IT By John Boufford I.S.P.

IT GOVERNANCE:An Opportunity or Hindrance?

Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) is having a profoundimpact on the Information Technology (IT)profession. Senior IT leaders are experiencingan increased concern with IT governance. TheChief Executive Officer (CEO) is calling uponthe Chief Information Officer (CIO) to attest torigour in IT processes and projects before theCEO signs-off on the company financials. Boththe CEO and CIO have to work together tounderstand what the government regulationsrequire and what is necessary to be in compliancewith them.

Regulatory compliance demands rigour in ITgovernance. Sadly, current IT governance practicesas implemented in some organizations are notadequate as evident in the software failuresthat have occurred in the past few years. In a2005 report, The Hartwell Group identified 20recent high profile [IT] glitches that:

• Affected more than 61 million people;• Resulted in more than $30 million in

financial impacts (plus impacts such as lost business, project delays, loss of reputation, loss of customer privacy, and required additional medical tests); and

• Had potential life and death impacts.

The effect of SOX and other regulatorycompliance requirements will be felt wellbeyond its immediate sphere of influence. WhileSOX only applies to publicly traded companieson U.S. stock exchanges, the IT audit community

will promulgate the lessons of SOX IT governancewell beyond that arena. With so much at stake,will CIOs look for more than technical excellencein their IT recruiting practices?

The days of the narrowly specialized arenumbered. IT professionals today require abroad IT knowledge, a variety of businessexperience, a strong foundation in emergingstandards of practice, and a code of ethics thatputs the public and employer interests ahead oftheir own. CIOs and human resources executiveswill be looking for a way to identify these ITprofessionals. Fortunately, there is a way.

Canada has a professional IT designation:the Information Systems Professional – I.S.P.designation (in French, Informaticien professionnelagréé - IPA) that identifies IT practitioners whopossess the education and experience to practiceIT at the professional level. The “I.S.P.” is the onlyIT designation in Canada that is recognized bylaw as a self-regulating profession. Currently,legislation exists in the provinces of BritishColumbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario,New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. (Other provincesare working toward legislation.) The I.S.Pdesignation is offered by Canada’s associationof IT professionals known as the CanadianInformation Processing Society or “CIPS.”

I have been calling on IT leaders to deliver theInformation Systems Professional message. Theyunderstand the importance of IT professionalismand governance, and how this translates into a

more ethical and productive workforce thatimproves their bottom-line. Quite fittingly, theyare moving to adopt the I.S.P. designation intheir organizations.

The I.S.P. designation in association withregulatory compliance and IT governance is anopportunity for executives to take a leadershiprole in further aligning IT with business priorities.For the IT industry and profession, this is agood thing.

John Boufford I.S.P. is the Vice President ofCIPS, Canada’s association of InformationTechnology professionals. John can bereached at boufford@cips.ca.

COME MEET, SHARE AND LEARNAT THE 48TH ANNUAL

INFORMATICS IT SYMPOSIUM!

CIPS, Canada’s association of InformationTechnology (IT) professionals, is hostingINFORMATICS, which features six keynotesessions, 26 workshops and an executiveroundtable on issues such as security, humanresources, business and…more!

WHEN: May 28 to 30, 2006WHERE: Victoria, British Columbia

CONTACT: 1-877-ASK-CIPS orwww.cipsinformatics.ca

C I P S J O I N T V E N T U R E S U P P L E M E N T

Printed in the Financial Post Business magazine (April 2006)