Why the growing interest in IT governance?

MISAJune 1st 2009

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About us

• Founded in 1980• Public-sector focus• A history of IT Strategic Planning (1989)

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Who we are

• Our strengths• Extensive public sector experience• Extensive experience in the development of information

technology & GIS strategic plans• Multi-disciplinary skills in integrating organizational design,

process re-design, technology and change management • Significant experience conducting organizational &

operational reviews • Major change management experience• Strong partnerships with client organizations• Enthusiasm, pragmatism and leadership skills

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Some of our recent work

• IT Strategies• Waterloo, Oakville, Burlington, Whitby, Ajax,

Aurora, Whitchurch-Stouffville, Kawartha Lakes• GIS Strategies

• Region of Peel, Red Deer, Cambridge• Strategic Studies

• Mississauga, Business Application Simplification Strategy

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Off proprietary solutions

PC technology

client server

Y2K

GIS

Best of breed:

CLASS,

AMANDA

Corporate applications

Consolidation

Y2K prep.

ERP

infrastructure environment/

build out

Training of users

GIS

IT out of finance

Corporate IT

Web

Governance

Prioritization of initiatives

Technical resources

Businessanalysts

Need to leverage

investments/ business

tools

1990’s 1995 2000’s 2005 2009…

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Everyone wants to be …

…a technology leader in municipal services

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Common current themes• Expectation vs. Delivery

– All municipalities have same expectations – Large or small – similar outcomes - too slow vs. not enough resources– Small organizations have big expectations– Demand/project overload

• Senior managers feel IT is out of their control– “We know we are failing – what do we need to do differently?”– IT feels like it is expensive – Juggling IT investments vs. other corporate priorities

• “Are we getting value for our IT investments?”

• IT is still a black box (lack of transparency)

• Operating & maintaining existing technologies consume a large % of resources (industry around 70%)

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Common current themes

• Most projects fail to fully meet expectations– lack of accountability for project scope and decision making– lack of standardized process– unclear goals; effort underestimated– inability to say “STOP”

• Lack of shared accountability for IT projects

• IT is grappling with changing focus from technical to business enabler:– Business Analyst’s, Project/Program Managers

• Website is frequently poorly perceived but continues to be a high priority for administration

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“Inadequate, and in many cases ad hoc IT governance, is one of the primary reasons why

perceptions do not meet reality”

IT Portfolio Management: Step-by-Step

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IT environment has changed … • Small work group large corporate/enterprise

solutions• Inter-dependencies & integration complexity• IT projects are typically business transformation

projects supported by technology• IT projects are not engineering projects

– Inexact specifications– Managing change

• people, • processes

• IT projects must align with the business goals - otherwise why do it?

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Reality check

• Technology presents infinite possibilities

• Can’t do all that your customers want to do

• Decide what the organization’s priorities are

• Requires collective decision making or senior direction setting

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Why IT Governance?

“Tamed, an elephant can perform amazing feats. Untamed, an elephant is capable of …”

… causing total chaos.

IT Portfolio Management: Step-by-Step

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Why is IT Governance important?

Firms with superior IT governance have at least 20% higher profits (performance)

than firms with poor governance

Weill & Ross, IT Governance

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Define IT Governance

“Specifying the decision rights and accountability framework to encourage

desirable behaviour in the use of IT”

Weill & Ross, IT Governance

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Define IT Governance

• Decision making groups (membership, inter-relationships)

• Policies & standards (architecture)• Methods (prioritization)• Measurement (performance)

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Department/IT Alignment

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Department/IT Alignment

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IT governance is about

The need to engage… involve…

and educate

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Typical municipal IT governance• IT director/manager responsible for budgets and

prioritization of projects

• Department head level may have some projects in departmental budgets

• SMT and/or Council– “This is a MUST-DO project” – imposes priorities

• IT steering committees (where they are present)– Dysfunctional– Low level & lack the ability to look holistically– Turns into an IT user group

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Some are doing well where…• IT has credibility, respect & is trusted

• IT representation on SMT helps:– the corporation focus on priorities– allows IT to ‘hold the line’– ensure that the right resources are committed to solutions

• IT has defined professional standards & corporate policies are supported & endorsed

• Business recognizes the value that IT bring to the table

• IT is not seen as a bottleneck – IT has realized that its about getting things done – not being confined by its own capacity

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Barriers to effective IT governance

• History• Workload too high • Lack of recognition of the need for governance• Corporate lack of knowledge and understanding of IT

– Happy to delegate• Conflicting corporate priorities• Disconnect between IT and the business on solutions• Budget process

– leads to under-estimation of resources – always struggling– Palatable (envelope approach) vs. real requirement

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Increasing acceptance?

• Similar message for the last 10 years. What’s different now?

• We are getting acceptance at the senior level

• IT is now starting to be recognized as core to business service delivery

• CAO/SMT willingness to allocate time to IT

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IT governance model

© MIT Sloan School Centre for Information Systems Research

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Principles address

• Often widely accepted, but not documented, or visible– “Reuse before buy, buy before build”– “Technologies will only be implemented if they can

be sustained on an ongoing basis (departmental staff, maintenance costs, support resources)”

IT PrinciplesHigh level statements about how IT is used in the business

(against which all IT initiatives should be judged – does initiative A support the articulated principles?)

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IT Architecture addresses

• Information architecture• Technology architecture• Standards• Policies which support, encode

and reinforce– K.I.S.S.

IT ArchitectureOrganizing logic for data, applications and infrastructure captured in a set of policies and relationships, and technical choices to achieve desired business and technical standardization and integration(deviations from standards should be fully justified and implications fully understood).

