IT Governance Priorities Committee

Project Background

A growing financial services firm was struggling to balance conflicting initiative requests within a fixed budget. Delivery was sub-optimized as the organization attempted to be all things to all people. Business executives did not understand or feel they were a part of the IT project decision-making process.

The Strategy

A committee of 13 senior business people and two IT staffers was formed to hear requests and approve and prioritize IT projects. Processes were created, and committee members were educated in IT methodologies, budget processes, and PMO processes. Critical to the success of this process was teaching IT staff to present technical items to the business executives in verbiage they could understand.

Proven Results

• No project was ever initiated without prior approval and prioritization by the business. Business sponsors were always identified, and they typically justified their own projects to the committee.
• Greater focus was placed on cross-divisional delivery needs, an initiative developed from a more intimate understanding of the challenges facing the IT organization.
• True prioritization occurred, with acknowledgment of items not being resourced.
• Building a track record of successful delivery against these priorities created an environment where further funding for critical initiatives was provided.