What Dynamic Role Do It Managers Play Within the Company’s Strategic Versus Support Infrastructure? Why Is It Governance Necessary? What Is the Exposure If a Company Ignores It Governance? Illustrate the Case with Two
What dynamic role do IT managers play within the company’s strategic versus support infrastructure? Why is IT governance necessary? What is the exposure if a company ignores IT governance? Illustrate the case with two regulation compliances of personal choice
Introduction
With our ever growing reliance on computers for almost everything, proper IT management has never been more important. Without good IT oversight almost any imaginable disaster can occur. In this essay I will take a look at the role IT managers play in their company’s support and strategic infrastructures, the necessity for good IT governance and two organizations that failed at IT governance.
IT Governance
Generally IT managers are more involved in support infrastructure because IT’s purpose is support the company’s strategic infrastructure. That being said IT managers should be part of strategic planning because they can determine if the IT system can support the company’s plans. The IT manager’s goal should be to make the company’s support infrastructure align with the company’s strategic infrastructure. In the last few fifty years technology has played an expanding role in the life of most companies. “The role of information technology in organizations has shifted beyond its traditional support role towards an integral part of the strategy of organizations.” (Henderson, and Venkatraman, 1990) IT governance is necessary in order to maintain control of the company’s IT infrastructure. As stated in the article “What is IT Governance?” the primary goals of IT Governance are to assure that the investments in IT generate business value, and to mitigate the risks that are associated with IT. This can be done by implementing an organizational structure with well-defined roles for the responsibility of information, business processes, applications and infrastructure. (Brisebois, Boyd and Shadid, 2007) Without governance there is very little accountability and the possibility of mistakes
Introduction
With our ever growing reliance on computers for almost everything, proper IT management has never been more important. Without good IT oversight almost any imaginable disaster can occur. In this essay I will take a look at the role IT managers play in their company’s support and strategic infrastructures, the necessity for good IT governance and two organizations that failed at IT governance.
IT Governance
Generally IT managers are more involved in support infrastructure because IT’s purpose is support the company’s strategic infrastructure. That being said IT managers should be part of strategic planning because they can determine if the IT system can support the company’s plans. The IT manager’s goal should be to make the company’s support infrastructure align with the company’s strategic infrastructure. In the last few fifty years technology has played an expanding role in the life of most companies. “The role of information technology in organizations has shifted beyond its traditional support role towards an integral part of the strategy of organizations.” (Henderson, and Venkatraman, 1990) IT governance is necessary in order to maintain control of the company’s IT infrastructure. As stated in the article “What is IT Governance?” the primary goals of IT Governance are to assure that the investments in IT generate business value, and to mitigate the risks that are associated with IT. This can be done by implementing an organizational structure with well-defined roles for the responsibility of information, business processes, applications and infrastructure. (Brisebois, Boyd and Shadid, 2007) Without governance there is very little accountability and the possibility of mistakes
References: Henderson, John and Venkatraman, N. (November 1990). “STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT: A MODEL FOR ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION VIA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY”, Center for Information Systems Research Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Sloan School of Management 77 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139. Retrieved from http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/49184/strategicalignme90hend.pdf?sequence=1 Brisebois, Richard, Boyd, Greg and Shadid, Ziad (2007). “What is IT Governance?” The INTOSAI IT Journal, Issue 25, August 2007, pp 30-35. Retrieved from www.intosaiitaudit.org Nelson, Ryan (2007). “IT Project Management: Infamous Failures, Classic Mistakes, and Best Practices”, University of Minnesota, MIS Quarterly Executive, Vol. 6, No. 2, June 2007. Retrieved from http://www2.commerce.virginia.edu/cmit/Research/MISQE%206-07.pdf Eggen, Dan (2005). “FBI Pushed Ahead With Troubled Software”, The Washington Post, 06 June 2005. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/05/AR2005060501213.html Szilagyi, Jeffery G. (2001). “BANK OF AMERICA’S MASTERNET SYSTEM: A CASE STUDY IN RISK ASSESSMENT”, University of Southern California, Center for Software Engineering. Retrieved from http://sunset.usc.edu/classes/cs510_2001/notes/masternet.pdf