March 16, 2015 - Global IT association ISACA has issued nine key action items to help companies reduce costs, improve communication and operate more efficiently by improving the governance over their information and technology. In a new free guide titled “Getting Started With Governance of Enterprise IT (GEIT),” ISACA recommends a three-phased plan:

Put Resources in Place

1. Write a business case for implementing GEIT.
2. Communicate the vision.
3. Establish the project team's authority.
4. Assess current drivers and pain points for implementing GEIT

Create the Plan

1. Create a project plan and subplans (communication, procurement, etc.) to implement GEIT.
2. Identify specific milestones.
3. Deliver plan to sponsor and secure approval.

Execute the Plan

1. Implement the plan.
2. Report on accomplishments.

"Organizations with strong governance typically operate with lower costs and use their resources more effectively," said Robert E Stroud, CGEIT, CRISC, international president of ISACA and vice president of strategy and innovation at CA Technologies. "GEIT helps to ensure that companies succeed in both IT innovation and run-the-business initiatives."

The creator of the COBIT framework, ISACA also launched three new enhancements to COBIT 5 online this week to help organizations effectively improve GEIT:

• Workspace feature that allows a user to store and organize COBIT 5 documents, COBIT articles and tools in a central location within the COBIT 5 online application. Users can create folders to organize their frequently used COBIT 5 material by topic, client or department.
• Enterprise licenses to COBIT 5 online that enable organizations to purchase an internal corporate use license through COBIT 5 online to gain access to premium content, COBIT 5 publications and customizable tools
• A self-assessment tool that makes the self-assessment of IT-enabled enterprise processes more efficient, effective and inclusive

"Whether an organization is conducting self-assessments to prepare for an independent, third-party assessment or determining process capability levels within any facet of operations, the COBIT 5 Self-assessment Tool simplifies and streamlines the assessment process using COBIT 5," said Steven Babb, CGEIT, CRISC, international vice president of ISACA and technology risk, compliance and assurance leader at Vodafone UK. "The tool allows you to enter basic information about the self-assessment you'll be conducting, set goals or expected capability levels for each process capability before you begin the assessment, and select only the processes you want to assess. It then walks you through the assessment and provides a report that details the results."

"Getting Started With GEIT" is available as a free download at www.isaca.org/getting-started-with-geit.