CEOs and CIOs Name Top IT Problems In New Study From the IT Governance Institute
Rolling Meadows, IL, USA (8 March 2006)-The top two IT-related problems are operational incidents and staffing issues, according to a global survey commissioned by the IT Governance Institute (ITGI). Security and compliance were reported to be the least important problems-likely due to the significant efforts that have been put into information security projects and compliance programs, such as those for Sarbanes-Oxley in the US.
The survey consisted of 695 interviews with CEO/CIO-level executives in 22 countries, and the full results can be found in the IT Governance Global Status Report 2006, available as a complimentary download at www.itgi.org. The study assessed the C-suite’s IT governance priorities and actions executives have taken related to IT governance. It is a follow-up to ITGI’s 2003 report and tracks IT governance trends over the past two years.
The study found several improvements since 2003. For instance, IT is included more often on boards’ agendas-63 percent regularly or always include it, compared to 58 percent in 2003.
Even though 57 percent of respondents said IT is very important to the delivery of the corporate strategy, compared to 52 percent in 2003, the study found that CEOs are responsible for governance over IT in only 24 percent of the responding organizations.
“As in 2003, CEOs and business executives are still hesitant to discuss IT governance,” said Everett Johnson, CPA, international president of ITGI. “This finding is troubling because boards and CEOs are ultimately responsible for oversight over all major assets-including IT.”
Other findings include:
* The IT department at more than half (56 percent) of the organizations surveyed understands and supports the business users’ needs.
* IT outsourcing is no longer seen as the most beneficial way to resolve IT problems-45 percent of US respondents believe it is ineffective.
* The number of companies that indicated they had no IT problems increased from 7 percent in 2003 to 21 percent in 2005.
* IT governance is not as easily implemented as respondents originally estimated.
* Only 9 percent of the responding organizations are not considering implementing any IT governance solutions-down from 17 percent in the 2003 survey.
ITGI plans to repeat the survey periodically to track trends and uncover new findings on IT governance. Complimentary PDF downloads of the 2003 and 2006 reports are available at www.itgi.org, and print copies can be purchased from the ISACA Bookstore (www.isaca.org/bookstore).
About ITGI
The IT Governance Institute(r) (ITGI) (www.itgi.org) was established in 1998 to advance international thinking and standards in directing and controlling an enterprise’s information technology. ITGI developed Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) and offers original research and case studies to assist enterprise leaders and boards of directors in their IT governance responsibilities.