Enterprise Information Technology Requires Customized Governance

Reduce costs, increase transparency and improve service quality -- these goals are on the minds of CIOs across the country. Consolidation, centralization and integration are recognized strategies for achieving these goals, but as CIOs are learning, these strategies require coordinated action across organizations' boundaries. Making IT decisions in this way, through coordinated action, often requires new IT governance capability.

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers characterizes state IT governance as "all about ensuring that state government is effectively using information technology in all lines of business and leveraging capabilities across state government appropriately, to not only avoid unnecessary or redundant investments, but to enhance appropriate cross-boundary interoperability. The term 'appropriate' is used because, in many cases, state government has existing statutory constraints and bounding that can often limit, as well as empower, proper governance."

In general, a governance structure answers the following questions: What decisions must be made? Who should make these decisions? How will decisions be made? How do you monitor results to ensure that you are achieving your goals?

While these questions seem relatively straightforward, determining what's appropriate -- in terms of ensuring effective use of technology across the board, within a given context of state government -- has proven to be a formidable challenge for most states. Advice is abundant, but like in the world of fashion design, finding the right fit takes time and often requires a custom approach.

As priorities shift toward goals that require new capability for coordination, New York state, like others, has begun looking for a better fit for state IT governance. These efforts have started to produce insights about the right approach for New York State legislator RoAnn M. Destito , who chairs New York's Standing Committee on Governmental Operations, characterizes the learning in terms of leadership roles and stakeholders: "In New York, we have learned how critical both executive and legislative leadership are to this process," she said. "In partnership with these leaders, and by maintaining an ongoing dialogue with all stakeholders, we expect to create a long-term and ongoing commitment which has tremendous potential to transform how the state does business."