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Transparency and It Governance

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Transparency and IT Governance

James Anthony Quilty
Keller Graduate School of Management
May 16, 2010

SE592ON_A – IT Governance MAY10 – Sec A
Professor William Uminowicz

Transparency and IT Governance I. Table of Contents…………………………………………………………2 II. Why Transparency?.…...………………………………………………...3 III. Transparencies relation to IT Governance..……………………………3 IV. COBIT Framework Provides for Internal Audit and Corrective Action……………………………………………………………………..4 V. Summary..………………………………………………………………...4 VI. References………………………………………………………………...5

II. Why Transparency? Due to many of the scandals that have arisen in recent years; Enron, AOL Time Warner, Adelphia Communications and other corporations according to Forbes (2002, Patsuris). Due to these scandals, the United States government stepped in and started making regulatory changes such as disclosure requirements and better detailed reporting of off-balance sheet financing. If any of these reports are found to be purposely misreported then penalties to the executives will be ensued. This why it is important for transparency to be a part of the IT governance. So, Sarbanes_Oxley (Sox) was adopted for all companies to comply with a standard (2007, Hermalin & Weisbach). III. Transparencies relation to IT Governance Transparency within the IT Governance creates a standard where everyone involved can participate on any given project and obtain a higher level of competency. Transparency can also assist in bringing everyone up to speed on the process and details of the project and at the same time encourages buy-in to the governance needs and practices of the project (2010, Goessl). Transparency is also necessary in order to bring change to an organization and at the same time staying in compliance with any regulatory constraints such as SOX, HIPAA or the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (2010, Goessl). With the government implementing these regulatory requirements, a company has no choice by to implement and comply with these regulations for both the protection of the company and for the investors involved. The board is responsible for the governance, but normally a CEO or CIO will be accountable for the IT governance design, implementation and performance. Ultimately, “more transparency of the governance processes, the more confidence in the governance” and the “less transparent the governance processes are, the less people follow them”, so it is imperative to that these processes are known throughout the company and especially governed by the Board of Directors appropriately (2010, Goessl). IV. COBIT Framework Provides for Internal Audit and Corrective Action
The COBIT Framework provides a foundational approach for internal audits and corrective actions which help establish or keep the company on the right path with transparency in IT governance. These processes for auditing have become more exacting and thorough in order to collect adequate evidence to support financial statement items and are identified in the Statement of Account Standards. Combined these can increase the ability of a company to be successful by catching and correcting any issues that may become outside the requirements of SOX. The board of Directors needs to know and understand the IT governance through the auditing of the IT department where it is succeeding or failing. (2006, Tarantino).
Corrective action is imperative for a company in order to stay in compliance with the SOX standards. Through the auditing process, can be done every quarter or bi-annually, can provide the essential amount of information needed to make the changes or to congratulate on the achievement. (2006, Tarantino) V. Summary
Transparency is an important part of IT Governance for a company or organization to stay in compliance with the regulations established by the U.S. government. Through the auditing process an organization can plan on making the necessary changes to come into compliance or to expand on their current compliance. (2006, Tarantino)

VI. References
Patsuris, P. (2002), Accounting The Corporate Scandal Sheet, Forbes, Retrieved May 16, 2010 from http://www.forbes.com/2002/07/25/accountingtracker.html

Hermalin, B. E. & Weisbach, M. S. (2007, January 31), Transparency and Corporate Governance, Retrieved May16, 2010 from http://www.business.illinois.edu/weisbach/HWTransparencyJan2007.pdf

Goessl, L. (2010), How Transparency Helps Make IT Governance More effective, Helium, Retrieved May 16, 2010 from http://www.helium.com/items/1614755-how-transparency-helps-make-it-governance-more-effective

Tarantino, A. (2006), Manager’s Guide to Compliance, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

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