Strong Information Technology Asset governance is required in every organization in order to form a sound financial ground for IT asset and other interdepartmental complexities that rely on technology to run their processes. A formal IT Asset Governance program is essential for the creation of effective processes for the management of all IT assets. This cushions business entities against the financial risks due from insufficient acquisition and audits of the assets. Sound IT governance ensures a framework which helps to establish a sustainable program that improves the organization's outcomes. With good IT governance, there is a resultant optimization of support systems for strategic decision making and increased IT awareness within the internal business environment. A clear IT strategy is essential for the establishment of a competitive advantage, the elimination of waste and the improvement of organizational efficiency. This paper describes the objectives of the governance of Information Technology, risk assessment process of the IT functions, and the general essentials of an ideal IT system.
The main objectives of IT governance in an organization include but are not limited to; ensuring the organization stays on track in as far as the achievement of set goals and objectives is concerned, ensuring that organizational processes provide results that are measurable and implementing effective ways to measure the performance of the IT system. Further, good governance entails the alignment of available IT systems with the business strategies whilst ensuring the consideration of all stakeholders’ interests. IT governance refers to the processes, structures, and managerial culture that ensure that the organization’s IT systems reach the objectives mentioned above through effecting sound decision making within the organization. Good IT Governance makes decisions in a sequential and structured manner so as to enable the use of and investment in IT so as to achieve the organizational objectives. The objectives of IT governance are to mitigate risks brought by the IT system and to ensure that investments in IT generate value for the business. Business research finds that the most successful enterprises are a result of their proper IT governance which enhances good organizational cultures and supports the organizational strategies. IT governance is purposed to ensure efficient and effective leadership and to deliver the organizational services as aligned to the organization’s strategies (Moeller, 2013).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
A risk is the likelihood of a certain source of threat to exercise an undesirable vulnerability within an organization. Risk assessment for IT function is used by organizations to estimate the extent of risk and threat that concern the IT system. The results of the risk assessment process help in identifying effective control processes that reduce and eliminate risks as part of the risk mitigation process. In the determination of the likelihood of a future risk, the IT governance must analyze the system’s potential threats in line with the possible vulnerabilities with respect to the processes of control that are in place within the system. The magnitude level of an impact of threat is examined by the impact of the potential mission hence producing relative values of the IT resources affected. There are various steps involved in the risk assessment methodology of IT functions. These steps include; identification of a threat, identification of vulnerability, control analysis, determination of likelihood of the threat, impact analysis, determination of risk, recommendations for control and documentation of results (Kouns & Minoli, 2011). When these steps are followed accordingly, the IT governance is capable of identifying the risks and dealing with them on time.
Control activities are essential in the IT governance to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the system. Testing control activities in network security of the IT system vary depending on the knowledge of the governance team about the network. Black box testing helps in identifying an outsider attack since the outsiders don’t usually know about the system or network that they probe. White box testing is used when the tester of network security has adequate information on the system, infrastructure, and the network. This knowledge enables the tester to perform a structured approach and verify the accuracy of the information provided. White box testing helps in probing for the vulnerability of the IT system. An organization’s IT system must identify its network security threat and eliminate the risks of security breach before they happen.
Authentication is the verification of users’ identity in the IT system. An organizational IT system must be authentic to work accurately. Authentication that is password based is unsuitable for computer networks use. An organization should have control to the access of the IT system so as to limit operations that the users of the computers perform. The access control restricts the actions of the legitimate users and the execution of programs that are allowed to be performed by the user. Access control hence prevents the activities that can result in a security breach of the IT system.
Control of physical access is designed to minimize the likelihood of actual damage to the IT system. An example of the physical control activity is locking the door to keep out thieves and unauthorized persons from accessing the system. The IT governance can also introduce fingerprint recognition and iris scanning systems to keep away potential intruders. Inbuilt motion detectors and heat sensors that trigger the alarm once unusually suspicious activity is detected and the installation of an effective CCTV system that provide visual evidence of the operations taking place in the IT system room are necessary for providing physical security. An organizational structure should ensure effective control environment that influences the way the employees conduct their control activities. A strong control culture results to effective Information Technology system. Business continuity is ensured by conducting an IT analysis concerning the organizational operations and development of customer communication plans using the IT system (Hass 2014).
IT asset governance is essential in an organization for the creation of effective management of the IT assets. Control activities should be put in place to ensure good operation without physical and network security breach and to ensure continuity in the business. The success of an organization relies on the effectiveness of its IT system.
References
Hass, A. M. J. (2014). Guide to advanced software testing . Retrieved from www.oalib.com/references/7310302
Kouns, J., & Minoli, D. (2011). Information Technology Risk Management in Enterprise Environments: A Review of Industry Practices and a Practical Guide to Risk Management Teams . Somerset: Wiley.
Moeller, R. R. (2013). Executive's guide to IT governance: Improving systems processes with service management, COBIT, and ITIL . New York: Willey.
