Problem/Issue Statement
When Accenture
was created/rebranded in 2001, it faced a critical decision on whether to
continue using the legacy system from Arthur Anderson or take advantage of
opportunity and created a completely new IT infrastructure. Accenture decided
to accept the challenge and overhaul its information technology systems.
Accenture adopted a one-platform approach, streamlined applications, sought out
new vendors/supplies while greatly reducing the IT expenditures across the
world. Accenture is very proud of this accomplishment since very few
organizations of that size have successfully completed such a massive
undertaking.
As a consulting
company, Accenture wanted to implement its own advice by simplifying processes
and technology whenever possible while also maintaining state-of-the-art
industry leading IT infrastructure.
However,
Accenture is currently considering upgrading the IT governance system to
Control
Objectives for Information and Related Technologies (COBIT) to enhance
its
business standards and reporting. COBIT 5 is being considered due to
the
countless regulations and compliance standards Accenture must comply
with
around the world. If adopted the system will help aid in measuring IT
programs success, align with business goals and seek to ensure best
practices is used.
The symptoms of
using the current IT governance system includes a lack sophistication to
measure the successfulness of IT projects including tools, computer programs, may
not align strategically with business goals and does not address the multitude
of regulations and compliance standard that must be adhered to.
If Accenture
decides to implement COBIT 5, symptoms of this problem include training staff
for accreditation on the system, creating a team to oversee that COBIT 5 is
being used properly, costs involved with training or COBIT support and aversion
to learning a new IT governance system.
Implementing
COBIT will affect Accenture globally, employees, IT infrastructure and most
importantly how business is conducted. This would also involve assembling a
high trained IT group to roll out/maintain the new COBIT 5 governance system and
train all employees.
Situation Assessment
When Accenture
implemented a new IT governance system during the IT overhaul an approval
process, steering committee and yearly audits of IT projects were instituted.
During this shift in IT, Accenture also implemented a new IT Governance system
to administer its IT decisions going forward. This new approach required
high-level management and Accenture’s senior IT staff to work together to
define the IT horizon for the fiscal year. The IT project selection philosophy
changed drastically under this new system. A formal process was
established where IT projects were presented to the steering committee. All
projects had to have a senior business sponsor, whose duty was to convince
other members of the business value in the proposal. If a sponsor’s project was
approved, he or she took responsibility for extracting the claimed value of the
project.
IT initiative
presented in the committee had to be accompanied by a clear ROI
analysis
Approved projects
were subject to an annual audit for three years. Audits sought to verify that
the projected value effectively had been created; sought to calibrate
Accenture’s ability to predict value creation in IT initiatives by comparing
predicted value to realize value and learning from mistakes that created a
disparity between two; audits sought to keep both business sponsor and IT team
on their feet by proactively managing the project well after it was approved
The
decision criteria for implementing COBIT 5:
·
Must address the
gaps not covered by the current IT governance system
·
Organization
system for compliance and regulation of IT standards across the world
·
Evaluate, Direct
and Monitor functions and processes within the company
·
IT valuation/effectiveness
of projects
·
Address
information security, provide business models
·
IT Assurance
Framework
·
Align, plan and
organize business goals of the company
·
Monitor and
assess IT risk
List of Plausible Alternative Courses of Action
There are two courses of action identified and both
options address the main problem in different ways:
Implement COBIT 5
|
PROS
|
CONS
|
One of the most commonly
used frameworks to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley
Addresses the governance
and management of IT from an enterprise-wide perspective
COBIT is based on all
other IT best practices
Used as a complimentary to
other best practices -ITIL, TOGAF, ISO27000 and PRINCE2
Provides a comprehensive framework that assists
enterprises in achieving their objectives for the governance and management
of enterprise information and technology assets
Non-technical and
understandable management thinking
Contains good practices, RACI charts, performance
assessment and monitoring tools
Includes implementation guidance
Seeks to evaluate, direct and monitor; align,
plan and organize; build, acquire and implement; deliver, service and support
and monitor, evaluate and assess
|
Training costs for
experienced IT employees; workshops, in-house training with people who will
be engaged in a roll out
Costs associated with
consultant costs
Costs associated with
materials including:
COBIT 5: Enabling Processes, $135 non-members ISACA/ $35 members
COBIT 5 Enabling Information, $135 non-members ISACA/ $35 members
COBIT 5 Implementation, $150 non-members ISACA/ $35 members
COBIT 5 for Information Security, $175 non-members ISACA/ $35 members
COBIT 5 for Assurance $175 non-members ISACA/ $35 members
COBIT 5 for Risk $175 non-members ISACA/ $35 members
Annual membership dues and chapter dues
Employee resistance to new
IT governance system
COBIT may not be as
detailed in terms of how to do certain functions and is too board
|
Maintain current IT Governance System
|
PROS
|
CONS
|
No additional training costs or materials
No employee resistance to new system
Current system is efficiently operating and has been
since the IT overhaul in 2001
Steering committees have been effective in decision
making since inception which reduced IT costs, implemented new philosophy for
the IT department (IT as a business rather than a cost center)
Continue their existing value chain and reporting
systems that virtually revolve around the clock while ‘following the sun.’
