Preamble

When I started in Information Technology as a software developer, I always wondered how an organisation, its functions and departments were connected to work together. I always wanted to understand the big picture, how a complete entity or a group of entities is stitched and hung together, how it works smoothly and seamlessly (I assumed).

More and more I asked my peers and colleagues, I realised most who worked in silos or held specific roles/ job functions, knew their departmental governance very well, however, they did not have a broader understanding of why it’s done and how it’s fed into overall governance, or how that happens. Later in my career, when I started mentoring others, I learnt that some of them had been asking similar questions and had been looking to understand the same thing.

So, my learning started mostly out of curiosity about the big picture and the management of all the moving parts, especially technology governance, whilst I worked in various functions associated with technology risk management, controls, audit, strategy, change, policymaking, and various other operational technology management roles. I consider myself very fortunate to have had quite a varied entrepreneurial and professional career in Information Technology that my learning did not stagnate. I am hoping these writings will provide more opportunities to learn and share the learning.

Most resources that I came across concerning Technology Governance I found to be very theoretical and dry writings. Some technically very sound, however not very easy to understand, especially for the beginners – some may argue that it’s the nature of the subject.

This series of articles is an effort to explain Information Technology Governance more modestly, at minimum a reminder to myself and consolidation of my learning over the years.

I apologise in advance for the many tangential paras these articles might include whilst discussing Governance, and also for my occasional use of analogies. Some readers will most certainly find themselves disagreeing with the opinionated parts and sections – which is OK – as these opinions may be based on assumptions, parameters and scenarios different from those that some of the readers may have experienced.

The purpose here is to build up understanding, kickstart innovative thinking and aspire to the culture that enables innovation. In some cases, hopefully, resulting in changed, adjusted or tailored Technology Governance in pursuit of better capability maturity and aligning Information Technology with the Business.

Yours Faithfully

Tayyab Choudhry