PREFACE

Organisations with good governance practices in place can be shown to be more successful than organisations without.

With the development of IT solutions in all business areas over the last few years, it is likely that there will be very few areas of your business now that are not dependent on IT in some shape or form. If, like other organisations, you have gradually adopted IT solutions over a period of years, then now is a good time to step back and evaluate what you have and what you need to run your organisation. Are you making good procurement decisions? Does your IT supply meet your IT demand?

Rather than look at each business area in isolation, take a holistic view with the idea of developing a decision-making model and a supporting IT governance framework that will guarantee that you meet the needs of your organisation, from the short term to the long term. This is where the ISO standard 38500: Corporate Governance of ICT and this book, which shows you how to implement the standard, can help.

This book is written in two parts for two different audiences – directors and managers, because for an IT governance framework to be successful and to deliver lasting benefits, directors and managers need to work in tandem to implement and to continue to develop the framework.

The first part of the book (Part A) is written mainly for governing board members. It provides a background as to how and why the IT governance guidance in the ISO standard 38500 was developed and how it can be used to direct, evaluate and monitor IT and information management activity in an organisation. It also provides some of the background and history to the governance of IT and the development of standardisation in this area.

The second part of the book (Part B) is written mainly for the CIO/IT senior management team and operational teams tasked with implementing the standard, though governing body members will also benefit from browsing through this half of the book. It provides insight into how to implement 38500 and how to build an IT governance framework, and therefore highlights areas where the governing body can support the deployment programme. It includes artefacts that the author has developed whilst implementing the standard in various diverse organisations. It also includes references to useful tools, templates and other resources that provide a starting point to building an organisational IT governance framework.

Similarly, the CIO/IT senior management team and operational teams will benefit from reading the first half of the book as it assists in developing an understanding as to what the governing body members will be looking for from the deployment of an IT governance framework, and what and how they expect information to be reported back to them to fuel their governance decisions relating to the adoption and use of IT and information across the organisation.

So, are you ready to develop good IT governance practices for your organisation? If so, then keep reading.