COBIT 5 Enablers:
Enablers are factors that, individually and collectively, influence whether something will work—in this case, governance and management over enterprise IT. Enablers are driven by the goals cascade, i.e., higher-level IT-related goals define what the different enablers should achieve.
The COBIT 5 framework describes seven categories of enablers:
• Principles, policies and frameworks are the vehicle to translate the desired behavior into practical guidance for day-to-day management.
• Processes describe an organised set of practices and activities to achieve certain objectives and produce a set of outputs in support of achieving overall IT-related goals.
• Organisational structures are the key decision-making entities in an enterprise.
• Culture, ethics and behavior of individuals and of the enterprise are very often underestimated as a success factor in governance and management activities.
• Information is pervasive throughout any organisation and includes all information produced and used by the
enterprise. Information is required for keeping the organisation running and well governed, but at the operational level, information is very often the key product of the enterprise itself.
• Services, infrastructure and applications include the infrastructure, technology and applications that provide the enterprise with information technology processing and services.
• People, skills and competencies are linked to people and are required for successful completion of all activities and for making correct decisions and taking corrective actions.
Some of the enablers defined previously are also enterprise resources that need to be managed and governed as well. This applies to:
• Information, which needs to be managed as a resource. Some information, such as management reports and business intelligence information, are important enablers for the governance and management of the enterprise.
• Service, infrastructure and applications
• People, skills and competencies
Systematic Governance and Management Through Interconnected Enablers:
The mindset that should be adopted for enterprise governance, including governance of IT,
which is to achieve the main objectives of the enterprise. Any enterprise must always consider an interconnected set of enablers. That is, each enabler:
• Needs the input of other enablers to be fully effective, e.g., processes need information, organisational structures need skills and behavior.
• Delivers output to the benefit of other enablers, e.g., processes deliver information, skills and behavior make processes efficient.
So when dealing with governance and management of enterprise IT, good decisions can be taken only when this systemic nature of governance and management arrangements is taken into account. This means that to deal with any stakeholder need, all interrelated enablers have to be analysed for relevance and addressed if required. This mindset has to be driven by the top of the enterprise.
COBIT 5 Dimensions:
All enablers have a set of common dimensions. This set of common dimensions:
• Provides a common, simple and structured way to deal with enablers
• Allows an entity to manage its complex interactions
• Facilitates successful outcomes of the enablers
The four common dimensions for enablers are:
• Stakeholders—Each enabler has stakeholders (parties who play an active role and/or have an interest in the enabler). For example, processes have different parties who execute process activities and/or who have an interest in the process outcomes; organisational structures have stakeholders, each with his/her own roles and interests, that are part of the structures. Stakeholders can be internal or external to the enterprise, all having their own, sometimes conflicting, interests and needs. Stakeholders’ needs translate to enterprise goals, which in turn translate to IT-related goals for the enterprise.
• Goals—Each enabler has a number of goals, and enablers provide value by the achievement of these goals. Goals can be defined in terms of:
– Expected outcomes of the enabler
– Application or operation of the enabler itself
The enabler goals are the final step in the COBIT 5 goals cascade. Goals can be further split up in different categories:
– Intrinsic quality—The extent to which enablers work accurately, objectively and provide accurate, objective and reputable results
– Contextual quality—The extent to which enablers and their outcomes are fit for purpose given the context in which they operate. For example, outcomes should be relevant, complete, current, appropriate, consistent, understandable and easy to use.
– Access and security—The extent to which enablers and their outcomes are accessible and secured, such as:
• Enablers are available when, and if, needed.
• Outcomes are secured, i.e., access is restricted to those entitled and needing it.
• Life cycle—Each enabler has a life cycle, from inception through an operational/useful life until disposal. This applies to information, structures, processes, policies, etc. The phases of the life cycle consist of:
– Plan (includes concepts development and concepts selection)
– Design
– Build/acquire/create/implement
– Use/operate
– Evaluate/monitor
– Update/dispose
• Good practices—For each of the enablers, good practices can be defined. Good practices support the achievement of the enabler goals. Good practices provide examples or suggestions on how best to implement the enabler, and what work products or inputs and outputs are required. COBIT 5 provides examples of good practices for some enablers provided by COBIT 5 (e.g., processes). For other enablers, guidance from other standards, frameworks, etc., can be used.
Enabler Performance Management:
Enterprises expect positive outcomes from the application and use of enablers. To manage performance of the enablers, the following questions will have to be monitored and thereby subsequently answered—based on metrics—on a regular basis:
• Are stakeholder needs addressed?
• Are enabler goals achieved?
• Is the enabler life cycle managed?
• Are good practices applied?
The first two bullets deal with the actual outcome of the enabler. The metrics used to measure to what extent the goals are achieved can be called ‘lag indicators’. The last two bullets deal with the actual functioning of the enabler itself, and metrics for this can be called ‘lead indicators’.
