IT Governance on One Page

As firms strive to generate value from information technology (IT), managers are increasingly aware that IT-related decisions and behaviors must be aligned with organizational performance goals. But many individuals throughout organizations make daily decisions influencing the value received from IT. IT governance is the process by which firms align IT actions with their performance goals and assign accountability for those actions and their outcomes. To be effective, IT governance must be actively designed, not the result of isolated mechanisms (e.g. steering committee, office of IT architecture, service level agreements) implemented at different times to address the challenge of the moment. Based on the best practices of 300 enterprises in 23 countries this paper offers an assessment and a one-page framework to help firms design and communicate IT governance.