Tips for Building an Effective IT Governance Program

IT governance has grown exponentially more difficult over the years. Organization, technology, and data complexity plague organizations of all sizes, and an adequate and effective IT governance system requires constant tracking and managing. Organizations are in a constant state of flux and change, and IT is in no way immune to this change. As the organization evolves, the underlying IT infrastructure is in a constant need to be stitched up and monitored. This leaves IT risk, compliance, and security an important component of an overall comprehensive and broader business strategy. A seemingly simple IT risk can soon transform into a serious operational threat, which in turn can have serious financial and compliance implications.  

An organization cannot just strive to monitor and manage IT governance continuously, however, and will fail to do so effectively unless this monitorization and management is a part of an agile, integrated strategy that approaches IT governance from a holistic business and organizational lens. The full scale of risks, controls, vulnerabilities and requirements that weigh down IT governance must be addressed in a standardized and well established GRC (governance, risk management, and compliance) architecture. This will enable the organization to manage IT governance and risk with agility and align with the business.

The importance of having a comprehensive and coherent IT governance infrastructure is necessary in allowing organizations to manage IT risks efficiently and effectively. A proper IT governance system will provide a holistic view and understanding of IT risk and compliance across the entire organization in the context of both IT and organizational objectives. Current IT governance programs in modern organizations manage their IT risk as an isolated system and architecture that lacks the adequate agility to deal with IT risk at the rapid pace that is necessary and removes it from the context of the business and strategy

Setting Your Course for Maturity

The purpose of an effective IT Governance and GRC program is to deliver effectiveness, efficiency, and agility to the business in managing the breadth IT governance in the context of risk and compliance. In the end, IT governance is more than compliance and more than risk, it is ensuring that IT is aligned and supporting the business. 

With high IT governance maturity levels, organizations centralize IT governance to create consistent programs with a common process, information, and technology architecture. These organizations benefit from process efficiencies such as: greater agility to understand and report on IT risk and compliance and greater effectiveness through the ability to report and analyze IT risk and compliance data in the context of the organization. The primary difference between a mature and immature IT governance framework is the integration of IT governance in the context of objectives and strategy aligned with the organization. 

Mature IT Governance is a seamless part of operations. It demands a top-down view of IT governance, where IT governance and risk management are part of the fabric of business – instead of an unattached layer of oversight. 

A mature approach is where most organizations will find the greatest balance in IT governance and oversight. It focuses on a common governance model and technology architecture that various groups throughout the organization can utilize. This increases the ability to understand, analyze, and monitor IT systems and underlying patterns of performance, risk, and compliance across IT governance.