2010 International Conference on Education and Management Technology（ICEMT 2010）

Effective Governance through Simultaneous Use of COBIT and Val IT

Parvaneh Afzali Ensieh Azmayandeh

line 1: Department of Computer Research Studies, Islamic line 1 : Department of Computer Research Studies, Islamic
Azad University Azad University
line 2: Arak, Iran line 2: Arak, Iran
line 3: p.afzali@gmail.com line 3: e.azmayandeh@gmail.com

Ramin Nassiri Gholamreza Latif Shabgahi

line 1 : Department of Computer Eng, Islamic Azad line 1 : Department of Computer Research Studies,
University University of Power and Water Industry
line 2: Tehran, Iran line 2: Tehran, Iran
line 3: R_nasiri@iauctb.ac.ir line 3: Latif_shabgahi@yahoo.co.uk

Abstract—All of successful enterprises globally recognize that now driven by IT, while one would expect that the business
information technology is an important supporter in economic would take a leading role as well, because it is clear that
success and a strategic cooperator. These enterprises utilize IT business value from IT investments cannot be realized by IT,
Governance to achieve more and more value. But whereas the but will always be created on the business side. This
involvement of business is also crucial in creating value from
IT investments, the necessity of a migrating from IT
realization that the involvement of business is crucial,
Governance to Enterprise Governance of IT has been caused a shift in the definition toward Enterprise
appeared. This means enterprises need to establish Enterprise Governance of IT.[4] Enterprises are required to establish
Governance of IT through the frameworks so that they can Enterprise Governance of IT, through the frameworks to
clarify IT functionality and business functionality, properly. In declare both IT functionality and business functionality
this way, COBIT and Val IT frameworks can be facilitator. It clearly. In this way, the guiding frameworks of IT
is necessary that enterprises understand relationships between governance of institute, COBIT and Val IT, can be useful
these two frameworks and utilize them simultaneously to get and applicable. COBIT focused on IT processes and Val IT
great success. So in this paper, we aim to declare the focused on business processes can be the leverage to move
relationships between COBIT4.1 and Val IT2.0 to help
from IT governance to enterprise governance of IT.[5], [6]
enterprises to enable both business and IT people in
supporting of business/IT alignment and realizing of business Therefore, in this paper, for achieving Enterprise
value from IT-enabled business investments. governance of IT, we are going to introduce COBIT and Val
IT frameworks briefly and then show the relationship
Keywords-IT Governance; Enterprise Governance of IT; between them so that enterprises can use its results to
COBIT 4.1; Val IT 2.0; framework establish effective governance framework for achieving
economic success.
I. INTRODUCTION
Globally, enterprises -whether public or private, large or II. ENTERPRISE GOVERNANCE OF IT
small- increasingly understand that information is a strategic Unfortunately in the business world, when we
asset and IT is an important contributor to economic success. understand the way we are going on is incorrect, we
[1] Nowadays, in the most of enterprises, IT is essential to generally just say, ‘keep going and we will get back on
manage the transactions, information and knowledge course, surely’. But what we really have to say is, ‘OK,
necessary to initiate, sustain, support and develop economic where are we? Why are we not where we thought we are
activities and business.[2] By considering this critical going to be? Can we get back on course? If we cannot get
dependency on IT and also because of the need for the back on course, can we actually get to our destination? Or
transparency of enterprise risks and the protection of will we have to change our destination?’ These questions
stakeholders value, the management practices that are what governance is about. IT Governance is about
traditionally have been applied are no longer sufficient and determining where you want to go, understanding how you
this causes a clear incentive for management to utilize are going to get there, determining where you expect to be
effective IT governance processes to create value at an along the way, and when you are not, taking appropriate
affordable cost with an acceptable level of risk.[3] action.[7] “Fig. 1”.
In spite of all of IT governance advantages, especially
due to the focus on “Information Technology” in the naming
of the concept, many IT governance implementations are

