All right, welcome back. So, if you are in the leadership position in IT, and are responsible for IT governance, what questions should you be asking? So, I would say that you should be asking six questions. The first question is how will IT change the basis of competition in our industry? That is, who are our emerging competitors? How is IT helping us win against traditional and new competitors? How can we use IT to enter new markets? So, the point here is, if you are in the leadership position in your company and are responsible for IT governance, you should have a good understanding of what is the role of IT in your industry, and what are you doing to take advantage of new opportunities? The second question you should be asking is, do our business plans reflect the full potential of IT to improve performance? That is, does IT support operational efficiency as well as strategic agility? That is, you should be asking the question, is IT doing everything to improve the operational efficiency of the organization, as well as providing opportunities to differentiate and innovate. The third question you should be asking is, do we have the capabilities required to deliver value from IT? That is, you should be asking, do we have the human capital to leverage the opportunities that IT provides. The next question you should be asking is, is our IT investment portfolio aligned with opportunities and threats? That is, does the portfolio balance short-term as well as long-term needs? That is, is the IT investment portfolio meeting today's needs, as well as preparing the company for whatever may come in the future? The next question you should be asking is, who is responsible for realizing value from IT? That is, who is accountable for IT? There should be individual or individuals in the IT organization who should make sure that the company is making the right investments, and then deriving the value from those investments. Finally, you should be asking the question, are we comfortable with our level of IT risk? So, we know that our IT investment portfolio has many risks associated with it. So, we should be asking the question, do we understand all the risks, and have we taken measures to protect ourselves against those risks. So, we can think of IT governance as an umbrella, and there are two key dimensions or parts to this umbrella. The first is the strategic focus of the umbrella, and then there is the tactical part that I will come to. The strategic focus in IT governance is alignment of organizational and IT strategies. That is, does the organization have processes, methods, standards in place to make sure that the business plans align with IT plans and the IT plans align with the business plans? The second element of the strategic focus of IT governance is realization of IT opportunities. That is, are we making sure that we are taking advantage of all the opportunities that IT provides? So, this is the strategic focus of IT governance. IT governance also has a tactical element. The tactical element can be divided into four elements. The first is the realization of IT project and operations value. So, IT investment is made in terms of individual projects. Are we making sure that these individual projects are meeting their goals? So, that is, are the projects on time? Are the projects realizing the value that they were expected to provide? The second tactical element is effective management and responsible use of IT resources. So, are we using our IT resources responsibly? For example, if we are using different software in the organization, are we making sure that all the software licenses are up to date? The third tactical element of IT governance is management of IT related business risks. So, there are significant risks associated with the IT investment portfolio as the target example illustrated. So, are we making sure that we have evaluated our risks, and have safeguards in place? Finally, are we complying with all the IT related laws and regulations? So, to summarize, IT governance has a strategic element, and a tactical element. We make sure that we have an IT governance in place that takes or leverages both dimensions of IT governance, the strategic element as well as the tactical element. Thank you.
