Insufficient IT staff availability, service delivery issues, and
difficulty proving the value of information technology (IT) continue
to plague executives at organizations around the world, according to a
new report by the nonprofit, independent IT Governance Institute
(ITGI).
ITGI commissioned a global survey of 749 CEO-/CIO-level executives
in 23 countries to determine executives´ IT governance priorities and
the IT-related problems their organizations have faced. According to
the IT Governance Global Status Report 2008, which is available as a
complimentary download at www.itgi.org, 58 percent of respondents
noted an insufficient number of staff, compared to 35 percent in 2005.
Also, 48 percent said that IT service delivery problems remain the
second most common problem, and 38 percent point to problems relating
to staff with inadequate skills. Thirty percent of respondents also
reported problems anticipating the return on investment (ROI) for IT
expenditures.
The study is a follow-up to ITGI´s 2003 and 2005 surveys and
tracks IT governance trends over the past four years. Several
important business developments relating to IT are identified in the
report, including:
-- 93 percent of respondents said that IT is somewhat to very
important to the overall corporate strategy--an increase of 6
percent from 2005
-- IT is always on the board agenda, according to 32 percent of
respondents--up from 25 percent in 2005
-- 18 percent of respondents said the IT department always
informs the business about potential business opportunities,
up from 14 percent in 2005
-- Awareness of the COBIT framework for IT governance has
surpassed 50 percent, nearly doubling since 2005
-- Use of COBIT has doubled (from 8 percent in 2005 to 16
percent)
Areas for improvement include alignment--36 percent of respondents
reported that alignment between IT strategy and corporate strategy is
average, poor or very poor. Additionally, implementation of IT
governance-related activities varies around the globe. The percentage
of organizations that are in the process of implementing or have
already implemented IT governance practices in different regions are:
-- South America, 27 percent
-- Asia, 44 percent
-- Europe, 50 percent
-- North America, 50 percent
"The bottom line is that many organizations worldwide are
needlessly sacrificing money, productivity and competitive advantage
by not implementing effective IT governance," said Lynn Lawton, CISA,
FCA, FIIA, PIIA, FBCS CITP, international president of ITGI.
"Well-governed enterprises have been shown to provide a better return
to stakeholders, and the same goes for governance over information
technology. Executives need to direct their IT for optimal advantage,
manage IT-related risks and measure the value provided by IT."
ITGI was established by ISACA in 1998 to advance international
thinking and standards in directing and controlling an enterprise´s
information technology. ITGI developed COBIT, now in its fourth
edition, and Val IT, and offers original research and case studies to
assist enterprise leaders and boards of directors in their IT
governance responsibilities.
