In today’s fast passed, data driven business environment, information technology plays the crucial role in any industry. Accurately planed and implemented Information systems enables business entities to create, distribute and exploit knowledge that gives the companies competitive advantage.
IT Governance is a mechanism that controls IT/IS planning, implementation, investment and decision making.
According to IMB the IT governance should
1) Establish chains of responsibility, authority, and communication (decision rights)
2) Establish measurement, policy, standards, and control mechanisms to enable people to carry out their roles and responsibilities
It is been well demonstrated that organizations that lack effective governance suffer from low performance, heightened risk exposure, and resource allocation.
IT governance is not simply a concern of IT department. It is the concern of whole organization as IT governance main objective is to align business strategically, empower and support business initiatives, while providing security and efficiency.
As IT governance plays such a huge role to organizations success, top management’s involvement is important. Board level IT governance is prescribed by normative publications such as the IT Governance Institute’s (ITGI, 2003) Board Briefing on IT Governance (BBIG).
Board level IT governance has a poor chance of being implemented and being effective if board members don’t pay attention to IT due to a lack of appreciation for its strategic significance or due to a lack of adequate IT knowledge. Therefore, it is important that organizations prioritize their IT strategy when selecting their leadership team.
