Have you been "reorged" lately? I would bet if you have been in the same IT organization for more than three years you have been involved in at least one reorganization. And this is under "normal" circumstances. Given the disastrous economic downturn, I am sure countless Enterprises have turned to the infamous reorg as a response to the need to do things differently in IT.

Do you recall your response to the news of your last reorganization? Were you excited and encouraged? Or were you dismayed, frustrated or even angry? What was the outcome of the reorganization? Were things notably better? Were they worse? Was there any change at all (other than to whom you reported)?

I can't begin to recall and recount all of the reorganizations in which I have been involved in my over 30 years working in IT. And I must confess, I was not always on the receiving end. I participated in driving and implementing a few reorgs in my time. One thing I can recall, none of the reorganizations resulting in substantial change or marked improvement. (I can admit this now, needing also confess to the myriad rationalizations that followed our inability to transform IT.)

And consider these reorganizations are seldom met with optimism and hopefulness. In fact, they are almost always met with resistance, incredulous apathy or even subversive ridicule. So when things aren't working, why do Enterprises turn to this convention over and over again?

I contend it is a lack of adequate and appropriate IT Governance. Yes, I know. You saw that coming. So here is my argument:

In my last two blog posts I noted how I declare all organizations have IT Governance, even if they don't recognize it. I base this assertion on the simplest definition of governance: the processes and relationships that lead to reasoned decision-making in the use of IT. I maintain if an organization is making technology decisions, they have IT Governance. I merely point out that their governance is comprised primarily of relationships (people) and non-existent, ad-hoc or chaotic processes.

Given this line of reasoning, I can explain and understand why Enterprises reorganize IT over and over again. What else can they do? If you don't have adequate processes in support of your IT Governance, then your only alternative is to turn to the other dimension of the discipline - relationships. People! Hence, reorg.

When IT is not aligned with the business, not delivering value, not managing risk, resources and performance, then we have to do something. We have to change. We have to change our IT Governance. Given the immaturity and inadequacy of IT Governance processes in Enterprises today (based on abundant research) we have little choice but to turn to the people and their relationships that result in technology decisions. How do we overtly affect relationships? Reorg.

So until you establish, manage and optimize your IT Governance processes to support the people making technology decisions, brace yourself for your next reorg. It is just a matter of time.

Steve Romero, IT Governance Evangelist