ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., January 19, 2011 -- Thirty-five percent of C-level executives cite a significant investment in legacy infrastructure as the reason they are not adopting cloud computing, according to the fourth Global Status Report on the Governance of Enterprise IT (GEIT)—2011, conducted by the nonprofit, IT Governance Institute (ITGI), ISACA’s research affiliate.

While more than 40 percent of respondents use or are planning to use cloud computing for mission-critical IT services, those who do not plan to use cloud computing list security and privacy concerns, followed closely by legacy infrastructure investments, as barriers to adoption. Organizations are also actively employing outsourcing, with 93 percent fully or partially outsourcing some of their IT activities.

“Emerging technologies such as cloud computing and outsourcing can be managed effectively by integrating good governance over IT. Organizations need to adopt new service delivery models to stay competitive, and this is fueling a strong commitment to enterprise IT governance across the C-suite,” said Ken Vander Wal, CISA, CPA, international vice president of ISACA. “Assessing the value of current investments, building consensus among stakeholders and mitigating risk with third-party providers all require a comprehensive governance framework for organizations to be sure they are doing the right things and doing things right.”

The ITGI study and three past editions are available as free downloads from www.isaca.org/ITGI-Global-Survey-Results. The 2011 study polled 834 executives from 21 countries, divided almost evenly between business executives (CEOs, CFOs and COOs) and IT executives (CIOs and heads of IT). The study analyzes the degree to which the concept of GEIT is accepted by the C-suite and determines GEIT maturity levels, recognized frameworks, required/preferred certifications, and impact of current special-interest, GEIT-related topics.

Of the C-level executives surveyed, 95 percent consider governance of enterprise IT important. This reveals an almost universally shared perception of IT as a critical contributor to overall business strategy, no matter where the organization is on the path of GEIT maturity.

“The overwhelming consensus about the importance of IT governance is encouraging. As 2011 IT initiatives get underway against an economic backdrop that continues to be volatile, the ability to balance and manage value creation, risk management and optimization of resources will be critical,” said survey project team member Nicky Tiesenga, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, partner at IBM, USA.

This year’s study shows that top tactics used to battle the economic downturn were a reduction in contractor and permanent staff numbers and infrastructure consolidation. According to the Global Status Report on GEIT, GEIT processes can ensure that this focus is balanced with a view on investments that can generate cost savings and ultimately become self-funding.

Successfully implementing GEIT depends on effective change management, communication, scoping and identification of achievable objectives. The outcomes encompass shorter-term benefits such as reduced cost and longer-term benefits such as enhanced management of IT-related risk, improved relationships between business and IT, and increased business competitiveness. The top outcomes cited in this year’s study are improved management of IT-related risk (mentioned by 42 percent of respondents) and better communication and relationships between business and IT (37 percent).

For additional information, visit www.isaca.org/ITGI-Global-Survey-Results.

About the IT Governance Institute

The IT Governance Institute® (ITGI®) (www.itgi.org) is a nonprofit, independent research entity that provides guidance for the global business community on issues related to the enterprise governance of IT assets. ITGI was established by the nonprofit membership association ISACA (www.isaca.org) in 1998.

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Source: IT Governance Institute