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Improve Value & Mitigate Risk through IT Governance

Take the guesswork out of IT decision-making.

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Your Challenge

  • IT leaders are under considerable pressure to improve the business value of IT’s activities and decision-making. Clear IT investment and process goals, process measurement, repeatability and consistency, and compliance with internal corporate policies and external regulations are required to do so.
  • IT struggles to get business support and involvement in IT governance issues. 
  • IT leaders must find ways to improve processes.These improvements require oversight and input from senior business and IT management to align IT decisions and activities with organizational goals to manage risk and deliver value.

Our Advice

Critical Insight
  • The business relies on IT to enable day-to-day operations and information access, yet less than 50% of senior management is involved in IT decision-making. IT stands alone when it comes to delivering IT value and decisions.
  • Four major governance process areas (IT Investment, Project, Service Delivery, and Risk Management) are key to aligning IT decision-making, value delivery, and business strategy. Improving governance of these processes creates a culture of joint business and IT accountability for IT decision-making. 
  • IT leaders know improvements are needed, but they require tools and advice that will help them make the needed enhancements to critical decision-making processes.
Impact and Result
  • Assess the organization’s ability to govern the four key process areas. IT leaders can determine where gaps exist, identify appropriate actions, create a roadmap for improving IT governance, and influence business decision makers to participate in IT governance.
  • Identify the areas of greatest concern, as well as which process areas will benefit from better governance.
  • Identify current governance structures for the four key governance process areas. Highlight gaps that exist between how IT decisions are made now and how they should be made. 
  • Create a roadmap to make the process improvements that will improve governance, provide better alignment with business goals, and enable better IT value delivery.

Get to Action

  1. Implement IT Governance

    Improve IT decision-making to justify IT investment and to achieve superior business results.

  2. Assess implemented controls & checkpoints to ensure IT risk is understood and managed

    Balance acceptable risk against expected value in all decisions related to IT activity.

  3. Make joint IT/business decisions for prioritizing and allocating funding & resources to IT-enabled initiatives

    Achieve maximum business value for discretionary IT investment.

  4. Determine project progress, when to proceed through gates, and corrective actions for escalated issues

    Improve project success through effective mitigation of issues and risks.

  5. Evaluate system performance metrics & customer feedback to decide where to improve IT service

    Ensure IT services are business-focused, reliable, and cost effective.

Related Solution Sets

Establish an Effective IT Steering Committee

Make sure you have the right passengers on board.

Prepare the Organization for IT Change

Change doesn't have to be bitter medicine. Prepare the organization for a dose of positive progress.

Make IT a Partner in a Successful Merger or Acquisition

Don't let an M&A sidetrack your career. Create a solid M&A plan to ease the transition.

Tags

Governance, Project Management, risk management, audit, controls, decision making, business value, mitigation, portfolio management, Financial Management, service delivery management, oversight

Related Content


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Take the guesswork out of IT decision-making.

Companies Who Helped

  • Douglas Omaha Technology Commission
  • City of London
  • NWT Provincial Government
  • Devon Kerr, IT Director, Peckar and Abramson
  • Kindred Healthcare
  • Tegrit Group
  • Prestigetel
  • Transcontinental
  • Republic Bank Limited
  • Navigant Consulting
  • Hayes Management Consulting
  • Intact Financial Group
  • Department of Personnel Administration Government of California State
  • LogicNet Training & Consulting Services Inc.

Solution Road Map

Other Solution Sets in IT Strategy & Alignment

  1. Prepare for a Successful IT Strategy
    Preparation for IT strategy development and execution lays the foundation for IT strategy success.
  2. Improve Value & Mitigate Risk through IT Governance
    Take the guesswork out of IT decision-making.
  3. Establish an Effective IT Steering Committee
    Make sure you have the right passengers on board.
  4. Decode the Real Corporate Strategy
    Understand the best practices in business priority decryption.
  5. Get IT in Line with Organizational Needs
    Determine the appropriate IT maturity level.
  6. Make the Case for the Hybrid IT Operating Model
    Break the link between the IT operating model and the business structure for a more effective IT department.
  7. Move to a Stable & Controlled IT Department
    Extinguish the Firefighter status and gain control over the IT department.
  8. Build a Culture of IT Innovation
    Enable IT innovation to achieve business goals.
  9. Institutionalize Innovation through IT
    Leverage IT’s strong multi-department spanning position to facilitate innovation across the enterprise.
  10. Create a Software Strategy
    Manage and guide the organization's software direction.
  11. Make IT a Partner in a Successful Merger or Acquisition
    Don't let an M&A sidetrack your career. Create a solid M&A plan to ease the transition.
View the full Solution Road Map