IT Governance Blog on IT governance, risk management, compliance and information security.

Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter & YouTube – these are the world’s most popular sites for people to share information, socialise and just hang out together, electronically. Blogging, Instant Messaging and Skype all play a significant role in enabling people to keep in touch with one another, wherever they are in the world.

Social media is, for many organisations, a critical part of how they speak to customers, partners and stakeholders; for others, social media is a dangerous distraction.

Dealing effectively with social media requires a joined-up approach that is aligned with the objectives and risk appetite of the business – a governance approach. The ITG Social Media Governance toolkit contains a comprehensive suite of documents and templates that will help you develop, implement, monitor and improve social media activities across your organisation. Buy the Social Media Governance toolkit today!

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Buy the ISO 38500 compliant IT Governance Framework Toolkit before the end of October, we’ll send you these 4 eBooks free: IT Governance: A Pocket Guide IT Governance to Drive High Performance: Lessons from Accenture ISO/IEC 38500 The IT governance standard – Pocket Guide IT Governance: Implementing Frameworks and Standards for the Corporate Governance of IT. Don’t forget to add ISO/IEC 38500 – The IT Governance Standard to your basket today!

The IT Governance Framework Toolkit is contained on a CD-Rom and includes 1,600 pages of IT governance implementation resources (98 different documents, including templates, guidelines, checklists, questionnaires, slide presentations, assessments and planning tools).

Improve IT governance in your organisation – Spend less than one day of consultant cost for dramatic improvements –

Due to popular demand we have turned on our IT Governance Framework Toolkit – Special Offer. Purchase before the end of September and receive 4 free e-books!

IT Governance Framework Toolkit – Special Offer IT Governance: A Pocket Guide FREE! IT Governance to Drive High Performance: Lessons from Accenture FREE! ISO/IEC 38500 The IT Governance Standard – Pocket Guide FREE! IT Governance: Implementing Frameworks and Standards for the Corporate Governance of IT FREE!

If Information Technology is a part of your business, governance now extends to and includes information and the IT infrastructure that supports your business. Shareholder expectations of boards, and of the individual directors on boards, are clear:

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As the UK enters its new age of austerity with public sector organisations finding draconian budget cuts, organisations must ensure that its IT function acts an enabler of business, and must be fully aligned with business objectives.

ISO/IEC 38500:2008 provides guiding principles for directors of organisations on the effective, efficient and acceptable use of information technology (IT). These principles are designed to be used within their organisations.

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If Information Technology is a part of your business, governance now extends to and includes information and the IT infrastructure that supports your business. Shareholder expectations of boards, and of the individual directors on boards, are clear:

1. The board of directors will actually direct the management of the company, including strategic and IT business plans and fundamental structural changes
2. The board will see to the hiring of competent and honest business and IT managers
3. The board will understand the business of the firm and develop and monitor a business and IT strategy
4. The board will monitor the managers as they carry out the strategy and the operations of the company
5. When making a business decision, the board will develop a thorough understanding of the transaction and act in good faith, on an informed basis, and with a rational business purpose
6. The board will operate with basic honesty, care, and loyalty
7. The board will take good,faith steps to make sure the company complies with the law.

These IT governance expectations demand an appropriate IT governance framework. That can be difficult and time consuming to do from scratch.

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As the UK enters its new age of austerity with public sector organisations finding draconian budget cuts, organisations must ensure that its IT function acts an enabler of business, and must be fully aligned with business objectives.

ISO/IEC 38500:2008 provides guiding principles for directors of organisations on the effective, efficient and acceptable use of information technology (IT). These principles are designed to be used within their organisations.

Key benefits of ISO38500:

• The first international standard for IT governance
• It provides an efficient, well-thought-through and effective framework for IT governance, leading to better alignment of IT with organisational decisions
• Written in a generic manner, meaning that the advice and guidance in this standard is applicable no matter the size or type of organisation or whether it is in the corporate, public or not-for-profit sector
• Advice and guidance that is provided is not only applicable to directors, but also to their associated members of staff
• It provides essential guidance on the appropriate governance of IT to all key members of staff.

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When you buy the IT Governance Framework Toolkit before the end of June (2010), we’ll send you the following 4 eBooks free:

1. IT Governance: A Pocket Guide;
2. IT Governance to Drive High Performance: Lessons from Accenture;
3. ISO/IEC 38500 The IT governance standard – Pocket Guide; &
4. IT Governance: Implementing Frameworks and Standards for the Corporate Governance of IT.

