is about good shepherding of assets and resources, IT governance adds a vision and leadership dimension. ISO 38500 has helped clarify IT governance by describing it as the management system used by directors. In other words, IT governance is about the stewardship of IT resources on behalf of the stakeholders who expect a return from their investment. The directors responsible for this stewardship will look to the management to implement the necessary systems and IT controls. Whilst managing risk and ensuring compliance are essential components of good governance, it is more important to be focused on delivering value and measuring performance.

Less than a quarter of all enterprises have adopted any major IT governance standard despite the potential benefits to performance and profitability. While different companies have different reasons, the failure is often a reflection of the belief that IT governance standards are too expensive to implement, that they don’t reflect reality, or that it is unnecessary if they have already reached compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and other standards. However, the benefits that can be achieved by following the best practices should outweigh these perceived issues.