Process documentation as estimate for effective IT Governance

Abstract

In organizations the overall work is split into tasks which are often referred to as processes. It is debatable if the tasks and procedures need to be documented or not. Does documenting processes of information technology (IT) make a difference for the organization? We have evidence that in higher education organizations in Germany, many institutions suffered in the past from the lack of documentation of IT. In this paper, we will present data that confirms advantages beyond the scope of the IT itself for organizations such as those universities who care for the documentation of the processes. The 2016 data from a survey in the German higher education system is analyzed specifically when looking at the question of pure existence of documentation of IT processes. How is this trivial view interlinked with other factors of the CIO structure, the IT financial situation, and many more? We observed that universities with IT process documentation on average a) spend more money on staff, b) get more value from IT, c) care for service level agreements, d) have higher security awareness, and e) have less shadow IT and being more centralized. Our findings are in line with proposition of BPMM, COBIT, ITIL and other frameworks, thus we support the emphasis on process orientation of IT including a solid documentation.