Currently, all areas of the organization depend to some extent on the IT Department. Thanks to technological advances, IT has become a fundamental part of the company because it allows process optimization and also adds great value to the business. However, to ensure this continuous value delivery that Information Technologies provide, it is necessary for companies to be able to carry out a proper IT Governance.
The competitiveness and success of an organization today depends more than ever on its ability to ensure that information systems evolve constantly to provide efficiency and added value to the business.
If your goal is to discover an effective way to establish more profitable IT strategies, don’t miss a single detail about these best practices in IT governance.
What is IT Governance?
IT governance is a management process, which allows the organization to optimize its IT investments; to bring the greatest amount of added value to the company. As well as to increase the performance of IT processes and guide them to achieve customer satisfaction.
This type of management is also aimed at ensuring the risks of the information system are under control, as well as financial aspects of the information system are well controlled, and that the IT solutions and skills that the organization will need in the future are developed. At the same time, it promotes transparency in all processes executed within the organization.
What are the objectives of IT governance?
Good governance of IT should be aimed at achieving certain fundamental objectives such as the following:
- A clear division of responsibilities among the actors involved to ensure a better workflow and effective control of the activities carried out.
- The establishment of optimal processes based on industry best practices. This should include those related to task automation; service delivery, project execution, and any other vital business processes.
- The creation of consistent and accurate reports that allow access to timely information about the activities or projects that are executed within the company.
- The achievement of the strategic alignment of IT with business objectives. As well as the optimization of the value of the services offered by the company through the Information Systems. ,
- The measurement of performance related to IT management and control practices, to detect failures and ensure continuous improvement.
- Intelligent management of IT resources, this involves a complete analysis of the assets of Hardware and Software and the human resources that are part of the company. As well as an effective Knowledge Management that the user handles within it.
Advantages of Good IT Governance Execution
Efficient IT governance can provide companies with multiple advantages. Among them we have:
- Better decision-making about the IT ecosystem; to increase its level of productivity and efficiency.
- The creation of synergies among the members of the organization by assigning each one a role appropriate to their professional profile.
- Greater distribution of knowledge about key processes related to information systems.
Best Practices for IT Governance
#1 Build the right team
While the support of the organization’s senior executives is extremely important in implementing any IT governance strategy; it is recommended that you do not allow the IT governance committee to consist exclusively of members of the company’s management.
It is quite complicated to create effective strategies for good IT governance without the involvement of IT department members. These professionals are necessary when making decisions regarding IT investment; as they are the ones who know best the company’s performance and shortcomings in this area.
Likewise, the participation of the management of the organization allows establishing a firm position; when determining the needs and objectives of the business. So in order to achieve good IT governance, the most appropriate thing is to create a multidisciplinary team that offers coherent opinions from different perspectives.
#2 Use a framework to guide you
Currently, there are several references and standards based on industry best practices in IT Management. Among them; we have for example ITIL and Cobit (both propose good strategies related to IT Governance), which are among the preferred by organizations around the world.
If you have doubts about which one is best for you, the ideal is that before choosing; you establish your objectives well. This way you will be able to base your decision on the characteristics of your business.
#3 Perform constant IT monitoring
In order to carry out effective strategies, you must be able to recognize what works and what does not. For this, it is necessary to carry out constant monitoring of IT; that allows you to know if IT is accomplishing the required service delivery or if on the contrary, it is slowing down processes.
This type of monitoring can also help you to compare your performance with that of the competition; in order to determine the points that can be improved. As a result, you will have more accurate information about the areas of your company that need more investment.
As the last tip, we recommend you to automate your processes to the maximum with the help of quality software tools. For IT monitoring as well as for the implementation of frameworks such as ITIL; and for the IT Government in general, a software solution is vital to carry out truly efficient processes.
If you want to get the best tools, at GB Advisors we have what you are looking for. Contact us now to receive professional advice related to the best solutions on the market.
