What is the difference between IT Gvernance and IT Management?

Sat, 25 Mar 2006 00:47:00 GMT

A recent article in The Archtecture Journal, "Taking Governance to the Edge" does a good job of addressing a question that has been lurking in the back of my mind:

What is the difference between IT Management and IT Governance?

When I read about IT Governance, a small voice keeps nagging me - why is all this governance stuff called something other than good management? I don't see articles about Engineering Governance, or Medical Governance, do you? Maybe these terms are different because IT has grown up as a craft and most people in the business seem to think that structure and formality mean innovation is constrained.

In this article, Philip Boxer and Richard Veryard cover this need for achieving innovation while managing order in design. Their short answer to the above question is:

..management is about getting things done, governance is about making sure the right things are done the right way.

I've always believed that making sure the right things are done the right way was part of leadership and management.

The authors also address the concept of Shared Commitment with an example of a business user who has developed a spreadsheet. They highlight the fact that the more complex the spreadsheet, the more likely the author's own personal style and culture influence the ability of data in the spreadsheet to interoperate with other systems as it used in new and unanticipated ways. We data architects see this effect all the time. Shared commitment requires a negotiation of shared meanings and permitted ignorances.

Check out the Journal. I believe it is a free subscription for most who register.

Karen Lopez: Musings on Data, Process, and Architecture

What is the difference between IT Gvernance and IT Management?