IT excellence starts with governance

Purpose – To explain how information technology (IT) governance enables an organization to achieve three vital objectives: regulatory and legal compliance, operational excellence, and optimal risk management. Design/methodology/approach – Describes the role in IT governance of functions such as value creation (distilling company's mission and strategic direction into business needs for IT applications), value delivery (formal project management methodology and system development life cycle), value preservation (integrated control and risk management program), resource management, performance management (capability maturity model, balanced scorecard, Six Sigma), and oversight. Describes governance frameworks such as COBIT, ITIL, and ISO/IEC 17799: 2000. Offers advice on getting started. Findings – When governance is effective, IT becomes a valued asset, inseparable from the business and regarded as an asset, not a cost. Originality/value – Helps a compliance officer think about the connection between effective IT and compliance systems.