Headlines
and Contents – August 2006Headlines
and Contents – August 2006On July 14 Australian Pharmaceutical Industries issued a press release announcing that it had asked the ASX to suspend trading in its shares. Included in the announcement was a specific reference to the linkage between new systems and the company’s inability to release full-year accounts. The recently released 2006 Annual Report says: “Since the end of the 2006 financial year, the company has been through a trying period and the events are unacceptable for shareholders… The announcement of our full year financial result was delayed, as during final consolidation of the 30 April balance sheet, a number of significant items did not reconcile.”
By Iron Mountain's Australasian MD, Ian Hollow
For many organisations, corporate records management is a lot like the human memory – mounds of (probably useless) information stored because that’s what the law requires. It’s organised in a questionable fashion in the hope that one day someone might a want a sample of it. But seldom are we able to retrieve a vital fact when we really need it – at least not without a whole lot of effort – and that assumes, of course, that it hasn’t already been wiped from the record!
RMIT University School of Management and Infonomics have agreed to collaborate on a preliminary research initiative entitled: “Achieving Business Sustainability: Directors’ Perceptions of Information Technology Investment, Corporate Monitoring and Governance”
For quite some time, we’ve been recommending that organisations need to establish an effective system of governance for their use of IT. As pointed out below by our correspondent from Compuware, establishing a system of governance is not achieved merely through installation of a software product.
Most organisations regardless of size, ownership and profit orientation depend on information and communication technology for their effective day to day and long term operations. This dependence includes ubiquitous functions like telephone and email, basic administrative functions like financial records keeping and banking, and, increasingly, essential business growth functions like customer retention, management and acquisition. In larger organisations, many fundamental business processes are designed to operate partly or wholly with information systems support. If systems are not effective, generally the processes perform poorly and limit the organisation.
How often do we hear discussion of IT plans not being aligned to the business? It seems to be one of today’s hot topics – though it’s been around for years. When I was with DMR, more than ten years ago, we spoke of services to help clients with “Business-IT Alignment”.
Doesn’t it strike you as unusual that IT would not be aligned with the business? How could situations arise where the IT department is doing things other than what the business needs, or working to priorities different to the business priorities?
By Mark D Green, Business Development Manager - Governance Solutions Compuware Asia Pacific.
Without sight how does one see? This is a common dilemma within business and I'm quite confident it is a topic of re-occurring pain in your business too, with only the intensity differing.
Last edition, we reported on the reaction of participants in our one-day seminar IT Governance: The Business and Boardroom Perspective. With increasing visibility of IT as a top level governance matter, we believe that the seminar is increasingly relevant and so we are again considering scheduling a series. We would be most interested to learn of readers who would like to attend a seminar. Your input will help guide us in terms of timing and venues. Please email your thoughts to seminars@infonomics.com.au.
Recently we’ve attended AFR Banktech.06 and Government Technology Evolution 2006 – spreading the word about governance of IT and becoming concerned about how these conferences are losing their delegates during the course of the conference.