IT Portfolio Management Step-by-Step: Unlocking the Business Value of Technology

5.8. STAGE 7: GOVERNANCE AND ORGANIZATION

The term governance often trips people up. Cognitive dissonance often occurs. Good governance is enabling. It identifies responsibilities of individuals, specifies processes to follow, and puts down principles and policies to eliminate ambiguity. Does it involve change in most organizations? Yes! Is change generally painful and met with skepticism? Yes! Thus, governance is an efficiency and effectiveness enabler. Too much too quick is bad. Appropriate governance will still be met with resistance because it involves change.

Like communication, refining governance should occur throughout the process. Governance should evolve as the process evolves. In fact, given the maturity model presented in Chapter 2, IT portfolio management can only get so far in the absence of governance. The underlying processes that feed the portfolio and are impacted by it require governance for the portfolio to evolve and mature.

The key skills needed to perform IT portfolio management are identified. A determination is made as to whether they represent additional tasks for existing roles or merit creation of new positions. This includes determining the rules about what a particular individual can do to the portfolio (or one of its parts) and who needs to be involved in the approval of changes in the portfolio management process. The board of directors provides the charter and oversight to the IT portfolio. More and more organizations are moving to this model as ...