Key takeaways
- Governance and management have connected but distinct functions.
- Decisions need legitimate authority and traceability.
- Governance directs work and contributes to its value.
Direction and accountability
Governance establishes how decisions are made, who is accountable, and how their application is monitored. It concerns the organization’s current and future direction. Management conducts activities and uses resources within that framework. They complement each other: knowing execution owners does not establish who can accept a risk or change a direction.
Corporate, technology, IT, and architecture governance should connect. Corporate governance addresses strategy, performance, rights, and responsibilities. Architecture governance translates that context into rules and decisions for architecture development and evolution.
Six characteristics to recognize
Governance characteristics include discipline, transparency, independence, accountability, responsibility, and fairness. They require rules that are applied, explainable decisions, sufficiently independent examination, and identifiable responsibilities. Interests should be treated fairly. Useful governance improves the effectiveness and sustainability of resources and decisions; it does more than check forms.
- Define authority, escalation, and decision criteria.
- Retain decision rationale and evidence.
- Tailor controls to the scope and risk of change.
TERMS TO KNOW
The terms, in context.
- Accountability
- Obligation to answer for a decision or outcome.
- Architecture Governance
- Direction and control of architecture development and evolution.