4.6. Annual review
The annual review delivers the value from system governance. The review delivers measures and proposals to the IT decision makers to help them achieve the IT objectives, such as cost reduction, improved compliance, improved control, improved quality, reduced risk, or what ever other objectives have been placed on system governance.
The proposals delivered out of the annual review are not just general platitudes, such as “improve documentation”, but are:
- Objective
- The proposals reflect the objectives previously set for system governance.
- Specific
- The proposals are for specific changes on specific systems.
- Fact-based
- All proposals are backed-up by facts.
- Prioritised
- Proposals are prioritised by their impact on the IT organisations and their importance for meeting objectives.
- Justified
- The importance of each proposal can be quantified, so that it can be justified financially.
- Balanced
- The proposals look across all IT objectives and all IT systems, not a narrow specialist view or undue focus on fashionable topics.
The proposals are backed up by:
- An overall measure of fit to IT objectives.
- An analysis of the measures to show which topics and which systems need improvement, and to show trends.
- Specific action points on specific systems.
- If required, complete management-level documentation of all the IT systems in scope.
The annual review also includes a review of system governance itself. It is an opportunity to revise the objectives of system governance, to improve processes, and to review its organisation. For example, it provides an opportunity to change the representation in the system governance committee to reflect changes in objectives.
The annual review is first run at the end of the roll out process (either the roll out (waterfall) process or the roll out (iterative) process).
The annual review is then repeated, typically once per year.
The annual review is most effective when it is timed to deliver proposals at the right stage into the organisation's planning process. Many organisations plan annually, and so it makes sense to run this major review annually.
If the organisation has a different planning cycle, time the annual review to meet it. (This might stop the annual review becoming annual.)
If the organisation has no formal planning cycle, it is still worth running the annual review once per year.
Most of the steps of the annual review are run by the system governance manager.
The system governance sponsor is critical to the annual review. They are responsible for presenting the proposals and for gaining feedback on the proposals. They are also responsible for ensuring that the system governance review and subsequent changes properly reflect priorities set down by the IT decision makers.
The proposals are delivered to the IT decision makers.
The system governance committee are involved in the review of system governance itself.
The process shows the system governance manager and sponsor running the system portfolio review and subsequent feedback, with little input from the system governance committee. It may be appropriate for the committee to take a more active role, for example in shaping the recommendations for the system portfolio review and revising the terms of reference.
The annual review is the core of system governance. For system governance to deliver value, the review must:
- Deliver proposals that the IT decision makers consider seriously.
- Gain feedback from the IT decision makers.
- Critically review the system governance objectives and processes.
The annual review needs to be embedded as a significant part of the IT organisation's overall management approach. It is not just a formality. More than any other stage, the annual review requires effective sponsorship.
Complete priority assessments
- Responsible:
- System governance manager
- Involved:
- none
Complete any assessments that need to be completed for the review to be effective. Priority assessments include:
- Significant new systems that have not been assessed.
- Systems that have undergone significant changes and have not been reassessed.
- Significant systems that have not changed but have not been assessed since the previous annual review.
- Systems that have not been assessed against the current set of criteria. This particularly applies if this is the first annual review and the iterative roll out approach has been used.
New systems should have been assessed, and existing systems reassessed, as part of the ongoing system governance work. This is just an exercise to mop up any important assessments or reassessments that might have been missed, to prevent their omission undermining the credibility of the review.
Follow the system review process to complete these assessments.
Prepare system portfolio review
Perform an overall analysis of all the system governance information across the entire system portfolio.
- Calculate an overall score for all systems and all criteria, weighted to reflect the relative size of the systems. Consider how this compares with previous reviews.
- Analyse the scores by system to identify weak and strong systems. Consider how this compares with previous reviews.
- Analyse the scores by criterion group to identify weak and strong areas. Consider how this compares with previous reviews.
- Collate all the issues across all the systems, and provide a breakdown of the impacts. Identify all the outstanding high priority issues. Identify issues which are not high priority but which reoccur across multiple systems.
Draw conclusions from the analysis. Identify what action needs to be taken to improve scores and address important issues.
If covered by the terms of reference, estimate a notional value to these improvements.
Discuss the analysis and actions with the system governance sponsor. Jointly decide what recommendations you will make.
Draft a system portfolio review report, containing the analysis and recommendations. Review the report with the system governance sponsor.
Circulate the final report to the IT decision makers and to the system governance committee.
Present system portfolio review
- Responsible:
- System governance sponsor
- Involved:
IT decision makers
Prepare a summary of the report, and present it to the IT decision makers. Ask for feedback on the recommendations.
Also ask for feedback on the focus of the report. Is too much emphasis given to some subjects, and not to others? What would they like to see on next year's report?
Gain feedback on system portfolio review
- Responsible:
- System governance sponsor
- Involved:
IT decision makers
Using whatever methods are appropriate for your organisation, gain feedback on the report from the IT decision makers. Discuss the recommendations with them, and agree what action will be taken.
If any recommendations are not being adopted, find out why.
Solicit general comments on the system governance process from the IT decision makers.
Solicit opinions on changes to the objectives of system governance, for example to focus more in different areas. Gain a consensus on this from the IT decision makers.
Update terms of reference
- Responsible:
- System governance sponsor
- Involved:
System governance manager System governance committee
Discuss the feedback from the system portfolio review with the system governance manager, and in consultation with them update the terms of reference.
Communicate the feedback from the system portfolio review to the system governance committee. Communicate to them the updated terms of reference, explaining how it has been revised to meet changing objectives.
Prepare system governance review
- Responsible:
- System governance manager
- Involved:
System governance sponsor System governance committee
Consider the updated terms of reference and general experience of system governance. Consider what changes are required to the system governance criteria and processes to achieve the revised objectives and smoother processes. Consult with the system governance sponsor, committee members, or others who have had experience of system governance.
Document your suggestions using the system governance review report as a guide.
Circulate the report to the system governance committee, as preparation for the next step.
Hold system governance review workshop
- Responsible:
- System governance manager
- Involved:
System governance committee
Hold a system governance review workshop to review the material in the system governance review report.
In the workshop, agree what criterion changes are required, and any other changes to system governance processes and organisation.
Revise system governance
- Responsible:
- System governance manager
- Involved:
- none
Revise system governance criteria, and implement other system governance changes, as agreed in the review meeting. Review and sign off changes, using your organisation's usual procedures.