Warren Cammack

This evening I attended the ACS (Australian Computer Society) where the guest speaker was Mark Toomey who presented on ISO/IEC 38500 – a new international corporate governance standard. The topic itself was extremely dry (no surprise there!) and whilst I didn’t expect to be entertained in the same way as a social media presentation it was difficult to stay focused. The biggest disappointment was the speaker’s apparent desire to place the blame of the failure of previous IT projects on the shoulders of the business rather than IT. The argument centred around IT’s changing role over the last decade (or two?) which sees them taking on more of a business role. I’m all for clear responsibilities (read RACI) but isn’t it a better outcome if IT representatives have a seat at the table and are able to understand and clearly articulate both an IT and a business reason for a change? Furthermore does the current trend towards hybrid business/IT roles mean that the “business” is no longer an us and them term but a concept that means everyone should be considering the needs of an organisation regardless of which side of the table they sit at?