The IT Governance Evangelist

This blog entry was inspired by a comment posted by "Mike" to my recent post entitled "Who owns IT Governance, the Business or IT?" Mike asked about how you convince the IT department to "accept" its role as a business partner when IT Governance isn't adopted within the organization. He asked if there is a general rule or set of steps that companies can begin to use as a foundation for change that both sides can agree on.

More questions with far from simple answers. Let me start by saying IT is not in a position to "accept" its role as a business partner until it is "invited." According to CIO Magazine, barely half of the CIOs in North America sit at the Enterprise Leadership Team table. Instead, they are relegated to be the CFO's or the COO's problem. In fact, I spend much of my time advising IT leadership on how to get a seat at the table and convincing business leaders to give IT a seat.

The best and quickest way to do establish IT as a business partner is to set up governance for project and portfolio management (PPM). Yes, I recognize this runs the risk of reinforcing the pervasive misconception that IT Governance is synonymous with IT investment decision-making. Too often, organizations mistakenly equate ITG to PPM so they don't address all of the governance-related processes required to succeed. I'll take that risk because PPM is such a great place to start the IT Governance journey.

Here are a few of the advantages associated with starting with PPM:

• 80% of the average IT budget is allocated to keeping the lights on, or "standing still" as I put it. PPM makes the most of that meager 20% left for moving forward. Done correctly, it addresses every penny IT spends and is the only way to move toward the more desirable 60/40 split. Some companies are shooting for 50/50.
• PPM establishes the mechanisms required for the business to hold IT accountable for the money it spends. PPM and, as I have said countless times, all of IT Governance, are business functions that benefit the business! When business leaders recognize this, it won't be a matter of IT "accepting" their role, because frankly, they won't have a choice.
• PPM is a fantastic means for IT to foster collaboration and trust with the business and ultimately improve their relationship. Providing financial transparency, stellar program and project delivery and proven value for every IT investment will turn that relationship into a love affair.

So I suggest starting with PPM--IT investments at the least, all Enterprise investments being the ideal. Yes, I would rather the business realize at the outset the potential of ITG to enable it to leverage technology for strategic advantage and save IT a spot at the leadership table.

I'm working on it.