ICT Governance is a term coined within the Australian government, but it has since spread all over the world. Although ICT Management encompasses business software development, ICT project management and delivery of ICT services, corporate ICT Governance spreads all over the management structure, down from CEO, through ICT Board (usually consists of CFO, CIO and other executive managers), down to the ICT Management and service delivery function.
Unfortunately, ICT is still poorly misunderstood and treated as auxiliary or service function in companies. ICT is usually reactive (“defensive IT”), has operative importance (“factory mode”) and it is used as support to business (“support mode”). However, ICT should be proactive (“offensive IT”), and in that case, ICT has strategic value (“strategic mode”) or it can help in the change management and assist the company to remain competitive (“turnaround mode”).
It would be difficult to imagine proper ICT governance if ICT is reactive. To use ICT in your company to its full extent, we can help you create strategic environment analysis, business vision and create applicable SWOT/BCG/PEST reports. Furthermore, we can create business impact analysis, introduce key metrics and recommend how to enhance business processes. This usually calls for creation of inventory of business applications, hardware, network and technical infrastructure, lifeware, services, budget, operative expenses and investments. We will aim to compare your situation with current trends in ICT industries and create benchmarks, along with audit of ICT using one of available best-practice frameworks. Finally, we can create guidelines for short, mid and long term development of your ICT systems including vision, mission, goals, metrics, quality goals and human resource development goals and create a budget including calculation of ROI, IRR and TCO. The result of this process is a draft of strategic ICT plan, as a main tool in successful corporate ICT governance.