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"IT Governance": The words can send a shiver down the spines of IT and business leaders alike. And while everyone wants IT governance, getting it isn't easy. Let's start with my unofficial definition: Governance is how we decide what activities to pursue. It involves prioritizing activities in terms of allocating time, money and people.
Like many concepts in IT leadership, there is no universal truth about how to achieve good governance. What works for me might not work for you. What works today might not work tomorrow. IT governance depends on what I call dimensions: One involves organizational alignment; the other involves the primary role of IT.
Aligning Models
Let's take the organizational dimension. Simply put, our structure for making IT decisions should be similar to how we make organizational decisions. I once tried to implement a centralized IT decision-making model in a decentralized organization. Each business unit had its own budget. But when I began as the new IT guy, I started talking about IT steering committees, standardized project reporting and so on. My management team peers agreed to my centralized governance model. But I soon discovered that, since the organization hadn't done any collaborative decision making, my centralized approach to IT was countercultural. Like a salmon swimming upstream, I soon tired of going against the flow and modified our IT governance model to match the decentralized nature of the organization. From this experience, I learned that the starting point for implementing IT governance is to align the IT decision-making model with the organization's.
Besides centralized and federated, another model is one where some powers reside centrally and others do not. For example, centralized IT provides infrastructure services, but individual departments provide business applications. I discovered this collaborative model when I helped a diverse business find a suitable IT governance model. Individual IT departments share information about their projects, and if it makes sense, they agree to work together on some projects. For example, one business unit upgraded its purchasing system, and another implemented a new purchasing system. Rather than start from scratch, the second business unit reused the application configuration and testing work of the first.
Strategic Versus Tactical
The second dimension that influences IT governance has to do with whether the role of IT is strategic or tactical. This can turn the advice I just gave about the first dimension on its head. For example, if the organizational governance model is decentralized but IT is a strategic enabler for the organization, I might shift my governance model toward centralized decision making. I would implement executive steering committees. Or if we operate in a centralized organization but IT supports tactical initiatives, my IT governance model might be more decentralized. I would emphasize management via service-level agreements rather than steering committees. Or in some cases, we might adapt our IT governance model for specific projects. Thus, implementing an enterprise resource planning system in a decentralized environment might best be served with centralized governance methods.
Since there is no absolute truth when it comes to IT governance, our best approach is to remain adaptable. I have found that aligning with the organization, then adjusting as needed, gets me to a version of the truth that works.
Niel Nickolaisen is CIO and vice president of strategic planning at Headwaters Inc. in South Jordan, Utah. To comment on this story, email editor@searchcio-midmarket.com.
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