Reference no: EM132824861

Using an ISO Standard for IT Governance

Overview of Assessment:

This assessment task requires you to analyse a case with regard to the IT governance issues evident and the applicability of the principles contained in relevant IT governance ISO standards. You will write up your analysis and recommendations in the form of a concise business report to offer solutions aimed at avoiding governance shortcomings in contemporary major IT projects and operations.

The following narrative introduces the case and includes links to relevant sources that you should inspect to successfully solve the assignment:

In recent years, the Auditor General (AG) for Western Australia has presented a regular report that examines controls associated with information technology in government departments and related authorities. The audit measures the extent to which various security procedures have been complied with. As such, these audits reveal some aspects about the prevailing character of IT governance in the state. The 2020 report again identified worrying shortfalls in performance. Similar difficulties also are mirrored in Australia's national government.

The WA State Government, along with other Australian jurisdictions, is becoming increasingly worried about rising threat levels involving the hacking of information systems. Recent reports from the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) highlight this problem.

Furthermore, the State Government is disturbed by rising governance challenges associated with corruption. There have been significant examples involving the misappropriation of public monies. Statements from other jurisdictions emphasise the need to foster better governance controls over the administration of information technology services and projects. There is a need to bolster governance to deal with both internal and external threats in public administration. In particular, there appears to be questions involving due diligence and in the management of conflicts of interest. The WA Government therefore Assume that you have been assigned as a consultant to advise the state government about the improvement of IT governance. There is interest to discover if a more principle-based approach should be adopted. The government's attention has been directed to the existence of the standard ISO/IEC 38500. Authorities want to know if that tool could be used to raise IT governance outcomes. The government similarly has been made aware of the existence of ISO/IEC 27000 2018. The powers are looking for practical approaches to solve underperformance in governance.

Accept that the WA Government has yet to adopt an IT governance framework. Your business report should include proposals on how the governance underperformance identified above should be resolved using the relevant ISO Standards.

When tackling this assignment, take care to orient yourself to deal with fundamental governance issues. The focus is to foster enhanced governance rather than dwelling on some specific shortfalls in technical issues identified in the Auditor General's report. Merely, repeating the results from the AG's report will not produce a satisfactory response for this assessment task.

In preparation:

1. You should first read the Information Systems Audit Report 2020 published by the Western Australian Auditor General.
2. Next, you should familiarise yourself with the ICT governance standard AS ISO/IEC 38500:2016. The standard outlines a series of principles that should be applied when seeking satisfactory governance outcomes.
3. Next, browse through the content of ISO/IEC 27000 to get a feel for relevant governance terminology.
4. Further details about extensions of this standard can be discovered in: Alan Calder, & Steve Watkins. (2019). IT Governance (7th edition). Kogan Page Ltd.

The report should have the following structure:

• Introduction that introduces the key questions being investigated and how the report will be structured.
• Critical analysis of the issues being explored.
• Explanation of the rationale that underlies any reforms that are being proposed.
• Conclusion that summarises findings and recommendations.
• Reference list containing a minimum of (5) academic references formatted according to the Harvard referencing style.

Ideally, you should cover the following topics:

• Development of a principles-based system to guide IT governance practice in WA's government agencies.
• Consideration of reforms that will strengthen compliance.
• Fortification of the ideas involving due diligence and dealing with conflicts of interest.
• Final recommendations concerning the suitability and feasibility of applying IT governance tools.

Attachment:- IT Governance.rar