IT Governance functions and areas of application in an enterprise

Abstract

IT Governance makes the IT solutions align with the business. It is currently one of the key objectives of the board. Taking the lead over IT by the board and chief executive officer prevents security breaches, project failure, the company’s reputation damage. Fraud scandals at the beginning of 21st century did raise the bar for audit standards worldwide. The management is required to report on the quality of the internal control over financial reporting. The transparency of running the business increases the interest of potential investors. The information becomes the most important asset of the company and very often determines the market position and that is why the security of the organization’s information is extremely important. Modern IT solutions not only make the operational side of the business easier but also help to make the strategic decisions faster based on the accurate data from the IT system. The most typical benefits of it are greater competitiveness and better shareholder returns. The article attempts to present the idea of IT Governance. The main aim is to highlight the importance of the IT solutions and their impact on the business. The paper is composed of four parts. The first part presents the background of the IT Governance. It explores latest fraud scandals as results of failures in the corporate governance and IT systems. The second presents definitions of IT Governance and attempts to explain the idea of it. There are also presented the most typical and most obvious benefits of IT Governance implementation and its positive impact on the whole organization. The third part focuses on the description of the main areas of the organization where the IT Governance is present and the last part shows the main functions, some benefits and impacts on the business performance.