CEOs and CIOs Reveal IT Governance Practices in New Study From the IT Governance Institute

CEOs and CIOs Reveal IT Governance Practices in New Study From the IT Governance Institute

New Delhi, India – 31 March 2006 — In a new study from the IT Governance Institute (ITGI), more than 84 percent of respondents in India deemed IT very important for overall strategy delivery—compared to the global average of 57 percent. The study assessed the C-suite’s IT governance priorities and actions executives have taken related to IT governance. It consisted of 695 interviews with CEO/CIO-level executives in 22 countries, with 38 percent of respondents from the Asia-Pacific region.

India reported better results than the rest of the world in other categories as well. More than 90 percent of respondents from India said that communication between IT and the board about IT matters is a very formalized, regular process, compared with the worldwide average of 54 percent. Additionally, only 11 percent of respondents in India reported a disconnect between IT and the business strategy, compared to a global average of 29 percent.

Other countries in the Asia-Pacific region reported very different results. For example, only 26 percent of respondents from Japan reported that IT is discussed regularly (or more often) by the board, compared to 63 percent of respondents worldwide.

Globally, the study found several improvements since 2003. For instance, IT is on boards’ agendas more frequently, and more respondents believe that IT is very important to the delivery of the corporate strategy (both statistics saw a 5 percent increase).

However, the study also found that CEOs are responsible for governance over IT in only 24 percent of the responding organizations.

“As in 2003, CEOs and business executives are still hesitant to discuss IT governance,” said Everett Johnson, CPA, international president of ITGI. “This finding is troubling because boards and CEOs are ultimately responsible for oversight over all major assets—including IT.”

Other findings include:

· The IT department at more than half (56 percent) of the organizations surveyed understands and supports the business users’ needs.

· IT outsourcing is no longer seen as the most beneficial way to resolve IT problems—45 percent of US respondents believe it is ineffective.

· The number of companies that indicated they had no IT problems increased from 7 percent in 2003 to 21 percent in 2005.

· IT governance is not as easily implemented as respondents originally estimated.

· Only 9 percent of the responding organizations are not considering implementing any IT governance solutions—down from 17 percent in the 2003 survey.

ITGI plans to repeat the survey periodically to track trends and uncover new findings on IT governance. Complimentary PDF downloads of the 2003 and 2006 reports are available at www.itgi.org, and print copies can be purchased from the ISACA Bookstore (www.isaca.org/bookstore).

The study, available as a complimentary download at www.itgi.org, is a follow-up to ITGI’s 2003 report and tracks IT governance trends over the past two years.

About ITGI

The IT Governance Institute® (ITGI) (www.itgi.org) was established in 1998 to advance international thinking and standards in directing and controlling an enterprise’s information technology. Effective IT governance helps ensure that IT supports business goals, optimizes business investment in IT, and appropriately manages IT-related risks and opportunities. The IT Governance Institute developed Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) and offers original research and case studies to assist enterprise leaders and boards of directors in their IT governance responsibilities.