Abstract
The senior management of organisations frequently perceive IT Projects as merely technological in nature. They fail to realise that in reality, the mission of IT is to provide technology-based support to business processes that can be key to the organisation. This lack of understanding means that these IT projects are not aligned with the business objectives and that investments in resources and personnel are not adequately prioritised. This can lead to an opportunity loss: a mere computerising of the business is sought, and processes that could turn out to be transformative, generating added value, driving a true digital transformation of the business are overlooked. This article proposes a model for implementing and operating a portfolio of strategic IT projects. Based on Good Governance principles, these latter projects move strategic decision-making up to an organisation's senior management, succeeding in gradually implicating these managers into the IT strategy. But above all, the model succeeds in achieving the targeted strategic alignment of IT projects with the organisation's business objectives and interests. The model has already been implemented in fourteen medium and large size public universities. The follow-up through interviews of the nine longest-standing experiences—some are nearly a decade old—revealed that the portfolio implementation strategy had helped to markedly improve the following elements: the institutions’ state of maturity of Good Governance; senior management's involvement in IT projects; and the identification of the most interesting IT projects for the business. To conclude, based on our experience, we can affirm that the strategic IT alignment projects is an effective IT Governance tool and, by extension, an example of Good Governance practice.
Highlights
Strategic alignment is one of the least tangible and most complex governance mechanisms that organisations must embrace [1]
In addition to government and governance processes, another major objective of the strategic project portfolio is to determine how the portfolio’s projects should be selected and prioritised; given the discipline’s strategic character, it should be conducted by the or ganisation’s most senior management levels [13]. This requirement, together with the principle of responsibility established by the Good Governance standard mean that the strategic project portfolio is an ideal opportunity to push senior management into getting more actively involved into an organisation’s necessary decision-making regarding IT projects
COBIT establishes the need for a hierarchical alignment, proposing a governance structure and establishing the levels and relationships among its members
Summary
Strategic alignment is one of the least tangible and most complex governance mechanisms that organisations must embrace [1]. In addition to government and governance processes, another major objective of the strategic project portfolio is to determine how the portfolio’s projects should be selected and prioritised; given the discipline’s strategic character, it should be conducted by the or ganisation’s most senior management levels [13] This requirement, together with the principle of responsibility established by the Good Governance standard mean that the strategic project portfolio is an ideal opportunity to push senior management into getting more actively involved into an organisation’s necessary decision-making regarding IT projects. To finish (section 8), we expose the main con clusions and future developments
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