IT Governance and Its Mechanisms

T governance is a concept that has suddenly emerged and become an important issue in the information technology field. Precisely when this new challenge began surfacing is unknown, but it is now a discussion issue within most organizations. Some corporations and government agencies began with the implementation of IT governance to achieve a fusion between business and IT and to obtain needed IT involvement of senior management. In surveys, CIOs also indicate IT governance as an important management priority. For example, in Gartner’s Top Ten CIO Management Priorities for 2003, “improving IT governance” is included for the first time and is ranked third, and the related issue “providing guidance for the board/executive” is ranked first. This article defines what IT governance is and explains its relationship with enterprise governance. IT governance is defined as the leadership and organizational structures, processes and relational mechanisms that ensure that an organization’s IT sustains and extends its strategy and objectives. The article also provides an IT governance framework containing supporting structures, processes and relational mechanisms. The main objective of this article is to contribute to the understanding of IT governance and how it can be achieved in practice.