New Directions for IT Governance in the Brazilian Government

Motivations

We have reached a new era of competition. Organizations can no longer afford to delegate IT decisions to IT officers. What we see now is an increasing need for business integration and such integration can only be achieved through strategic business alignment with IT services. Also, the objective should be the creation of an organizational strategic ‘thinking’ which would be responsible for driving IT efforts towards the achievement of business goals (Marzullo, 2009).

At the same time, the organization should be aware that IT investments are to be controlled and prioritized as the word of order is to create value while relentlessly reducing costs. In fact, IT elements have become important business assets that not only contribute to achieving business goals but also revolutionize the organization as a whole. IT is an excellent innovation driver and, as such, should be properly used and controlled by the organization (Weill, 1998).

This vision is shared amongst non-profit organizations as well. Considering Government organizations, extreme care should be exercised when using public resources to sponsor public programmes. Challenges faced by Government strategists resemble those of private organizations: costs must be minimal and results maximized. However, it is even more complicated as they are dealing with public resources, and therefore controlling mechanisms should be applied as fiercely as possible.