CIO Guidelines On IT Governance

As organisations get deeper and more mature into their IT and business alignment progress the one thing that they can’t do without is IT governance. While the IT governance practice has been around for long, what’s really bringing its role into prominence is the IT and business alignment reality in a growing number of organisations.

IT governance becomes all the more important as it ensures that IT investments are aligned with the business strategy and bring value to the organisation. “IT governance helps companies realise what benefits technology has brought to business. It also acts as a tool to analyse the ROI on technology investments,” says Sarat Chegu, President ISACA, Bangalore Chapter & MD, Isafe Consulting.

The much challenged calculation of returns on technology investments makes the role of IT governance within an organisation all the more pivotal. However, this requires the right approach towards IT governance.

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Chegu shares some key CIO guidelines towards a more mature IT governance practice.

Prioritise IT Governance: Although there is enough maturity in Indian companies about IT governance (even if many don’t use the actual terminology) it still doesn’t feature in CIOs’ top priorities list. In India, CIOs are mature in terms of IT governance but the priority is below things such as controlling IT costs, etc. A CIO should be aware that there is a positive correlation between the maturity of IT governance practice and the overall outcome achieved from IT investments.

Share The Onus: In India as well as globally, a CIO is supposed to be the torch-bearer when it comes to IT governance. But ideally, as any other strategic corporate decision, IT decisions should be owned by the corporate board, rather than by the CIO alone. CTOs and CIOs are now being given more sovereignty but they should engage boards to share decision-making and accountability.

Adopt The Right Guidance: To help a CIO an effective IT governance framework is needed which aims at prescriptive guidance and creates the synergy of people, process and technology. An efficient and effective IT governance framework enables IT managers to have more control over how IT and the business function together. For instance, COBIT 5.0 is about increased focus on business — as opposed to control — objectives, and gives IT managers more business levers to push than ever before.