Introduction
IT governance is mainly concerned with decision making and communication. This is because it was brought about by organizations’ desire to make good decisions concerning their IT functions and communicate them effectively. All organizations require IT governance to ensure that they adhere to organizational strategies and meet their objectives. Of utmost importance is compliance with regulations governing IT systems such as the regulation of server power consumption developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (Kadivar, 2011). As such, IT governance can be simply defined as the alignment of IT and business strategies in a structured manner to ensure that organizations are on the right track to achieve their strategies and goals (Shwartz, 2007). Managers’ role in IT governance involves the enforcement of chosen governance structure on a day-to-day basis. Due to this reason, management is more concerned with the operational perspective of IT governance. This mainly entails the establishment of chains of decision rights that include responsibility, authority, and communication. Also, managers establish policies, standards, and control mechanism that help IT staff carry out their roles effectively. These managers’ roles can be applied to each of the seven principles of operational governance that are meant to increase organizational efficiency.
The Process Principle
The principle states that governance is a process applied to governed processes. In line with this statement, managers should clarify how IT governance will be implemented in the organization. Managers need to understand that policies and standards are applied to processes, decision rights are enforced in processes, and processes are measured and controlled. To effectively perform the governance role, managers should ensure that governance is a process with a lifecycle and a set of objectives that are developed and changed throughout the execution.
Artifact Lifecycle Principle
This principle states that the artifact lifecycle of the governed process characterizes the governance solution. The principle is based on the concept that governance involves the assignment of decision rights and is applied to processes to be governed. This means that IT governance is influenced by decisions made at specific control points in the governance process. Control points may be any activity within the process that provides an opportunity for measuring the governance process and deciding if any adjustments to the execution of the chosen process are required. Managers’ role here involves deciding whether or not to make adjustments to the process, when to make them, and the impact of the changes on governance. Sometimes managers may also be needed to choose a monitoring tool that will be used for collection of measurements to justify the selected decision.
The Risk Principle
This principle states that the level of risk in the governance process should be considered when adjusting measures and controls. Risk is any identified uncertainty that affects an organization’s ability to achieve its objective or meet the needs of stakeholders (Cantor & Sanders, 2007). When developing an effective IT governance solution, the risks mitigated by the IT infrastructure in the organization must be identified. The managers need to evaluate the levels of uncertainty associated with the risks and make appropriate decisions concerning the IT governance process. In low-certainty risks situations, planning of the governance process needs to be done in iterations. This is because low-certainty risks cost a lot and need to be dealt with immediately to avoid future inconveniences. Each iteration is measured, and the results used to make decisions considering the next iteration. This procedure helps in the steering the IT governance process to success.
The Suitability Principle
The principle states that the style of governance used in an organization is determined by its need. The needs of an organization differ from one organization to another. Sometimes different processes in an organization require different styles of governance. For example, IT governance processes such as code release require a stricter form of governance with tighter policies (Cantor & Sanders, 2007). These are rules that guide the behaviors of staff based on their decision rights. In the development of these policies, the relationship between the departments within an organization needs to be considered. As such, many organizations are adopting governance methodologies with the aim of becoming more efficient. Managers must evaluate these methodologies and tailor them to fit their organizations. The managers should develop a governance process that is appropriate for the IT department without losing the value of the selected methodology.
The Behavior Principle
The principle states that the developed governance solution determines organizational behavior. This concept is based on four main phenomena of which three are related to decision rights. First, employees create their own social web to get their work done. Second, communication within an organization’s is more efficient than communications across an organization’s boundaries. Third, communication in an organization grows nonlinearly with the size of an organization. Finally, employees will react to how they are measured as well as how their organizations are measured (Cantor & Sanders, 2007). To achieve good organizational behavior, managers should set clear decision rights so that IT staff can understand their roles and responsibilities and also the also what they can discuss with whom. Also, managers should choose an effective measure so as to have a positive impact on the behavior of the system.
The Deployment Principle
The principle says that the governance solution should be executed incrementally to adjust due to its idiosyncratic nature. The principle suggests that the best approach to defining and refining governance processes in an organization is the iterative approach. The main reason for emphasizing the approach is because it allows for the addition of new governance capabilities, improves on existing governance capabilities, and transformation of organizational capabilities. Managers should develop formal processes and adopt practices that are associated with good governance across various disciplines for use in the IT department. This will result in cross-discipline capabilities that will make the IT governance process more effective.
The Automation Principle
The principle states that technology empowers the governance solution and makes it unobtrusive. This is because governance does not come from within the organization and meet be objected by some employees resulting in loss of productivity. Technology can help solve this problem by enforcing policies that will ensure the governance process is part of the organization’s fabric. Managers should reinforce the IT governance process with automation to ensure its continuous implementation. This will result in the implemented governance solution fading away allowing employees to focus on their roles and responsibilities.
Conclusion
In an effort to comply with regulations concerning IT systems, IT governance is necessary in all organizations. Since governance mainly deals with decision-making and communication, managers play a vital role in IT governance process. They are responsible for the implementation of the developed IT governance processes. Due to this reason, managers are more concerned with the seven principles of operational governance and how they can use them to successfully implement IT governance.
References
Cantor, M., & Sanders, J. D. (2007, May 15). Operational IT governance. Retrieved January 13, 2017, from IBM, https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/may07/cantor_sanders/
Kadivar, S. (2011, February 15). Green memories accelerate ROI for data centers. CIO. Retrieved from http://www.cio.com/article/2411076/hardware/green-memories-accelerate-roi-for-data-centers.html
Schwartz, K. D. (2007, May 22). IT governance definition and solutions. Retrieved January 13, 2017, from CIO, http://www.cio.com/article/2438931/governance/it-governance-definition-and-solutions.html?page=2
