Focus on Return on Investment (ROI). The movement toward enterprise IT governance is also being driven by the desire to maximize the organization’s return on IT investment. Along with budgetary pressures, public organizations are also dealing with increased need for interagency information sharing, an ever increasing volume of data that needs to be successfully managed, and the need for cross boundary collaboration for complex, multi-organizational problems.

Don’t look for a silver bullet. In their efforts to build enterprise IT governance, public managers are drawing on the experiences of other public and private sector organizations undergoing similar transformations. Throughout this process, most are finding that no one framework or strategy can simply be adopted for their state. More and more states are focused on tailoring IT governance to their own needs.

Recognize how IT is embedded in the institutions of government. The governance of IT at the state level is deeply embedded in the policies, problems, and structures of government. IT governance operates alongside, and in concert with, other forms of governance (e.g., financial governance). The trend toward formalizing IT governance at the state level is a relatively new expression of organizing public bureaucratic work and overlaps with the widespread adoption of other practices aimed at improving government, such as privatization, performance measurement, decentralization, or outsourcing.¹⁸

The CIO is central to enterprise IT governance. State-level CIOs are held accountable for IT at a state level and are typically charged with improving service delivery, achieving efficiencies, and effectively using IT and information to achieve the mission of state government.¹⁹ Thus, improving IT governance was listed as a top priority for 2009 by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers in their annual survey.²⁰

Incrementalism is key to successful implementation. Most states spoke very clearly about the need for an incremental implementation strategy. The states that faced the most challenges or pitfalls were the ones that attempted a total and immediate revamping of their current structure. The strategy should also recognize that the needs for and demands on an IT governance structure will remain in flux. Therefore adjustments and review of IT governance should be a permanent part of the framework.