After years of analyzing this challenge, it has become very clear. The real reason why we still have a gap in IT goverance is - it is just as easy for the business to step back and let IT own, drive, and lead. As one looks at the skills and experience to IT governance, it tends to lean toward the profile of an IT executive - analytical and project management experience, business and technology savvy. These skills naturally align to the governance process. It is also essential and part of the critical path for the governance process to work. It is the IT executive's full time job, to execute and delver IT initiatives - the output of the governance process.
But unlike IT, business leaders have their own full type jobs and tend to be operational focused. So often, their goals and performance bonuses do not include IT success, they are busy and actually intimidated by the essence of new technologies. So they fall into the trap of turning over the governance to IT. And when project fail, when there are problems, the finger pointing game, the spinning just happens. Here, probably, is where the problem originates. When business leaves the managing of IT projects to IT alone, or look to IT to "do it all," governance becomes disconnected, and the company suffers. If we go back to the simple fundamentals, both business and IT have clear roles and responsibilities. It's a shared responsibility and process.
This is an excerpt from a feature article in Tech Decision CIO Insights March Issues 2009, authored by Deb Smallwood, Founder of SMA Inc.
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