IT governance and COBIT
Companies spend millions on technology: ERP, servers, security, an online store. IT governance answers: does that spending actually serve the company's goals? Who decides? And how do we know risks are under control?
Nakhla scenarioNakhla has grown: it runs an ERP and BI dashboards and wants an online store. The board asks: “How do we know IT projects are worth it? Who's accountable if we're breached?” This is where governance begins.
| Governance | The board and top management: evaluate, direct and monitor. They set priorities and risk appetite and hold people accountable. |
| Management | IT management: plans, builds, runs and monitors in line with that direction. |
COBIT from ISACA is the best-known framework for governing and managing enterprise IT. COBIT 2019 has 40 objectives across five domains:
| Domain | Meaning | Nakhla example |
|---|---|---|
| EDM | Evaluate, Direct and Monitor (governance) | The board approves the IT strategy and risk appetite |
| APO | Align, Plan and Organise | A 3-year IT plan tied to the expansion plan |
| BAI | Build, Acquire and Implement | The online-store project and its change management |
| DSS | Deliver, Service and Support | Running the ERP daily, the help desk, backups |
| MEA | Monitor, Evaluate and Assess | IT KPIs and internal audit |
Watch outMIS students fit naturally into governance: you speak the board's language (goals, risk, return) and the IT team's (systems, infrastructure), and can translate between them.