The IT Governance Evangelist

March 2008 - Posts

• Is this news?

  I just read an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled "How to Tap IT's Hidden Potential." The article talked about the "wall" between the IT Department and "everything else" and says "That wall has to go." I ask you, is this news?   This article is a wake-up call reminding me, yet again, that we have a long way to go before IT is recognized as a strategic asset to be leveraged by the enterprise. The Wall Street Journal says IT's potential is hidden. Hidden? Given the ubiquitous nature of IT today, could this be true? Sure, 20 years ago we had business projects and IT projects. Aren't those days gone? Don't all of our business projects have some technology component? How can the potential of IT be hidden?   I have met very few folks from the business side or the IT side of the house who don't acknowledge the "us-and-them" mentality that exists between IT and the business. All of my presentations, be they on IT Governance, Project and Portfolio Management (PPM), Project Management Offices (PMOs), IT Service Management (ITSM), etc. stress the need to improve the relationship and level of trust between IT and the Business. I have never had to convince anyone of the need to do so.   Why my strong reaction? I guess my immersion in the discipline of IT Governance may be causing me to treat many things as obvious when in fact, they aren't. I thought that as an industry, we were farther along.   But setting the "Is this news?" question aside, the article makes some good suggestions, though it misunderstands the full scope and potential of IT Governance.   The article listed five primary reasons for the wall's existence: mind-set differences between management staff and IT staff, language differences, social influences, flaws in IT governance, and the difficulty of managing rapidly changing technology.   The article outlined six steps to "shatter" the wall between IT and the rest of the company:   Begin with IT literacy-and commitment-at the top. Hire an IT leader who sees the big picture. Create demand for IT solutions. Make sure nothing gets lost in translation. Rationalize IT spending. Create an IT portfolio by evaluating risks and returns.   I liked the specific mention of the IT Portfolio as part of the "rationalize IT spending" solution step but once again, IT Governance was equated solely to investment decision-making. Earlier in the article ITG is described as "the specification and control of IT decision rights." Even if you include more than investment decisions in that basic definition, it still falls short of the full scope and scale of ITG. It isn't just the decisions and decision rights (accountability). It is also the IT Governance processes--which do support the author's six steps--into which we feed those decisions. Those processes include:   Integrated Business & IT Planning IT Investment Assessment, Prioritization, Funding & Benefits Realization Accountability IT Financial & Resource Allocation Project Prioritization & Decision-making Emerging Technology Evaluation & Adoption Client Relationship Management Building & Maintaining Applications & Infrastructure Provisioning of IT Services Outsourcing Services Audit & Risk Management Architecture Management - Standards & Review   As usual I am on the road, meeting later today with a group of executives who want to understand IT Governance and its potential. I am sure I won't have to spend any time convincing them of IT's hidden potential or the wall between IT and the business. Those are the reasons they are talking to me in the first place.   Reader, is the "hidden" potential of IT or the wall between IT and the rest of the business news to you? Share this post: Email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! Posted Mar 20 2008, 12:40 PM by Steve Romero with no comments Tags: IT Governance, Project Portfolio Management, PPM

• A New Way to Look at Project Managers

  I'm always appreciative when someone prods me to look at something familiar in a new way. Therefore, I extend my thanks to Mark Perry for his Gantthead blog posting entitled "PMO Tips: Five A+ habits PMO managers like project managers to have." I've analyzed the objectives, skills, responsibilities and education requirements of a project manager extensively, but I have to say, until I read this blog, I had never given much thought to their habits. That is until now.     I am familiar with the work of Stephen Covey--author of "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," his most well-known book--that triggered Perry's posting. But, while I recognize that, by definition, a project manager is highly effective, I had never considered their habits.   I won't go into details on Perry's posting here--in part because I'm not sure I agree with him--but to be fair, I've included the link above. I replied to it with my own extensive list, which refers not to habits, but to Project Managers' values and associated behaviors. The list is included here for your convenience, but I encourage you to read the posting for yourself.  Maybe you too will come to think of Project Managers in a new light.        Steve Romero's List of Values and Behaviors of Effective Project Managers   Value 1: CUSTOMERS FIRST - Keeps commitments to customers - Understands and anticipates customer needs - Understands and promotes products and services - Acts in the best interest of the enterprise Value 2: INTEGRITY - Behaves in an honest and ethical manner - Embraces diversity by treating each individual with dignity and respect - Acts in an authentic, truthful, and straightforward manner - Actions are consistent with words - Deals with conflict in a timely and constructive manner Value 3: COLLABORATION - Thinks and acts beyond one's own work group - Puts enterprise needs and goals ahead of individual objectives - Takes responsibility to help others succeed - Freely shares information - Celebrates success Value 4: ADAPTABILITY - Willingly seeks and considers new ideas, approaches and best practices - Anticipates and embraces change - Willing to challenge current practices - Overcomes obstacles to meet goals Value 5: ACCOUNTABILITY - Accepts responsibility for individual and group decisions and actions - Holds self and others responsible for achieving results - Takes initiative to solve problems personally and avoid unnecessary handoffs - Acknowledges and learns from mistakes - Takes personal responsibility for the organization's success Value 6: EXCELLENCE - Consistently strives to deliver superior results - Demonstrates a sense of urgency regarding implementation - Seeks continuous learning and improvement - Sets and achieves high standards of performance     Readers, what values and behaviors have I missed?          Share this post: Email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! Posted Mar 10 2008, 05:11 AM by Steve Romero with no comments Tags: IT Governance, Project Portfolio Management, PPM

• When I say, “IT and Business Alignment” do you say, “IT Governance”?

  A recent CIO Magazine CIO2CIO Program Study reported the detailed findings of a Business Service Management survey conducted by IDG Research Services. It provided insight into the advent and role of service management in IT organizations worldwide, but there were two items that I found particularly interesting.   The first was regarding the "Importance of IT Priorities in the next 12 months." "Aligning IT with Business Priorities" got top ranking. It received an importance rating of 4 or 5 (out of 5) in 75% of the 300 worldwide surveys and a whopping 87% in the 100 U.S. surveys. I loved seeing this because aligning IT with the Business is the first and foremost principle of IT Governance, and I am, after all, an IT Governance Evangelist.   The second item I found interesting--in an eyebrow raising sort of way--was the professed familiarity with the term "IT Governance." 38% of the global respondents claimed to be "very familiar". The figure was 62% in the U.S.   So there are more people who consider aligning IT with the business a top priority than there are people who are "very familiar" with ITG. That means we're in for some very disappointed businesses--or some very overworked ITG practitioners. You can't have IT alignment with the business without ITG. It's just not possible. I say "IT and business alignment," you say "IT Governance."     Of additional concern to me is that the "familiarity with ITG" figures are probably overstated. In my experience speaking with groups as large as three hundred and as small as three, I have yet to see a consensus within a group as to what IT Governance really is. This holds true even if the people are from the same company, which is why I am frequently asked to present to individual enterprises for the express purpose of "getting everyone on the same page." I suspect that the 38% global and 62% U.S. figures for those who self-assessed as "very familiar" with ITG would have to be severely reduced if meant to reflect those who are really "very familiar."    Clearly, my work is cut out for me. I'm challenged to turn the "somewhat familiars" into "very familiars" and to make sure that the "very familiars" are really "very familiar." This familiarity will result in the application of ITG to achieve the high priority business alignment.   Readers, are you "somewhat familiar," "very familiar" or really "very familiar"? What makes you think so?   Share this post: Email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! Posted Mar 03 2008, 05:37 AM by Steve Romero with no comments Tags: IT Governance