OPINION: The critical task of aligning ICT strategy with business strategy begins at the top.

Just as ICT practitioners are striving to gain business skills to complement their technical knowledge, so company directors and executive management are, conversely, facing increasing pressure to gain a useful understanding of the technologies that support their enterprise.

Information technology is a key strategic element of any business--and, simply put, executive management and directors must have a sufficiently thorough grounding in ICT to be able to make strategic decisions based on achievable expectations and to manage the attendant commercial and corporate risk.

Most successful enterprises understand this, but not all at executive and board level appreciate just how strategically important ICT is, nor the ethical and legal issues it creates.

ICT is an integral part of business and ICT governance is an integral part of corporate governance. Just having awareness is no longer enough-true understanding of ICT is now required.

ICT might be seen to be growing more expensive, but information is also becoming more valuable. ICT governance ensures that the information available to the organisation is used effectively and efficiently, as well as in compliance with both legal and ethical governance.

The ICT Governance Institute defines its namesake as "rules and regulations that ensure resources are not being wasted or inappropriate investments made" and "a structure of relationships and processes to direct and control the enterprise in order to achieve the enterprise's goals by adding value while balancing risk versus return over ICT and its processes".

So, how does one put this into practice across the enterprise?

Corporate boards must first learn what questions to ask about ICT governance. Although it is unrealistic to insist that that all board directors have in-depth technical knowledge they do need to know enough to understand ICT issues and how management is addressing them.

Many boards place an over-reliance on consultants to report on IT issues when they should be developing an ability to assess the ICT governance practices of the organisation for themselves. It is bad policy to push IT governance responsibilities down to the IT manager level.

Learning must bridge this management--technology divide if there is to be an effective business--ICT connection. Those who must deliver to shareholders and stakeholders, and the practitioners charged with preserving returns on technology investments must learn each other's worlds.

ICT practitioners need to develop an understanding of business structure and processes. They must broaden their professional skills base to support the enterprise's evolution through new business models to meet competitive pressure from e-commerce, and to secure the enterprise's knowledge store.

Senior-level business managers are realising that the technology underpinning their business could just as easily bring it down. Similarly, the rapid development of e-commerce has shown that competitors who are more technically advanced could do the same.

The value that ICT adds to a business is a function of the degree to which the IT organisation is aligned with the business and meets its expectations.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has a pragmatic view of whose job information governance is: "First the CEO must regard ICT as a strategic resource to help the business get more out of its people.

"Second, the CEO must learn enough about technology to ask good, hard questions of the CIO and be able to tell whether good answers are coming back."

Add new responsibilities in privacy and other legal and moral issues to these practical considerations, and the task balloons. But it is a task that must be undertaken for the business of today to succeed.

Richard Hogg is National president of the Australian Computer Society (ACS). The ACS is the recognised association for Information Technology (IT) professionals, attracting a membership (over 16,000) from all levels of the IT industry and providing a wide range of services. A member of the Australian Council of Professions, the ACS is the guardian of professional ethics and standards in the IT industry, with a commitment to the wider community to ensure the beneficial use of IT.

Visit this page for other ACS articles published on ZDNet Australia.

Copyright © 2009 CBS Interactive, a CBS Company. All Rights Reserved.
ZDNET is a registered service mark of CBS Interactive. ZDNET Logo is a service mark of CBS Interactive.