Information Security Management - Insights in the digital context

This position paper presents an overview of key insights pertaining to the management of information security in the digital business context, as derived from pertinent academic and practitioner literature. These insights, along with insights from subject matter experts, have informed development of IVI’s IT-CMF Information Security Management (ISM) Critical Capability

Information Security Management - Insights in the digital context

This position paper presents an overview of key insights pertaining to the management of information security in the digital business context, as derived from pertinent academic and practitioner literature. These insights, along with insights from subject matter experts, have informed development of IVI’s IT-CMF Information Security Management (ISM) Critical Capability

Personal Data Protection: Insights in the digital context

This position paper presents an overview of key insights pertaining to the protection of personal data in the digital business context, as derived from pertinent academic and practitioner literature. These insights, along with insights from subject matter experts, have informed development of IVI’s IT-CMF Personal Data Protection (PDP) Critical Capability

Driving SME Competitiveness in a Dynamic Business Landscape – Leveraging an IT Capability Mindset

The criticality of SMEs to the recovery and stability of world economies is para mount. Yet, growing and sustaining competitiveness in a business landscape characterised by dynamic market forces is undoubtedly challenging. Nonetheless, the increasing pervasiveness of globali z ation and ICT diffusion and innovation over the past decade, and the resulting changes in how companies now need to operate, have paved the way for smaller, more agile enterprises to compete with well established organi z ations. A more level playing field has emerged, with some individuals arguing that SMEs are now b etter positioned to gain maximum benefit from recent technological advances due to their greater agility comparative to that of larger organi z ations. However, technology in itself is not sufficient to acquire a competitive edge in today’s dynamic markets. Hence, how can SMEs turn the potential benefits of recent technological advances into a sustainable competitive advantage? Or, to put it another way, how can “the business” derive continuous and sustainable value from ICT in order to support and enhance it s competitive position in the marketplace? The answer lies in the SMEs’ adoption of a capability mindset, which recognises that sustainable competitive advantage is dependent not on technology itself, but rather on the creation of distinct and inimitable I T capabilities that differentiate a company from its competitors. This white paper explores the benefits of adopting an IT capability mindset for SMEs as a key enabler of business competitiveness and growth. The paper further introduces the SME IT - Capabili ty Maturity Framework (SME IT - CMF) to support SMEs in embarking on a capability improvement journe

IT Governance: Enabling effective, efficient, and acceptable use of IT

This position paper presents an overview of key insights on IT governance. The core concepts discussed in this paper are informed by ISO 38500, which is the internationally recognized standard that provides governing bodies and those who advise and assist them with guidance on how to effectively govern IT and meet compliance with their external regulatory obligations and internal policies. This standard, along with insights from pertinent academic and practitioner literature and subject matter experts, have informed the development of IVI’s IT-CMF Governance (GOV) Critical Capability

Managing Your People Assets – A Focus on the IT Talent Pool

Due to ICT’s ubiquitous nature, the IT function holds a strategically important role in many organizations today. The IT function not only supports day - to - day operations and business continuity, but due to technology’s evolution from role s of automate to informate to transformate , the IT function also plays an important part in how ICT can enable and facilitate radical organizational change. Therefore, the people assets of the IT function are a key resource that needs to be effectively managed. The principles of Talent Management, which recognizes the differential impact of employees in delivering value to the organization, are examined in thi s white paper. Key talent sources for the IT function need to be identified and recruited; rewarded in line with their performance contributions; developed through appropriate training programmes/schemes, and retained. One approach to determining the effec tiveness of organizations in managing the IT function’s ‘A performers’ is to determine the current maturity of their P eople A sset M anagement (PAM) capabilities. The PAM Critical Capability of IT - CMF is proposed as a useful maturity assessment tool to enabl e organizations to establish roadmaps or action plans to improve the current maturity of strategic workforce management and employment life cycle activities of the IT function. Such increased maturity would improve practices surrounding the identification and management of key talent sources

Understanding and Supporting Cloud Computing Adoption in Irish Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

