Cobit Framework as a Guideline of Effective it Governance in Higher Education: A Review

TLDR: This paper focuses on the COBIT framework and the importance of its adoption in academic institution, universities and organizations.

Abstract: With the advent of the increasing and complex pace of Information Technology (IT) innovation, coupled with maximized investments in IT as a strategy for businesses to stay competitive in a volatile market, and executive decision makers should possess effective IT governance. Effective IT governance is viewed as a great mechanism to use information and processes which in turn leads to greater profits and present future benefits. Therefore, good IT governance structures guide organizations in better leveraging their IT spending on crucial business areas. The significance of IT governance affects the ability of the organization to fulfill its goals and IT governance assists in the minimization of risks and maximization of value by focusing on performance and leveraging IT to satisfy the organization’s and customer’s long-term demands. Currently, organizations are showing interest in adopting the best practices and standards for IT governance. A framework offers the boundaries, the principles to follow and the guidelines through which a vision is provided as a philosophical base and the construction structure. It offers the basic structure that is flexible to apply in a certain environment. Such framework used in this study is COBIT. COBIT offers effective practices throughout a framework and lays down activities in an organized and flexible structure. These practices assist in optimizing IT-enabled investments, guarantee delivery of service and offers protection against who’s accountable for the wrongs. This paper focuses on the COBIT framework and the importance of its adoption in academic institution, universities and organizations. Some case studies are selected and analyzed of adopting COBIT framework in higher education institutions. These case studies are Australian Higher Education Institutions, Curtin University of Technology, and Viana do Castelo Polytechnic Institute.