The future of IT is Governance, Service and Assurance: The Seventh Vision revised

Several readers of The IT Skeptic have asked where is the IT Swami and in particular where were his New Year's predictions for 2008? Now we can reveal all.

The current New Zealand government achieved notoreity by funding a $26,000 cultural factfinding tour overseas which turned out to be studying hip-hop as a key element of contemporary indigenous culture. (It was not by any means their best effort). This is the equivalent of the US government paying some gangstas to check out the dance moves in Europe as a contribution to the cultural development of the USA.

In the resulting climate of closer scrutiny of arts grants, more money is now being channelled to scientific research. As a result, in 2007 the IT Swami succeeded in his application for a grant to travel to the Netherlands for "Investigation of Psychotropic Prognostication Techniques for Forecasting in the IT Service Management Industry". This was in recognition of his previous work, "VISIONS OF THE FUTURE: the IT Swami's seven visions of the future of ITIL".

This two week study tour in December last year turned into a three month trip from which the IT Swami has only recently returned, apparently with the encouragement of the Dutch authorities and the assistance of the New Zealand Embassy in Amsterdam.

Like all government-funded research, a report was required on the results of the IT Swami's trip. We will not post the whole 126-page document here as it is extremely technical and quite heavy going, but in summary the IT Swami has revised his Seventh Vision of the Future of ITIL.

In the original Vision he said:

...the final prophesy: That Which Is To Come.

I see… I see… I see… oh well actually I see an office chair.

But wait! there are words emblazoned on it. They say… um… “RollaSeat®”.

I must see deeper!

There are three castors, yes, three castors and The …Three …Castors …Of …The …Seat …Of …IT’s …Future …are …are …Governance, Service and Compliance!!

Now as a result of his latest research, he has apparently "dissipated the clouds of uncertainly discombobulating my prognostications" and can now say "most certainly indeed, my goodness" that the Three Castors Of The Seat Of IT’s Future are Governance, Service and Assurance.

He concludes: "Readers will I'm sure agree that the staggering profundity of this extensive revision to the Vision patently justifies the money and time spent in Holland and represents an excellent return on investment on the Government's $53,000."

It is early days in the IT Skeptic's investigation of the implications of this insight. One thing that is clear is that Compliance is but one aspect of the broader term Assurance. Assurance can be seen to cover all the operational activities that track the organisation against governance directives, take step to rectify divergence, and provide feedback to the governors.

These Assurance activities include

• Compliance (to standards and regulatory requirements)
• Risk
• Security
• Audit

As the IT Skeptic said in response to the original Seventh Vision "ITSM supports one third of the chair. We in IT need to lift our sights and see the other two thirds as well. We must integrate The Three Castors else we will end up sitting on our …er… floor."

The frenzy around Service Management is transmuting into BAU (business as usual). There is rising interest in Governance and Assurance. The Assurance area is more fragmented and less hyped but look for this to come together soon.

For more on this , see The Rise of Governance and Assurance