4.1. Process overview

The diagram above shows the processes involved in using and improving system governance.

The centre of the diagram shows the annual review and interim review cycle.

The annual review is the main vehicle for delivering value to the organisation. It covers all the IT systems in the organisation, and delivers proposals to help IT meet objectives. These proposals can be to cut cost, to improve quality, to meet targets, to improve compliance, and so forth. The proposals will reflect priorities set during the establishment of system governance.

The annual review also includes a review of the system governance process itself. This allows the priorities and focus of system governance to evolve in step with broader IT objectives.

The interim review provides an opportunity to monitor the progress of system governance between the annual reviews, and to address any important issues that arise.

The main review cycle is augmented by four other processes.

Although they benefit from an established system governance regime, the project review and comparison and evaluation processes can be used before system governance is established.

The diagram above shows the processes involved in implementing system governance. Business case establishes the case for system governance. Initiation gets the organisation ready for the roll out of system governance.

The roll out can take one of two forms.

The choice between waterfall and iterative is based on a number of factors, which are explored during the initiation process. See Plan roll out.

The processes described above are appropriate for organisations who want to formally evaluate, implement and use system governance. The system governance tools and techniques can also be used less formally.

Organisations that wish to investigate system governance before starting a formal project may want to consider running a proof of concept.

If an organisation starts using system governance informally, the other processes will be useful when the time comes to implement system governance as a more formal activity within the organisation. There is no need to throw away criteria and assessments that have been carried out informally, as these can be carried over into more formal processes when required.

The sections below describe each of the processes in more detail, and break each process down into a series of steps.

The processes refer to roles and techniques that are defined in the previous two chapters of this document. The responsibility for each step is given.

In many cases, organisations will wish to extend the processes and roles to meet their own requirements, and to fit in with existing processes and roles. Where this is the case, the processes should provide a good starting point.