Minimal IT - System governance newsletters

Application Portfolio Management (APM) is set to become the next big thing in IT. But different vendors have a very different view of what it is.

We can reduce risks by shifting our management of risk to earlier in the system life cycle

You can extend the life of your IT systems indefinitely, but you do have to DO SOMETHING about it.

If you do not monitor your systems, they will die.

Change is inevitable. Long-lived systems must be insulated from change, but must embrace change when the time is right.

Long-lived systems do not just happen, they are designed that way. Long-lived design involves keeping things simple, and being risk-averse to the point of paranoia.

Long-lived systems need to be based on long-lived technology. This often means picking less fashionable options.

Systems that are clearly separated from each other live longer than systems that are coupled.

Effective owners are vital for long-lived systems. Without effective owners, systems fall off the management agenda and quickly decline into unsupportable legacy.

If you want to increase the life span of your systems, you have to clearly define your systems so that you can manage them effectively.

How long should IT systems last? There is no wrong answer. Whatever answer you give is self-fulfilling.

IT process management initiatives like CMMI and ITIL can be made easier and more effective by including formal reviews of system quality.

Defined, repeatable processes are a major focus of the IT industry. But there are limits to what can be achieved by process management alone.

You can justify any IT investment by measuring where you are now, modelling the benefits of making improvements, and putting an overall value on running your IT well. This seemingly simplistic approach is an effective IT management tool.

To calculate a financial benefit for any IT investment, we have to put a value on meeting our own objectives.

We can model the financial benefit of any IT investment by using a handful of simple calculations.

We can not make the IT investments that we need to make because we can not calculate the return on investment (ROI). Using a basket of management objectives lets us estimate ROI, and can justify the investment we need.

There's no such thing as a future proof IT system. Good design can prolong the life of your systms, but what's really important is that you care and know about the state of your systems.

When you are selecting a new software package, do not rush the preparation of your vendor questionnaire. A well-prepared questionnaire helps you review the impact of each option easily and effectively, and saves you time in the long run.

An effective system review reduces risk and cost in your project, and helps you make the best use of scarce technical staff.

We think of governance as a long-term strategic initiative. But governance of IT systems also delivers short-term tactical benefits.

To govern outsourcing you need to establish service levels, check the supplier's development skills, and negotiate costs. But how can you make sure that the supplier will maintain and improve the systems?

Current IT governance frameworks such as COBIT focus on IT's internal processes. Governance can be made even more effective by including metrics structured around systems.

IT risk management overlooks critical long-term risks. With system governance, you can identify and manage these risks.

Writing a single, definitive list of the IT systems within your organisation is a simple task that can deliver significant long term benefits.

System governance solves problems that affect everyone in IT. But it is hard to position system governance because few people are directly responsible for solving the problems.

To gain the benefits of system governance, you only need simple materials, processes and tools. Anything more complicated would get in the way.

To get closer to the business, IT must recognise and promote its role as stewards of the business' IT systems.

There are surprising similarities between system governance and agile methods. Although they address different problems, they share many core values.

I have an admission to make. I tried to fix a system assessment so that I would look good. But in the end I had to accept and act on the recommendations.

You can use system governance to identify and prioritise improvements to your systems, and justify your improvements. Automating this helps you tackle all of the problems, not just the obvious ones.

There are a lot of problems in IT that we find really hard to fix. You can make a huge improvement just by measuring how well systems fit your standards.

Criteria used for system governance must be defined in detail. This includes their business significance, what questions you would ask, and model answers.

Defining criteria for system governance involves looking widely to get a long list of possible criteria, and then filtering to focus on what is really important to your organisation.

System governance does not need heavyweight methodologies. It needs a lightweight framework of guidance, processes, materials and tools.

System governance is not an expensive new bureaucracy to be imposed on IT. It is a way of cutting costs on work you would do anyway.

Project management and architecture are two of the main tools we use to manage IT. To manage systems better, we need another tool that is simpler and more direct.

We apply governance to IT investments, change projects and service delivery. Extending governance to include the systems themselves can give us the management tool we need to overcome many persistent problems in IT.

Many persistent IT problems relate to the qualities of the systems themselves. Tackling these is not a technical problem, but a management problem of communication, justification, control and accountability.

In IT we are obsessed with projects. Focusing your effort on the systems themselves, not just on projects, can deliver significant tangible benefits.