What is IT Governance?
IT Governance is the formalization of the decision making process for IT investments at Niagara College. The goal of IT Governance is to promote behavior and organizational learning that aligns IT spending and resources with the priorities and goals of the College. A successful IT Governance process will allow the College to make timely and thoughtful decisions about what IT projects the College will undertake. To be successful, IT Governance requires input and participation from all areas of the College, as well as Information Technology Services (ITS).
What is IT Management?
IT management is the daily decision making and implementation of activities around the College’s use of IT.
Why do we need IT Governance vs IT Management?
IT Governance helps ensure that we are working on the right things and doing them in the right way to minimize the risks associated with IT project approvals and spending and to increase the likelihood of realizing the benefits of IT investments.
IT Governance recognizes that there are very few “pure” IT projects – most IT projects are in reality business or teaching enhancement projects, sponsored and led by functional users requiring information technology installation and IT professional support.
Some additional reasons why IT decision making should not be left to chance are as follows:
- Good IT governance pays off by generating better returns on IT investments.
- IT is expensive
- IT is pervasive
- Organizations are constantly bombarded with opportunities from new IT technologies and need a defined process for ensuring fully-informed decision making
- Everyone at the College has limited bandwidth to focus on IT because of other pressing needs
Why do we need the additional "red tape" of committees and processes: Won't it delay decisions and important work?
The goal of IT Governance is to make the best decisions about how Niagara College uses limited funds and resources to support the goals of the college. IT Governance processes require "up front" planning and analysis to ensure that the college is making informed decisions and to minimize mistakes that may divert resources from high priority and strategically important projects. As IT continues to grow on campus, decisions about information and IT will become still more complex.
There are provisions in the Governance process to "fast track" important or urgent projects and to ensure that IT projects to "keep the lights on" are not ignored or delayed.
Is there an overview of the Proposal and Selection process?
Click on the following link to provide an overview of the process -
Which process should I use for my IT requests?
The Project Portfolio Office is available to assist with all phases of the Proposal and Selection process. As a general guide, here is the process to follow:
Will I get help developing a project proposal for funding?
Yes. Shortly after you submit a project request, the Project Portfolio Office will contact you to review the proposal and, with your input, will develop a business case, scaled to project size, which will be used to score the project and present to the relevant Advisory Committee. Requests submitted through the ITS Help Desk system do not require a business case.
Will I get help developing a project proposal for funding?
Yes. Shortly after you submit a project request, the Project Portfolio Office will contact you to review the proposal and, with your input, will develop a business case, scaled to project size, which will be used to score the project and present to the relevant Advisory Committee. Requests submitted through the ITS Help Desk system do not require a business case.
What if I don't know enough about the IT portions of my initiative to feel comfortable proposing it?
If you require help with the project proposal, the Project Portfolio Office can be of assistance.
What kinds of projects go into the IT Governance Process
Any project that has an IT component must go through the governance process. An IT component can be software, hardware, IT infrastructure or IT services (internal and external).
Smaller requests can be submitted through the ITS Help Desk and will be prioritized by the ITS Managers based on urgency and resource availability.
All other project proposals must follow the IT Governance Proposal and Selection process.
Is any IT spending exempt from the governance process?
All IT expenditures are subject to the governance process; however, there are provisions to "fast track" spending on urgent projects not identified as part of the budget cycle; typically projects subject to regulatory or legal compliance.
Who makes IT Governance decisions?
A cross-section of faculty, students, and staff are appointed to be on the three working groups that make the primary prioritization of submitted proposals for their areas. The IT Governance & Prioritization Committee makes the final prioritization of submitted proposals from the working groups. The Executive Team will give the final approval for this consolidated portfolio of project requests.
How can a given community member serving on an IT Governance committee really be qualified to make IT decisions?
Committee members aren't expected to be IT experts, but rather to understand the significance of IT decisions in the different domains that make up the Niagara College community, from student life to teaching and research to administrative systems and IT security.
As part of the IT Governance process, ITS Managers and the IT Architecture Review Team review all requests and evaluate impacts to IT resources, infrastructure and security. ITS can provide technical consultation on request to any committee.
How do I know what projects are being proposed and approved?
Once the decisions on funding, new project reports will be published on the Project Portfolio Office reporting dashboard. As the IT Governance process matures, additional reporting will become available.
What happens if my project is recommended, but no funds or resources are found for it?
There will occasionally be fewer resources than are needed by all worthy project proposals; some projects, therefore, will not able to be funded or staffed. When this happens, the proposal will be eligible for resubmission after one year.
How often are decisions made?
Through the annual Call for Initiatives process proposals are reviewed two times a year:
- September/February, slightly proceeding the existing capital and operational budget planning calendar
- July/August, if additional funding/resources are identified as being available
In year, urgent or mandated projects will be reviewed on a case by case basis.
Do I have to wait for submission dates to submit my proposal?
No. Submissions are encouraged at any time, and proposals will be responded to and developed with help from the Project Portfolio Office all year long. During review cycles, projects will be reviewed in the order they are received, so you should submit as soon as you can.
Any additional questions or concerns please reach out to any member of the PPO or send an email to ITSPPO@niagaracollege.ca