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 2010 International Conference on Education and Management Technology（ICEMT 2010）

• Delivering and supporting, on a day-to-day basis,

those technology capabilities, along with portfolios
of existing services, systems and supporting
infrastructure (DS)
• Monitoring and evaluating portfolios of IT services,
assets and other resources to ensure that they
continue to enable the business to create optimal
value and to identify and initiate any improvements
in IT that could increase value creation through
further potential investment programs (ME) [5]
These four domains include 34 IT processes and 318
control objectives, totally.[9]
Figure 1. Four key questions of Governance [5].
IV. INTRODUCTION OF VAL IT FRAMEWORK
As shown in “Fig. 1”, IT Governance of IT is focused on Val IT was released in March 2006 by ITGI. Second
two bottom questions, and two top questions that focus on version of it -Val IT2.0- was released in 2008. [12] Val IT is
crucial involvement of business to business value creation recognized as the first comprehensive framework to support
from IT investments are the focal of Business Governance enterprise from the point of view of IT governance, with a
of IT. These four key questions are what ITGI calls the focus on value.[5] So, enabling enterprises to manage their
Enterprise Governance of IT. [5] Enterprise Governance of investments in IT-enabled changes such that they secure
IT can be considered as a key enabler of business/IT optimal value from IT-enabled business investments at an
alignment and the creation of business value from IT- affordable cost with an acceptable level of risk, can be
enabled business investments. [5] As shown in “Fig. 1”, Val considered as Val IT’s overall goal.[5] The Val IT model is
IT includes the perspective of Enterprise Governance of IT based on three domains: Value Governance, Portfolio
and helps executives to focus on two strategic and value Management, and Investment Management. The primary
questions. On this ground, COBIT includes the perspective focus of Val IT domains is on delivering business Value,
of IT Governance and helps executives to focus on through:
responding two architecture and delivery questions.[8] • Establishing governance practices that provide for
Therefore, these two frameworks provide together a clear and active linkage between the enterprise
powerful baseline to establish a broader framework for strategy, the portfolio of IT-enabled investment
Enterprise Governance of IT. [5] programs that execute the strategy, and the
portfolios of resulting IT services, assets and other
III. INTRODUCTION OF COBIT FRAMEWORK resources (VG)
Control Objectives for Information and related • Managing the overall investment portfolio to
Technology (COBIT) is a comprehensive set of resources optimize value to the enterprise (PM)
that contains all the information organizations need to adopt • Managing the results of individual investment
an IT governance framework. [9] COBIT has been programs, including business, process, people,
developed and promoted by the IT Governance Institute, technology and organizational change enabled by
which is part of the Information Systems Audit and Control the business and IT projects that make up the
Association (ISACA).The latest version is COBIT 4.1, programs (IM) [5]
published in 2007.[9], [10] The purpose of COBIT is to These three domains include 22 processes and 69 key
provide management and business process owners with an management practices, totally.
information technology (IT) governance model that helps in
delivering value from IT and understanding and managing V. THE REASONS OF NECESSITY FOR THE ADOPTION OF
the risks associated with IT.[10] The primary focus of COBIT AND VAL IT FRAMEWORKS
COBIT domains is on delivering the technology capabilities, Enterprise Governance of IT emphasizes on the need for
services, assets and other resources the business functions forceful partnership between IT and business. Same as IT
need to implement and sustain business change through: should be accountable for delivering of required technical
• Planning and organizing the enterprise IT processes capabilities, also business should be accountable for
and IT resources (PO) determining what technology capabilities should be change
• Acquiring and implementing, through a portfolio of and for value delivering from those changes and capabilities
technology projects, the technology capabilities, as well. To actualize that, COBIT framework that focuses
services, assets and other resources that are on IT-related responsibilities, and Val IT framework that
required to support the business change programs focuses on business-related responsibilities can be facilitator.
and the ongoing operation of the enterprise (AI) These frameworks provide concepts and approaches for CIO

