What is IT Governance and Why is It Important?

Check and balance is a concept that has helped businesses grow, markets flourish and the economy floating even in desperate times, if it were not for this simple yet so sophisticated process the world would not be as soothing a place as it is now. IT governance in its specific spectrum can also be termed as a type of check and balance that corresponds to the IT world.

But the thing is many people have a false assumption of what IT governance is and what it does. According to this entangled perception of people, IT governance is a framework of processes that define and shape the internal working of a company. It is merely an exercise in place to make sure that standards are implemented according to guidelines and compliances that the business should be following at all times.

What is IT governance?

That was just a piece of thought from other’s people perspectives and some of them are not even related to the IT world in any way. But in reality IT governance refers to a collective effort from board members, management personnel, and other leaders of the company to make sure that the current IT infrastructure of the enterprise supports the current business strategies and objectives in an extremely fair way. It most definitely needs to align with external guidelines and compliance-related standards but at its core, IT governance must first align with the business objectives and goals.

So in a general way of conversing, IT governance means that there must be a check and balance through which the current IT performance can be cross-checked with the ultimate goals of the business. It would allow the senior management and people in the IT section of the company such as the chief information officers to understand whether or not the IT infrastructure supports the current needs of the business. And if not then where should certain customizations take place, what should be changed, and specifically in what way to get back on track with achieving the business goals and objectives with their IT infrastructure.

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Why IT governance is so important?

If you really attend to it; IT governance does provide a detection model using which you can check whether or not the company is moving in the intended direction regarding business goals and objectives? And if not then definitely something can be done to change the course before it is too late. It is very important that a digital business keeps track of its performance and goals, otherwise what is the point of all this if the business is going to stagger all along and achieve nothing? IT investments and IT governance correlate with one another, this way the loopholes can be covered and a proper strategy regarding the financial input that needs to be provided can be allocated.

If the current IT manifestation is covering the goals of the business then there is no need to spend extra money in the IT sector, but on the other hand, if the current IT infrastructure is not enough then proper funding would be required to set everything back to its place. This way not only costs can be monitored but communication channels get established between the customers and providers.

IT governance without any doubt is a formula for success but only if it is taken seriously and treaded on with a slightly optimistic approach. It can help to cut costs, aiding management to be more active and involved with IT investments while monitoring each and every resource that is being used and the reason for which it is being consumed too. The basic understanding of IT governance state that the following elements be in place;

Alignment and responsiveness

Governance works hand in hand with IT portfolio management, it provides the professionals with a clear understanding of the current use case of their IT setup, where does the loophole exist, and where the company goals and objectives are not being met. This way the leaders or higher management can take action and redistribute their IT investment to cover the sections where IT strategy is lackluster and is not aligning with the relative goals and objectives of the company.

Objective decision making

IT governance allows the leaders to actively work for the improvement of the management and taking the control of the IT resources and activities.

Resource balancing

Another great benefit of maintaining a strict IT governance is that the management will always be a step ahead regarding the understanding of current IT resources that are available and how many more will be required to align with the future needs. This allows us to restructure the IT investment and make transactions to add more IT support so that it is just enough when the opportunity presents itself.

Organizational risk management

Having an IT governance policy also helps in making sure that the upper management and the lead body is well aware of the current organizational risks that they will be following regarding IT initiatives and so that a proper risk mitigation plan can be implemented to avoid the repercussions of an unaligned IT architecture that fails to cover for the ground needs of the company’s strategies and goals.

Execution and enforcement

IT governance would provide the leader body with a proper framework using which they can easily manage all of their IT initiatives and demands. The standardization of the IT platform can be done through this method while allowing the management to make informed decisions in this regard. The very execution of the IT systems and the enforcement of the policies can be streamlined using IT governance as the detection and monitoring tool. The ultimate purpose of this policy should be to bring actionable insight to the senior management so they can make informed decisions having each and every detail lined in front of them.

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