4.3. Initiation

Objective

The initiation process plans the roll out of system governance, and prepares the people involved for the work.

When used

The initiation is used once the organisation has decided to adopt system governance.

Roles

The initiation activity is started by the system governance sponsor, who is appointed at the end of the business case.

The sponsor recruits or appoints the system governance manager, who runs most of the remaining steps in the initiation. Toward the end of the process, the sponsor recruits the members of the system governance committee, who are briefed at the end of initiation, ready for roll out.

Notes

During the process, the organisation needs to decide whether to run the roll out as a single pre-planned exercise (the waterfall approach), or as a series of iterations through which the systems and criteria are defined (the iterative approach).

Do not agonise about this decision. The two approaches are provided because the situation and culture of organisations tend to drive them to one or the other approach. The end result of the two approaches is the same. If there is no clear reason to pick one way or the other, pick whichever you are more comfortable with.

Either way, the roll out of system governance is not a major project. The waterfall approach will be of similar size and impact to a minor systems development; the iterative roll out can be managed as some new objectives to existing teams. The review at the end of the roll out, and subsequent annual reviews, provide an opportunity to refocus the work.

Steps

Define terms of reference

Responsible:

System governance sponsor

Involved:

IT decision makers

Write a terms of reference for system governance.

The terms of reference is a significant document that sets out the objectives and responsibilities of system governance, and the interactions between system governance and other management processes.

Agree the terms of reference with the IT decision makers.
Recruit manager

Responsible:

System governance sponsor

Involved:

System governance manager

Recruit or appoint a system governance manager, and if necessary work with them to recruit or appoint a suitable team.
Train manager

Responsible:

System governance manager

Involved:

none

Train the manager and their team in both the basics of system governance, and in the techniques to align system governance with overall objectives.

See Section D.2, System governance with Metrici Advisor and Section D.3, System governance alignment.
Perform illustrative assessments

Responsible:

System governance manager

Involved:

none

Pick a small number of systems (three is ideal) and carry out an assessment on each. Validate the assessments, and perform a simple analysis to get a score for each and to identify issues.

Ideally the three systems should be typical in terms of size and complexity, and in quality of existing knowledge and documentation.

This has three purposes: to reinforce the training from the previous step; to provide some experience to feed into the planning workshop; and to provide some examples as a discussion point with the system governance committee.

If assessments have been carried out as part of a proof of concept, those assessments can be used as the illustrative assessments. It will be worth validating the assessments, and repeating the analyses.

See:

Section 3.2, Assessment

Section 3.3, Validation

Section 3.4, Analysis
Collate initial system list

Responsible:

System governance manager

Involved:

none

Using existing materials, draw up an initial list of systems, as a basis for planning.

The best source for this is the breakdown of systems used by support groups. Also consider architectural models.

Discuss the list across the IT organisation, until there is some reasonable consensus that the list is a good enough basis for planning.

In the discussions, emphasise that the list is only a management breakdown of the IT, and that it is not yet definitive.
Plan roll out

Responsible:

System governance manager

Involved:

System governance sponsor

In consultation with the system governance sponsor, consider whether the objectives, as set out in the terms of reference, require a waterfall roll out or iterative roll out.
1. If the priorities in the terms of reference require a complete assessment in a relatively short period of time, choose the waterfall roll out. For example, if the organisation has an urgent need to measure the level of compliance, or to establish a baseline prior to a change programme or outsourcing contract, a waterfall roll out is most appropriate.
2. If the organisation intends to include system governance within the work of an existing group, such as an architecture, standards or project office team, but does not want to recruit additional staff, choose the iterative roll out. This makes it easier to fit the roll out around existing commitments.
3. If the organisation needs to run the roll out as a well defined project, choose the waterfall roll out. For example, the organisation might choose to delegate the roll out work to a service provider at a fixed price, and to do so may need to establish scope early in the work.
4. If the organisation has a strong collaborative culture, in which ideas are expected to evolve through time, choose the iterative roll out.
5. If the organisation has a strong project management culture, in which action is defined before it is carried out, choose the waterfall roll out.
6. If the organisation has no clear preference, choose the iterative roll out because it is marginally less work and lower risk.
Plan the roll out of system governance accordingly. For the waterfall approach, this will be a reasonably detailed plan. For the iterative approach, this will show the number and timing of iterations. Use your experience of the illustrative assessments, and the initial system list, to provide some estimates for the plan. Agree timescales and target coverage.
Recruit committee

Responsible:

System governance sponsor

Involved:

System governance committee

Co-opt appropriate people to the system governance committee, with a representation that reflects the objectives of system governance as set out in the terms of reference.

Ensure that committee members are willing and able to contribute, at least until the first annual review.
Train committee

Responsible:

System governance manager

Involved:

System governance committee

Train the system governance committee in system governance. See Section D.1, System governance overview and Section D.3, System governance alignment. The committee need to understand the general idea of system governance, and how to align it with objectives, but do not need practical training in system governance techniques and tools.
Brief committee

Responsible:

System governance manager

Involved:

System governance committee

Brief the committee on the terms of reference and on the plan. See Section C.1, Committee briefing.

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