|
Measuring techniques and
tools may not be all encompassing and may fall to subjectivity
Is not as sophisticated as
COBIT, lacks models for oversight and monitoring
Does it properly measure
and evaluate risk?
Is current system all encompassing?
Gaps in current IT governance
system
|
Evaluation
of Alternatives
When evaluating the two courses of action, it is
important to analyze which option will align with Accenture’s decision
criteria, accommodate future growth and be cost effective. The pros and cons of
both alternatives: implement COBIT 5 or maintain current IT governance should
be analyzed and evaluated. Accenture should decide if COBIT 5 will effectively
fill in the gaps of their current IT governance system or if it will be too
broad. Accenture should also analyze if COBIT 5 provides better tools in monitoring,
measuring and assessing IT projects. The costs involved implementing COBIT 5
including training costs, consultant fees, roll out costs and materials should
also be evaluated.
The evaluation relates to the decision criteria
developed because it analyzes whether COBIT 5 can effectively fill in the gaps
of the current system or provide new insights in monitoring and assessing IT
projects. COBIT 5 will be all
encompassing and not just limited to the IT functions.
Accenture can be imaginative in this decision since the
real value of COBIT 5 cannot be assessed until it is implemented. The Accenture needs to determine if COBIT 5
can add value to the current operating processes and determine if that value is
worth the training costs, material costs and new system costs.
Recommendation
After considering both courses of action, I believe the
quality and logical recommendation is to maintain the current IT governance system.
With an investment that will incur high employee training costs, consultant
fees, materials costs, loss of productivity, and possible backlash from
employees, the risks associated with implementing COBIT 5 outweigh the
benefits.
Even though COBIT 5 is used worldwide and incorporates
industry-proven best practices and applications, Accenture’s current model
already has these practices and standards in place that prove to be working
effectively. COBIT 5 may be redundant to
what Accenture already has in place. For example, COBIT 5 seeks to have a
greater control over IT governance and regulations/standards. Accenture has
already addressed these issues through their steering committees, project
sponsors and ROI auditing process. In addition, a number of other COBIT 5
standards were covered during Accenture’s IT restructuring which include
linking IT processes to the business objectives through processes such as IT
support on a per need basis through an internal customer. Furthermore, I believe
Accenture’s current IT governance system addresses most of the key functions
offered by COBIT 5 and implementation is not needed at this time.
Presentation
· If I were presenting as a consultant to the class, I
would state that I have been commissioned to identify the benefits and
drawbacks involved with implementing COBIT 5 to the IT governance system. I
would discuss the costs and training involved with COBIT 5 and provide insight
into what the framework can offer Accenture. I would discuss the current IT governance
system’s functionality and overall successfulness. I would provide examples of
controls already in places such as the ROI audits and project sponsors.
Visual aids to be used
in presentation:
- PowerPoint
presentation for benefits and drawbacks of each course of action;
- Decision criteria
for Accenture; and
- Recommendations
for maintain current IT governance system
I would “sell” the current IT governance system by
stressing it is a successful system that Accenture implemented in 2001. Accenture’s
current IT governance system addresses most of the key functions offered by
COBIT 5 and implementation is not needed at this time. The company would not be
incurring additional costs for COBIT 5, redundancies would not be present and
training costs would not be incurred.
·
Other Delivery Consideration to Keep in Mind:
- Pros and cons of both courses of action
- Obstacles with implanting COBIT 5 including learning curve, training costs and
consultant fees.
