Good governance alleviates IT headaches

The major complaints about IT are not always in sync with executives' plans for the future according to a new report from the IT Governance Institute (ITGI). The answer? Better corporate governance.

The top IT-related problems listed in the report are an inadequate view on how well IT is performing, operational failures and staffing.

These three issues were mentioned by about 40 per cent of the 335 CEOs, CIOs and other business executives surveyed. Only 7 per cent said they'd experienced no IT problems in the past year.

When asked about priorities for next year, operational failures came in first, followed by high costs/low ROI and unmanaged dependencies on entities beyond direct control (most likely a result of the outsourcing trend).

Some of the top problems rank high on the priorities list. IT staffing, for instance, is the number three problem and the number four priority, and operational failures are the number two problem and the number one priority.

Yet there are some gaps as well. Most noticeably, the number one problem - an inadequate view on how well IT is performing - comes in at the bottom of the priorities list.

Marios Damianides, international president of ITGI, said in a statement that to close these gaps and improve the effectiveness of IT, companies should develop strong governance policies.

The report showed CIOs are aware of this. More than 80 per cent of respondents recognise governance as necessary to solve IT problems - and many are already putting such measures in place, though they don't always categorize them as 'governance'.

The report, titled IT Governance Global Status Report, is based on research conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers