New Val IT® Framework complements COBIT®

I have been working over the last year with the folks from the IT Governance Institute (ITGI) in developing a new enterprise value framework for governance of IT-enabled business investments - Val IT. Val IT extends and complements Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT), which provides a comprehensive framework for the management and the delivery of high-quality information technology-based services. Specifically, relative to the Four "Ares" as described in The Information Paradox, Val IT focuses on the investment decision (are we doing the right things?) and the realization of benefits (are we getting the benefits?), while COBIT focuses on the execution (are we doing them the right way, and are we getting them done well?).

The first three deliverables from this effort, the Val IT Framework, a technique guide to The Business Case, and a case study, The ING Case Study are now available for free download from the ITGI website through the link above. I encourage you to look at these deliverables which represent an important step forward in helping organizations truly realize the full potential of IT-enabled change.

How to Talk Business

The sub-title of the above article by Steve Ulfelder in Computerworld is "Every IT project is a business project". This reinforces the point that I consistently make that IT in and of itself delivers no value - it is how the business manages and uses IT that drives value. The realization of business value from IT is not an IT issue - it is a business issue!