Don't Fence Me In

According to Andrew Clifford in his Simple IT blog, no matter what your specific definition of IT Governance (ITG) is, all the definitions have the following qualities in common:

• Control of the work.
• Co-ordination between different pieces of work.
• Measurement of outcome.
• Compliance with internal policy or regulation.
• Justification of spending.
• Accountability and transparency.
• Connecting with the needs of customers, the broader organisation, and other stakeholders.

So what if control, coordination, measurement, compliance, justification, accountability, and transparency are a bummer for you? What if you are a cowboy who likes to personally ride each missile out of your very own silo?



Of course, the Sundance Kid would say that the folks at Deloitte are nuts when they assert that the right blend of IT Governance is the key to getting the most value from IT. Why on earth would an organization want to decide WHERE to go and then collectively MAKE SURE that actually happens?

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above,
Don't fence me in.
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love,
Don't fence me in.
Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze,
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees,
Send me off forever but I ask you please,
Don't fence me in.

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies.
On my Cayuse, let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise.

Yeee haw.

Now that my tongue has nearly poked a hole through my cheek, I can seriously say that I do not subscribe to Cowboy Architecture. Maybe once, but not today nor tomorrow. As an architect, I have come to understand that decisions are important. Good decisions based on strategic goals and what Peter Schwartz calls the Long View. As an Enterprise Architect, my goal is to help shape technical direction for the Long View and encourage remembering our decisions. Otherwise every IT decision is like herding cats.

Whether its governance by committee or governance by strong leader, governance needs the right environment to work, especially in Higher Education. A survey taken of higher ed CIOs asked what stands in the way of governance (see slide 7). The top three barriers are as follows:

Decentralized / informal culture ... 41.6%
Lack of participation from necessary parties ... 40.4%
Governance insufficiently coordinated ... 30.8%

To keep with our metaphor, The Lone Ranger (although he wasn't really a cowboy, per se) rides again, it seems when it comes to undermining IT Governance (ITG).

So what contributes to ITG a success? Hint: Go to slide 12.

The short answer is PEOPLE, with Support of Executive Leadership (63.9%) leading the pack of reasons.

To summarize, if the references we cite hold any water, Executive Leaders that value...

Control of the work.

Co-ordination between different pieces of work.

Measurement of outcome.

Compliance with internal policy or regulation.

Justification of spending.

Accountability and transparency.

Connecting with the needs of customers, the broader organisation, and other stakeholders.

... really have the destiny of their IT organizations in their hands. The key is to use ITG to achieve these goals.

Make decisions, remember them, shoot for the long view over short term bull rides and rodeos... git along little doggie!