IT Governance - Aligning IT Policies With Business Goals

Over the past decade, Compass IT Compliance has been assisting organizations across the country to mitigate their cyber risks and meet compliance guidelines. Through this work, we often field questions regarding information technology governance. So, what is IT governance? What impact does it have for you and your employees?

In general, IT governance is how the IT department of an organization aligns policies and procedures with the overall set of business goals. This allows for key stakeholders to evaluate organizational objectives and set a direction for monitoring compliance, performance, and progress with a valid business justification. This applies to both the public and private sectors.

Effective IT governance allows for management to have confidence in the overall direction the business is headed. Healthy boundaries are set, rules are put in place, and the separation of governance and management provides for accountability. Very often there is a perception that IT departments and their costs do not have the value that other departments may have. Good governance assures that IT departments minimize the gap in understanding what the business objectives are and what areas IT can best benefit the organization’s business goals.

IT governance is an ongoing, cyclical occurrence that should be asking key questions along the way. Below are some examples of questions:

• Are we making the right choices?
• Is the process correct?
• Have we maximized our resources?
• Are we monitoring these resources?
• What are the benefits?

Creating an IT governance program can be challenging, requiring a lot of time and effort. The easiest solution is to start with an industry framework that has already been created by experts in the field. These frameworks are being used by thousands of companies to ensure regulatory and compliance requirements are met, risks are mitigated, IT and business strategies are aligned, and to measure the return on investment of the IT department. Such frameworks include:

• CoBIT
• NIST
• ISO 27001 / 27002
• HITRUST

IT governance is a broad subject, but keeping IT plans aligned with the organizational strategic plans is at the heart of it all. Compass IT Compliance works closely with your organization to create an IT governance strategy and choose a framework that fits your organization best. Contact us today to learn more!