Cloud Computing adoption has experienced a considerable rate of growth since its emergence in 2006. In 2011, it had become the top technology priority for organizations worldwide and according to some leading industry reports the cloud computing market is estimated to reach $241 billion by 2020. Reasons for adoption are multi‐fold, including for example the expected realisation of benefits pertaining to cost reduction, improved scalability, improved resource utilization, worker mobility and collaboration, and business continuity, among others. Research into the cloud computing adoption phenomenon has to date primarily focused on its impact on the larger, multinational enterprises. However, one key area of the market where cloud computing is expected to hold considerable promise is that of the Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME). SMEs are recognized as being inherently different from their larger enterprise counterparts, not least from a resource constraint perspective and for this reason, cloud computing is reported to offer significant benefits for SMEs through, for example, facilitating a reduction of the financial burden associated with new technology adoption. This paper reports findings from a recent study of Cloud Computing adoption among Irish SMEs. Despite its suggested importance, this study found that almost half of the respondents had not migrated any services or processes to the cloud environment. Further, with respect to those who had transitioned to the cloud, the data suggests that many of these SMEs did not rigorously assess their readiness for adopting cloud computing technology or did not adopt in‐depth approaches for managing the cloud lifecycle. These findings have important implications for the development/improvement of national strategies or policies to support the successful adoption of Cloud Computing technology among the SME market. This paper puts forward recommendations to support the SME cloud adoption journey

Business Innovation and Differentiation: Maturing the IT Capability

The IT Capability Maturity Framework (IT-CMF) determines an organization’s current and desired level of IT capability maturity and supports planning for improvement. Through capability improvement initiatives, organizations can more readily realize sustainable advantages through IT-enabled business innovation and differentiation

Understanding and Supporting Cloud Computing Adoption in Irish Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Cloud Computing adoption has experienced a considerable rate of growth since its emergence in 2006. In 2011, it had become the top technology priority for organizations worldwide and according to some leading industry reports the cloud computing market is estimated to reach $241 billion by 2020. Reasons for adoption are multi-fold, including for example the expected realisation of benefits pertaining to cost reduction, improved scalability, improved resource utilization, worker mobility and collaboration, and business continuity, among others. Research into the cloud computing adoption phenomenon has to date primarily focused on its impact on the larger, multinational enterprises. However, one key area of the market where cloud computing is expected to hold considerable promise is that of the Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME). SMEs are recognized as being inherently different from their larger enterprise counterparts, not least from a resource constraint perspective and for this reason, cloud computing is reported to offer significant benefits for SMEs through, for example, facilitating a reduction of the financial burden associated with new technology adoption. This paper reports findings from a recent study of Cloud Computing adoption among Irish SMEs. Despite its suggested importance, this study found that almost half of the respondents had not migrated any services or processes to the cloud environment. Further, with respect to those who had transitioned to the cloud, the data suggests that many of these SMEs did not rigorously assess their readiness for adopting cloud computing technology or did not adopt in-depth approaches for managing the cloud life cycle. These findings have important implications for the development/improvement of national strategies or policies to support the successful adoption of Cloud Computing technology among the SME market. This paper puts forward recommendations to support the SME cloud adoption journey

Risk Management Considerations in Cloud Computing Adoption

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays a pivotal role in enabling organizational capability and productivity, and in initiating and facilitating innovation across all industry sectors. In recent years, cloud computing has emerged as a growing trend because it serves as an enabler of scalable, flexible and powerful computing. Consequently, each year significant global investment is made in migrating to the cloud environment. However, despite its growing popularity, several risks and security concerns surround the cloud computing model. Therefore, understanding an organization’s readiness and ability to mitigate associated risks is critical prior to embarking on the cloud computing journey. One approach to determining an organization’s ability to effectively migrate to the cloud is to determine the current maturity of both its cloud computing capabilities and its risk management capabilities. As such, the Cloud Computing tool and the Risk Management (RM) Critical Capability of the IT Capability Maturity Framework (IT-CMF) are proposed as effective maturity assessment instruments to enable organizations to establish future roadmaps that will improve their maturity with respect to their cloud computing readiness. Increasing the level of maturity improves organizational practices surrounding the identification and mitigation of risks/threats that pertain to the cloud environment