Corporate governance of information technology

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Corporate governance of information technology" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (January 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Some of this article's listed sources may not be reliable. Please help improve this article by looking for better, more reliable sources. Unreliable citations may be challenged and removed. (September 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Information technology (IT) governance is a subset discipline of corporate governance, focused on information technology (IT) and its performance and risk management. The interest in IT governance is due to the ongoing need within organizations to focus value creation efforts on an organization's strategic objectives and to better manage the performance of those responsible for creating this value in the best interest of all stakeholders. It has evolved from The Principles of Scientific Management, Total Quality Management and ISO 9001 Quality Management System.

Historically, board-level executives deferred key IT decisions to the company's IT management and business leaders. Short-term goals of those responsible for managing IT can conflict with the best interests of other stakeholders unless proper oversight is established. IT governance systematically involves everyone: board members, executive management, staff, customers, communities, investors and regulators. An IT Governance framework is used to identify, establish and link the mechanisms to oversee the use of information and related technology to create value and manage the risks associated with using information technology.

Various definitions of IT governance exist. While in the business world the focus has been on managing performance and creating value, in the academic world the focus has been on "specifying the decision rights and an accountability framework to encourage desirable behavior in the use of IT."^[1]

The IT Governance Institute's definition is: "... leadership, organizational structures and processes to ensure that the organisation's IT sustains and extends the organisation's strategies and objectives."^[2]

AS8015, the Australian Standard for Corporate Governance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), defines Corporate Governance of ICT as "The system by which the current and future use of ICT is directed and controlled. It involves evaluating and directing the plans for the use of ICT to support the organisation and monitoring this use to achieve plans. It includes the strategy and policies for using ICT within an organisation."