IT Governance Framework toolkit contains nearly 1,600 pages of resources (98 different documents, including templates, guidelines, checklists, questionnaires, slide presentations, assessments and planning tools).

The toolkit provides you with: a single integrated framework that enables you to get the best out of CobiT, ITIL, ISO27001/ISO27002, ISO20000, Prince2, PMBOK, TOGAF, IT Balanced Scorecards, the Zachman Enterprise Architecture, IT Portfolio Management, IT Dashboards and so much more; a framework to navigate your wide-ranging and complex strategic, risk management, compliance and operational needs; a step-by-step guide to cross-company implementation; templates and assessment tools that will simplify many aspects of the process for you; and practical guidance working with ISO/IEC 38500 and for integrating widely-used IT governance frameworks, including CobiT, ISO27001, ITIL and so on.

If Information Technology is a part of your business, governance now extends to and includes information and the IT infrastructure that supports your business. Shareholder expectations of boards, and of the individual directors on boards, are clear:

• The board of directors will actually direct the management of the company, including strategic and IT business plans and fundamental structural changes;
• The board will see to the hiring of competent and honest business and IT managers;
• The board will understand the business of the firm and develop and monitor a business and IT strategy;
• The board will monitor the managers as they carry out the strategy and the operations of the company;
• When making a business decision, the board will develop a thorough understanding of the transaction and act in good faith, on an informed basis, and with a rational business purpose;
• The board will operate with basic honesty, care, and loyalty; and
• The board will take good-faith steps to make sure the company complies with the law.

These IT governance expectations demand an appropriate IT governance framework. That can be difficult and time-consuming to do from scratch

When you combine the unique IT Governance Famework Toolkit and the 4 free eBooks, you will be able to meet these demands a lot quicker, and more cost-effectively, than you think!

Take advantage of this unique product now and let us ship to you today >>

You are probably aware by now that the UK Chancellor, George Osborne, has outlined plans for £6.2bn in spending cuts. Of the £6.2bn of cuts identified, £95m will be through savings in IT spending and £1.7bn through delaying/stopping contracts and projects and renegotiating with suppliers.

What impact will this have on your organisation and how do you mitigate any risks?

The impact of these cuts will vary, depending on your industry/sector and who your customers are. If you are a public sector organisation, you will be hit harder than privately owned firms. You will face a recruitment freeze, you will find that all non-essential projects will be shelved, you will be under pressure to bring in essential projects on a reduced budget and with fewer resources and, more importantly, you will be expected to achieve the same high standards that the end customer has become so used to receiving.

For private sector organisations, the impact of these cuts may be less obvious initially. However, as public sector funding diminishes, it will become more difficult to win new contracts with public sector organisations, any current contracts will be under increased scrutiny and will, more than likely, depreciate in value, come renewal time, you will be offered far less favourable terms, assuming it’s renewed at all.

To overcome these challenges you will need to find efficiencies, wherever possible, in all areas of your business. There will be tough decisions to make, and not everyone will want to get on board. However, if you don’t respond to these impending cuts, right now, you can bet your bottom dollar that your competitors will do, and they will be ready to take advantage of any opportunity to take business away from you – it will be, quite simply, survival of the fittest.
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This week only, with every order for the IT Governance Framework Toolkit, we’re giving away IT Governance: Implementing Frameworks and Standards for the Corporate Governance of IT!

The IT Governance Framework – Toolkit & Book Special Offer provides you with:

A single integrated framework that enables you to get the best out of: CobiT, ITIL, ISO27001/ISO27002, ISO20000, Prince2, PMBOK, TOGAF, IT Balanced Scorecards, the Zachman Enterprise Architecture, IT Portfolio Management, IT Dashboards and so much more,

• A framework to navigate your wide-ranging and complex strategic, risk management, compliance and operational needs;
• A step-by-step guide to cross-company implementation;
• Templates and assessment tools that will simplify many aspects of the process for you; and
• Practical guidance working with ISO/IEC 38500 and for integrating widely-used IT governance frameworks, including CobiT, ISO27001, ITIL and so on.
• A FREE copy of IT Governance: Implementing Frameworks and Standards for the Corporate Governance of IT when your order before midnight on Monday 31st May 2010!

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Last month we launched five new toolkits – all of which help organisations to implement specific frameworks or standards. I want to talk to you about two of these toolkits as I think they will be of particular interest to your organisation:

SharePoint Governance Toolkit Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) is an immensely useful colloboration and information sharing tool for organisations, teams and workgroups. Poorly governed SharePoint deployments can create significant holes in organisational information structures as well as exposing the organisation and its information to a wide range of risks.

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