Cobit IT Governance Processes Corporations Are Striving

COBIT

IT governance processes

Corporations are striving to create value from IT processes. Managers have acknowledged that IT-oriented behaviors and decisions must conform to the organizational performance goals. However, most people within organizations are making decisions that influence the value of IT. IT governance refers to the process whereby businesses align their IT activities with their performance objectives. Therefore, IT Governance is the accountability and decision frameworks to encourage desirable activities and behavior in the IT use (Brand & Boonen, 2007). It mirrors the principles of broader corporate governance and focuses on the use and management of IT in achieving organizational performance goals. IT outcomes are difficult to measure hence companies must assign responsibility to assess achievement of the desired outcomes. IT governance cannot be applied in isolation as it is connected to various key enterprise assets such as intellectual property and human resources. Hence, IT governance shares mechanisms like budget processed with various governance processes. It thus coordinates corporate wide decision-making procedure.

Studies indicate that firms founded on effective IT governance generate 30% profits compared to firms pursuing other strategies (Selig, 2008). This is supported by the fact that IT governance processes specify accountabilities for outcomes related to IT. It also assists firms to align their investments according to their business priorities. However, in most companies, IT governance remains a mystery.

In the absence of formal IT governance frameworks, managers will be forced to resolve individual issues as they emerge. Such individualized solutions could be at odds. Effective IT governance is all about decisions. IT governance techniques involving alignment processes secure widespread participation in the use and management of IT. These processes ensure that every employee is brought on board through input in decisions and implementation of decisions. Key alignment procedures include project tracking and formal tracking of the value of IT in terms of business (Moeller, 2013).

Well understood, well-designed and transparent IT governance mechanisms foster individual accountability and desirable IT behaviors. Such mechanisms actualize a company's intended governance plan. However, effective IT governance relies on a company's organizational structure and strategic objectives.

How IT processes in my organization recognize the control objective

The organization is pursuing IT governance as an attempt to control the difference between governance for innovation, revenue growth, and profitability. The firm focuses on utilizing shared services in achieving either economies of scale or customer responsiveness. The firm's IT principles insist on re-use and sharing of system, process, data, and technology modules. The organization typically depends on IT governance design. It introduced IT governance mechanisms to tackle the tensions between local control and enterprise-wide control. These mechanisms entail service level agreements, IT-business relationship managers, and IT process team members. The company's IT governance utilizes duopoly plans across its entire IT governance decisions. Operation council and information technology are the key mechanisms in its duopoly system (Brand & Boonen, 2007). The operation council makes investment and IT infrastructure decisions. It also organizes frequent meetings that serve outcomes for input in the business strategy. By so doing, the company permits IT capabilities to influence the company's business strategy in a similar way the strategy is used to influence IT.