I experienced first-hand a spectacular example of IT Governance in action as I presented on that very topic at Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). Ironically, my original flight to the meeting was cancelled, but that does not diminish my appreciation for what I witnessed there.
LAWA is a unique system of four airports owned and operated by the City of Los Angeles. The four airports are Los Angeles International, LA/Ontario International, Van Nuys and LA/Palmdale Regional Airports.
A member of the IT Enterprise Architecture organization within LAWA recently attended my IT Governance presentation at a local CA office. At his suggestion, the Office of Enterprise Architecture and the CIO invited me to address their newly formed Enterprise Architecture Advisory Committee.
The venue for the meeting was rather grand. It was a large room with theatre seating and an impressive conference table surrounded by high-back leather chairs. There were a number of IT folks in the theatre seats and the members of the committee sat at the conference table.
The meeting kicked off with a round of introductions - and I was floored! This IT Enterprise Architecture Advisory Committee was comprised almost entirely of Business Leaders! Check out these lists!
The non-IT attendees were from the following operation and business divisions:
- Airport Police
- Airport Operations
- Landside Operations
- Engineering and Project Management
- LAX Development Management
- Financial Systems
- Budgeting & Debt Management
- Property Management
- Residential Acquisition
- Procurement
In addition to representing their organizational areas, these business leaders are also representing the following divisions of the enterprise:
- Construction and Maintenance
- Facility Planning
- Environmental Management
- Concession Management
- Accounting Operations
- Internal Auditing
- Risk Management
- Human Resources
One of the main points I make in my IT Governance presentation is that IT Governance is a function of the business, and not IT. It requires the business to be a partner if not a leader in the effort. I usually go on to convince my predominantly IT-centric audiences of their responsibility to engage and energize their business partners.
My experience with LAWA was uniquely exhilarating and encouraging. I was talking to the right people! It is rare that I present to so many members of the business and here I was talking to leaders representing every major area of the LAWA enterprise.
It was refreshing to meet a CIO that recognizes the criticality and value of business participation in IT Governance. During my presentation, he shared how their IT organization is addressing various IT Governance processes and mechanisms. He offered comments on how he valued business participation and the resulting insights, opinions and views - recognizing how critical those elements are to reasoned and rationale decision making. As I have said before, IT Governance is a journey, and given the level of business engagement, LAWA is well on their way.
As I sat on the tarmac waiting for a gate to open so that my plane could return to correct an electrical issue, this minor setback was greatly tempered by my wonderful experience with IT Governance at Los Angeles World Airports.