According to Gartner, Chief Audit Executives have identified IT governance as one of the tops risks for organizations in2021. This is understandable considering the changes COVID-19 brought on in the previous year.
Organisations are now working hard to accelerate their digital roadmaps and adopt new technologies to support the changing business environments and expectations of their customers.
In addition to managing day to day operations, it is important that the relevant risks and resources are optimized, and maximum benefits are delivered to Customers. This means there is a need to govern and manage Technology in the most efficient way.

What is IT Governance?

a href=” https://businessbeam.com/blog/it-service-management/difference-between-it-governance-and-it-service-management”>IT governance is an important aspect of corporate governance. It uses, manages, and optimises IT to ensure organisations achieve goals and objectives. It further provides a structure for aligning IT with business strategy. That way, enterprises can achieve measurable results.
With effective IT governance, enterprises can address major pain points including:

• Lack of alignment of performance goals and objectives
• Lack of performance management KPIs and metrics, and/or lack of formal reviews against them
• Irregular assessment of risks
• Irregular review of IT strategies, policies, and procedures
• Lack of documented policies and procedures
• Not effectively following documented policies and procedures
• High number of non-compliances during internal or external audits
• Delays while responding or closing non-compliances
• Focus on tools while neglecting the processes and people dimensions
• Lack of defined roles and responsibilities
• Resistance to change across the organisation
• Lack of awareness on the benefits delivered through standards and frameworks

Why Outsource Tech Governance

It may seem easier to have an expert or a team working for you full-time. However, organisations benefit more from outsourcing IT governance.
Below are some of the advantages businesses can expect:

Staffing Flexibility

In the current volatile global economy, companies should be able to expand or downsize quickly. However, this may go against many labour laws and companies may face the risk of being sued.
Outsourcing allows organizations to adapt quickly to their current needs. Whether they need one or a team of tech governance professionals, they can easily do this without the above risks.

Added Efficiency

Organisations will benefit from skipping several steps towards building a Tech governance team. This will help save weeks or even months they would otherwise invest in recruitment drives, onboarding, and training.
Moreover, with IT governance handled by an external team, your internal workforce can focus on core business processes. That way, they can finish their projects faster and increase workflow to achieve the organization’s goals.

Pool of Skilled Professionals

One of the significant advantages of outsourcing Tech governance is access to multi-skilled professionals. Finding an employee with a specific set of skills can be difficult; and more so with experience backing it.
However, by contracting a service provider, you get to select from a team of experts and choose the right people for the task(s) at hand. As they are well versed and up to date with the latest in their field, they can offer innovative approaches to help achieve your business’ goals.

More Cost Savings

Outsourcing tech governance functions will help organisations save in different ways. For instance, businesses do not need to pay for regulatory costs such as healthcare benefits. Further, by outsourcing overseas, you can receive the same high-quality expertise at lower cost.
Outsourcing also saves hiring, outboarding, and training costs. All three are the responsibility of the service provider, so you do not have to worry about them.

Thinking About Outsourcing Tech Governance?

Business Beam has recently introduced Tech Governance Outsourcing. Through this service, qualified and experienced subject matter experts will help you set direction, make informed decisions, and plan for the future.
Backing their skills are years of IT governance consulting experience which spans different industry verticals across the US, UAE, KSA, Oman, and Pakistan. In over a decade, we have established ourselves as leading consultants who remain conscious of requirements and aim to deliver beyond expectations.
For more details on the service, please contact us with your requirements and we will guide you accordingly.

In the current age where online businesses and resources are booming, digital transformation is the go-to strategy for success. Even value creation for stakeholders is now driven by a high degree of digitization in business models, efficient processes, and successful innovation.

As information and technology have become the backbone of products and services, the need for having a strong framework to govern and manage both these components has also become imperative.

Regulators, Business, and IT Management now fully realize that the best value cannot be delivered unless an enterprise is effectively governed and managed.

As a result, they emphasize formal IT governance and management frameworks based on globally recognized best practices like COBIT, ITIL, ISO 27001, etc. These frameworks address both governance and service management aspects of an enterprise.

However, there is a problem.

The terms IT Governance and IT Service Management tend to be used interchangeably. This results in a confusion regarding the scope and roles of both.

While both are used together, they cover two completely distinct verticals. Therefore, it is imperative to understand what each term means and differences.

What is IT Governance?

One of the most agreed-upon definitions of IT governance is “the processes that ensure effective and efficient use of Information and Technology (I&T) in enabling an organization to achieve its goals.”

As an integral part of enterprise governance, IT governance consists of organizational structures, leadership aspects, and processes that ensure the extension and maintenance of organizations’ strategy and objectives.

The main benefit of having governance is value creation. Value is created when:

1. Anticipated benefits of services, programs, projects are realized;
2. Different risks of types pertaining to the business are optimized; and
3. The use of available resources is optimized.

This is the role of governance. It evaluates, directs, and monitors plans, benefits, risks, and resources to ensure value delivery to its stakeholders.

IT governance further ensures the alignment of IT with organizational goals and strategy, improved compliance, reduced IT risk, optimized IT operations, and increased performance visibility.

What is IT Service Management?

IT service management (ITSM) encompasses all the activities involved in planning, designing, transitioning, delivering, and continually improving IT services.

Often limited to the term ‘IT Support’ or ‘Service Desk’, ITSM goes beyond day-to-day incident management and service request fulfillment.

Implementing an IT Service Management System can formalize all practices by establishing roles and responsibilities, policies, and procedures.

This results in more structured planning, designing, and delivering. Moreover, it saves costs by adding predictability and delivers actionable insights to improve decision making.

Roles of IT Governance and IT Service Management

To help you better understand these roles, here’s a look at an organization’s hierarchy.