Enablers are factors that, individually and collectively, influence whether something will work—in this case, governance and management over enterprise IT. Enablers are driven by the goals cascade, i.e., higher-level IT-related goals define what the different enablers should achieve.
The COBIT 5 framework describes seven categories of enablers:
• Principles, policies and frameworks are the vehicle to translate the desired behavior into practical guidance for day-to-day management.
• Processes describe an organised set of practices and activities to achieve certain objectives and produce a set of outputs in support of achieving overall IT-related goals.
• Organisational structures are the key decision-making entities in an enterprise.
• Culture, ethics and behavior of individuals and of the enterprise are very often underestimated as a success factor in governance and management activities.
• Information is pervasive throughout any organisation and includes all information produced and used by the
enterprise. Information is required for keeping the organisation running and well governed, but at the operational level, information is very often the key product of the enterprise itself.
• Services, infrastructure and applications include the infrastructure, technology and applications that provide the enterprise with information technology processing and services.
• People, skills and competencies are linked to people and are required for successful completion of all activities and for making correct decisions and taking corrective actions.
Some of the enablers defined previously are also enterprise resources that need to be managed and governed as well. This applies to:
• Information, which needs to be managed as a resource. Some information, such as management reports and business intelligence information, are important enablers for the governance and management of the enterprise.
• Service, infrastructure and applications
• People, skills and competencies
Systematic Governance and Management Through Interconnected Enablers:
The mindset that should be adopted for enterprise governance, including governance of IT,
which is to achieve the main objectives of the enterprise. Any enterprise must always consider an interconnected set of enablers. That is, each enabler:
• Needs the input of other enablers to be fully effective, e.g., processes need information, organisational structures need skills and behavior.
• Delivers output to the benefit of other enablers, e.g., processes deliver information, skills and behavior make processes efficient.
So when dealing with governance and management of enterprise IT, good decisions can be taken only when this systemic nature of governance and management arrangements is taken into account. This means that to deal with any stakeholder need, all interrelated enablers have to be analysed for relevance and addressed if required. This mindset has to be driven by the top of the enterprise.
COBIT 5 Dimensions:
All enablers have a set of common dimensions. This set of common dimensions:
• Provides a common, simple and structured way to deal with enablers
• Allows an entity to manage its complex interactions
• Facilitates successful outcomes of the enablers
The four common dimensions for enablers are:
• Stakeholders—Each enabler has stakeholders (parties who play an active role and/or have an interest in the enabler). For example, processes have different parties who execute process activities and/or who have an interest in the process outcomes; organisational structures have stakeholders, each with his/her own roles and interests, that are part of the structures. Stakeholders can be internal or external to the enterprise, all having their own, sometimes conflicting, interests and needs. Stakeholders’ needs translate to enterprise goals, which in turn translate to IT-related goals for the enterprise.
• Goals—Each enabler has a number of goals, and enablers provide value by the achievement of these goals. Goals can be defined in terms of:
– Expected outcomes of the enabler
– Application or operation of the enabler itself
The enabler goals are the final step in the COBIT 5 goals cascade. Goals can be further split up in different categories:
– Intrinsic quality—The extent to which enablers work accurately, objectively and provide accurate, objective and reputable results
– Contextual quality—The extent to which enablers and their outcomes are fit for purpose given the context in which they operate. For example, outcomes should be relevant, complete, current, appropriate, consistent, understandable and easy to use.
– Access and security—The extent to which enablers and their outcomes are accessible and secured, such as:
• Enablers are available when, and if, needed.
• Outcomes are secured, i.e., access is restricted to those entitled and needing it.
• Life cycle—Each enabler has a life cycle, from inception through an operational/useful life until disposal. This applies to information, structures, processes, policies, etc. The phases of the life cycle consist of:
– Plan (includes concepts development and concepts selection)
– Design
– Build/acquire/create/implement
– Use/operate
– Evaluate/monitor
– Update/dispose
• Good practices—For each of the enablers, good practices can be defined. Good practices support the achievement of the enabler goals. Good practices provide examples or suggestions on how best to implement the enabler, and what work products or inputs and outputs are required. COBIT 5 provides examples of good practices for some enablers provided by COBIT 5 (e.g., processes). For other enablers, guidance from other standards, frameworks, etc., can be used.
Enabler Performance Management:
Enterprises expect positive outcomes from the application and use of enablers. To manage performance of the enablers, the following questions will have to be monitored and thereby subsequently answered—based on metrics—on a regular basis:
• Are stakeholder needs addressed?
• Are enabler goals achieved?
• Is the enabler life cycle managed?
• Are good practices applied?
The first two bullets deal with the actual outcome of the enabler. The metrics used to measure to what extent the goals are achieved can be called ‘lag indicators’. The last two bullets deal with the actual functioning of the enabler itself, and metrics for this can be called ‘lead indicators’.
No comments:
Post a Comment