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Call Centre

CRMCRM

Web/CMSWeb/CMSEmailEmail

Integration TechnologiesIntegration Technologies

Security Layer (AD/LDAP)

Network Layer

Data Storage Layer

BI/DashboardsCorp. ReportingBI/DashboardsCorp. Reporting GISGIS

PhonePhone

Corporate Infrastructure Layer

ePayePay eTaxeTax ePermitePermit

ePlanePlan eBookeBook eLicenseeLicense

Email Print ToolsServerIdentityPC

LetterLetter

CounterCounter

IVRIVR

311311

SMSSMSIMIM

Data WAN WiFi Voice

Intranet

Cell

eRequesteRequest

eEngageeEngage

Customer Service Platforms (Face to Face, Email, Telephone)Customer Service Platforms (Face to Face, Email, Telephone)

DBFile

Phone

Maj

orBu

sine

ss

Syst

ems

Infr

astr

uctu

re

Remote/Mobile Access

Cust

omer

Fac

ing

Syst

ems

Inte

grati

on

Simplified System View

SAN

LAN

NAS

Mobile

Enterprise Search

Enterprise Search

Customer

Customer

PropertyProperty

Infra, Asset & Work Mgmt

Infra, Asset & Work Mgmt

HRHR

ParkingParking

FleetFleetDispatchDispatch

Other …Other …

Planning, Building, Permit, License, Inspect,

Tax

Planning, Building, Permit, License, Inspect,

Tax

RecreationRecreation Finance & Budget

Finance & Budget

Document & Records

Mgmt

Document & Records

Mgmt

POS & POSWeb

POS & POSWeb

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Business Applications are evolving

• Best of breed losing ground • Enterprise solutions gaining ground• Development receding – common platforms

(e.g. SharePoint)• Consolidation/rationalization of legacy &

customer apps needed • Compromise needs engagement, negotiation &

buy-in

Business Application NeedsSpecifying the business need for purchased or internally developed IT applications(adhering to IT architecture where appropriate)

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Infrastructure service delivery evolving

• Centralized farm of servers (shared resources)

• Focus on sustainability • Business continuity visible at last• Expectations high IT Infrastructure

DecisionsCentrally coordinated, shared IT services that provide the foundation for the enterprises IT capability(promoting reuse of components)

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Investment decisions• No conscious IT investment

management/strategy• Corporate IT budget process

– Business case (ROI)– Prioritization– Available capacity

• Portfolio management– Balanced portfolio

• High risk vs. low risk• Maintenance vs. new• Internal vs. external

IT Investment & PrioritizationDecisions about how much and where to invest in IT, including project approvals and justification techniques(ensuring that all projects that have a technology implication are fully considered, and to ensure that the portfolio is appropriately balanced [applications, technology, large -small, low -high risk])

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Governance bodies

• Define responsibility for each domain• Bodies must be representative to achieve

corporate engagement• Corporate policy must support governance

bodies (including budget processes)• Governance bodies must be sustained and

reinforced (Council, SMT, Directors)

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IT Users DirectorsMajor

Application Teams

PublicDefine

requirements and prioritise

requirements

Establish enterprise architecture & standards, manage and deliver

IT services, facilitate IT strategy & planning & IT investment process

Set objectives, approve strategies and plans,

establish IT investment priorities

Enforce principles and mandate of

Steering Committee

Endorse strategy and monitor

progress. Approve budget

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IT

PrinciplesIT

ArchitectureIT

Infrastructure

Business Application

NeedsIT

Investment Accountabilities I D I D I D I D I D

Council • • • Endorse principles and strategy and monitor compliance

SMT • • • • • • • •Enforce principles, set objectives and KPI’s, develop IT strategy and plans and establish IT investment

priorities

IT Working Group • • • •

Facilitate processes for IT investment, IT plans and IT strategy.

Chaired by Corporate Services Commissioner

Departmental Directors • • • • • Define business requirements and

establish departmental IT priorities

IT Management

Team• • • • • • •

Establish and enforce enterprise architecture and standards. Plan,

deliver and manage IT systems and services

IT Users • • • Articulate IT requirements and priorities.

Enterprise Application

Teams• • • Articulate IT requirements and

priorities.

Public/External Customers • Articulate IT requirements and

priorities.

I = Input D = Decision32

Metrics

• Relevant Key Performance Indicators– Tailored to audience– Establish metrics that align with your customer’s

interest areas

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Metrics

• Internal management metrics• Balanced scorecard (compare a suite of

factors)

• Annual/bi-annual IT customer survey

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Benchmarking• Problems with benchmarking

– Information provided is rarely accurate• Population #’s are inconsistent• Staffing numbers are incorrect, inconsistent or misinterpreted• Budget figures are reported differently• Inclusivity of data is questionable i.e. is voice part of the network? Is the Fire

department or other boards supported?

• Comparisons with similar size municipalities are not always useful– They may be struggling with similar problems– Different levels of maturity of technical implementation– Benchmarking resources is the typical area

• Those that you are benchmarking against are typically under-resourced• Proximity to other major towns or cities can impact resource pool

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Summary

• Good corporate IT starts with good IT governance• Recognise the signs

– Project overload, business IT disconnect, “leave it to IT”, project failures

• Formalize governance and raise the level of business engagement– Educate, engage and involve senior decision makers

(size, impact, opportunity, capacity)– Let them see/share your pain

• More work (transparency + education is two-way)– Leaders, departments and for IT

• Stick the course, the rewards will come

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Book recommendations

IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior ResultsPeter Weill & Jeanne W Ross

Managing IT as a business: A survival guide for CEO’sMark D. Lutchen

IT Portfolio Management: Step by StepBryan Maizlish, Robert Handler

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