How a CIO Can Enhance IT Governance and Risk Management
How a CIO Can Enhance IT
In today’s digital economy, information technology is an essential component of enterprise solutions, operations and corporate strategy and accounts for a significant portion of capital investment. As such, a CIO’s role is to ensure that IT investment decisions align with and support business objectives. IT governance is a key tool in this endeavor.
Many organizations struggle with IT governance and are unable to fully realize the value that IT can bring to their organization. A well-designed IT governance program has the potential to lower the overall cost of CIO coaching ownership in an organization and increase IT-related productivity and success rates. But in order for IT governance to be effective, it needs to be implemented in a holistic manner with consistent and accountable decision-making processes.
The first step to establishing an IT governance system is to clearly define the term. It’s important that every staff member understands what IT governance entails. For example, the US Department of Veterans Affairs defines IT governance as “a structure of relationships and processes to direct and control the enterprise to achieve its goals by adding value while balancing risk versus return over IT and its processes.”
How a CIO Can Enhance IT Governance and Risk Management
Once this definition has been communicated throughout the organization, it’s time to establish an IT governance environment. This is a step that the CIO can take, but it’s also an opportunity for fellow c-suite executives to act as IT governance champions in the organization. As a result, the organization will get a strong sense of buy-in and support for the IT governance program.
It’s also important to develop an IT learning culture that empowers and motivates staff. This means making sure that IT governance policies and plans are constantly being updated to reflect changes within the organization. For example, remote working has become the norm in the workplace, and it’s crucial that IT governance plans account for this change. In addition, new technologies are constantly emerging and must be incorporated into the IT governance plan.
Another way to foster a positive IT governance environment is to promote transparency in all IT-related activities. This can be done by publishing IT-related policies and procedures on a regular basis and making sure they’re being communicated to the entire organization. It’s also important to encourage collaboration between business units and IT teams to find solutions that align with the organization’s strategic objectives.
Lastly, it’s important to provide developers with the tools and opportunities they need to be successful in their roles. This includes creating a culture of innovation and ensuring that developers are empowered to make their own decisions. For example, instead of allowing the IT security team to make all decisions about how secure applications should be built, CIOs should put development engineers in charge of building and implementing the right security architectures for each application.
By establishing an IT governance environment that provides a clear vision of how IT supports the organization’s mission, IT can become a true strategic partner. This approach helps to reduce IT control issues and enhance the organization’s ability to manage risk and increase ROI on its technology investments.