Attempt to define : IT Governance

I will attempt to define IT Governance on basis of my experience -

IT Governance improves the efficiency of Enterprise and manage the risk. There are different standards like COBIT, ITIL, Six Sigma etc which provides more detail.

May be we could divide the Governance in different categories like Portfolio Governance, Project Governance and Architecture Governance in an organisation.

Portfolio Governance helps to prioritise projects in pipeline, conducting cost benefits analysis, measuring business value, managing risk, defining effective process, initiating right concept and proposals.

Project Governance helps to steer the project towards the expected outcome, improving quality, aligning everyone to shared goal, revisiting the business value, delivering the right solutions.

Architecture Governance helps to build the future, identifying the opportunity, preparing road maps, migration plans, gap analysis, documenting current state, governing Enterprise Initiatives like SOA, Web2.0, EDW, Virtualisation etc.

TOGAF Framework

Last month, I attended the TOGAF training. It was a quite interesting experience. We conducted the case study based on TOGAF framework. It was interesting to follow the Architecture Development Method (ADM) for the case study.

TOGAF framework provides good ADM process to develop Enterprise Architecture in the organisation. It provides the insight to the IT Architects who most of time focus on Technology Architecture and remain ignorant about the Business and Information Architecture.

I feel most of people in IT industry relate Enterprise Architecture to Technology Architecture.

And may be most of Enterprise Architecture programs in organisations keep doing the Architecture Domain analysis. And never able to effectively prepare Migration Planning for the Architecture. It is not easy task with ever changing landscape in Business and IT.