What is IT Applications

Information technology (IT) governance has been a perennial item on the corporate agenda of many organizations. Ever since IT proved to be more than an administrative tool, researchers and practitioners have pondered its governance. Defined as the locus of IT decision-making authority (Brown & Magill, 1994; Sambamurthy & Zmud, 1999), discussions concerning IT governance have flourished for more than four decades across research communities and boardrooms. Posed as a question of centralization during the 70s, IT governance drifted towards decentralization in the 80s, and the recentralization of IT decision-making was a 90s trend. Today, IT governance is experiencing yet another transformation, and persists as a complex and evolving phenomenon (Grembergen, 2003). As business environments continuously change and new technologies evolve rapidly, how to govern IT effectively remains an enduring and challenging question. This chapter discusses past developments and the present status quo of IT governance, and outlines several critical questions, which are pending future investigation.