On the way to a minimum baseline in IT governance

Abstract

Information Technology (IT) nowadays is integral part in most organizations and business models, putting Enterprise Governance of IT (EGIT) in focus of researchers and practitioners. A common approach for the implementation of EGIT in organizations is the use of best-practice frameworks, of which COBIT 5 is a very well-known example. However, recent studies show that COBIT 5, with its 37 EGIT processes, is often perceived as complex and organizations do not know where to start. To contribute to this concern, this papers reports on a Delphi study that was conducted to capture data on the perceived ease and effectiveness of specific COBIT 5 processes. Our results as such identify (perceived) effective and easy processes as a starting point for IT governance implementations. Experts view processes in the more strategic and governance area typical as more effective but less easy to implement. The more operational processes are typically experienced as easier to implement but also less effective. The result also reports that, according to experts, the most important process to start an EGIT implementation is the process around managing the IT related strategy.