ITIL/ITSM Governance Lacking

March 13, 2009
By ITSM Watch Staff

Survey finds most organizations do not define, implement or enforce ITSM governance.

Without formal IT governance, results are not measurable and IT is not aligned with the business. In its 4th annual IT Service Management (ITSM) Industry Survey, Consulting-Portal, an ITSM consulting firm, found that regulatory compliance (e.g. Sarbanes Oxley) is driving the requirement for IT controls. As a result, most organizations have adopted ITSM as the underpinning framework for meeting regulatory requirements. However, it is disconcerting that as little as 29% of surveyed organizations have defined implemented and enforced ITSM governance.

Failure to govern IT processes can cause an IT operation to lose focus resulting in lost productivity, diminished reputation and reduced revenue. A focus on governance results in a stable and consistent IT service delivery.

Some additional findings from this year's survey:

• Only 24% of respondents have actionable metrics that are used for continuous improvement.

• Only 38% of respondents have implemented a configuration management database (CMDB).

• 71% of respondents do not have defined, implemented and enforced ITSM governance.

Methodology

The ITSM survey contained 35 questions covering the topics of sponsorship, training, organization and governance, best practices, measurement and audit, continuous improvement and supporting tools. This year Consulting-Portal obtained 183 responses to the survey from medium-sized to fortune 500 companies from various industries. For a copy of the survey results white paper please visit: http://www.cportalinc.com/downloads.php.