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 2010 International Conference on Education and Management Technology（ICEMT 2010）

that is necessary for better relationships to business and for benefit realization. COBIT provides the framework for the
infusing of required business involvement. [6] A few of execution of the IT-related aspects of programs, including
other reasons are shown in the section below: IT solution delivery, IT operational implementation and IT
service delivery. [5], [9]
A. Creation of value by IT-Based Services
Val IT framework provides the structure for enterprises
to measure, monitor and optimize the realization of business
value from IT-enabled investment. In other words, Val IT
helps enterprises to understand if they are making the right
investments and to determine whether they are optimizing
the returns obtained from them. COBIT framework helps
enterprises understand if projects resulting from the
aforementioned investments are being executed correctly,
from an IT perspective.[12] So, the ultimate goal of COBIT
is considered IT goals, or in other words delivering the
intermediate outcomes and benefits defined in IT and
business goals. But the ultimate goal of Val IT is based on
Val IT domain goals or in other words on creating business
value.[5]Thereby, Val IT and COBIT, together can provide
business and IT decision makers with a comprehensive Figure 3. Sequence of initiatives.
framework for the creation of value from the delivery of
high-quality IT-based services.[5], [12] Whereas the execution of the business-related initiatives
of business change delivery, integration and operation are
B. Supplying answers to four key questions outside the scope of IT governance (i.e., COBIT), but are
As mentioned previously, Val IT is focused on Business within the scope of enterprise governance of IT (i.e., Val IT),
Governance of IT, but the focus of COBIT is on IT [5] so simultaneous utilization of Val IT focused on
Governance of IT. It should be attention that these two investment aspects and ongoing management of value of all
concepts are different, because Business Governance of IT initiatives, and COBIT focused on IT-related aspects of
is about performance and cannot be done by IT, but IT investment programs, leads to benefits realization in
Governance of IT is about compliance and cannot be done enterprise.[5] By considering aforementioned reasons, the
by the business. adoption of these two frameworks in enterprises leads to
Therefore, enterprises through the utilization of COBIT value realization from the delivery of high-quality IT-based
framework to establish IT Governance of IT, and Val IT services, answer to four key questions and benefits
framework to establish Business Governance of IT, can realization, by focusing on investment aspects and it-related
enable their executives to answer four key questions as aspects of programs.
illustrated in “Fig. 2” and response to governance, risk and
compliance requirements and realize optimize value from VI. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COBIT4.1 AND VAL IT2.0
their IT-enabled investments. whereas COBIT provides a framework including best
practices to control the information provided by IT to
support business processes and helps enterprises to
understand if they are doing right, from an IT perspective,
Val IT provides a framework including best practices to
measure, monitor and optimize the realization of business
value from their investment in IT and helps enterprises to
understand if they are making right investments and
optimizing return on their investments. Considering there is
nothing worse than doing well that which should not be
done at all, it is necessary to use another governance
Figure 2. Effective governance through simultaneous use of COBIT and framework (i.e. Val IT) to ensure doing right things beside
Val IT.
COBIT framework that it is a controlling framework to
C. Value realization ensure doing things in the right way. Adopting these
frameworks in enterprises for realizing maximized benefits
IT-enabled changes generally require multiple sets of requires verifying relationship between them. Thereby,
sequential and parallel initiatives, as shown in “Fig. 3”. Val relationship between COBIT and Val IT processes is shown
IT provides the framework for the investment and ongoing in table 1 to better understanding of these relationships by
value management aspects of all these initiatives and also enterprises. For verifying this relationship, we applied one
for the execution of program design and initiation and

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 2010 International Conference on Education and Management Technology（ICEMT 2010）

of used approach in the presented mappings by ISACA and PO7 PO7.3

ITGI known as text search. This approach can be used to ME4 ME4.4
PM4 PM4.1, PM4.2, PO1 PO1.1
find key concepts of a framework among another PM4.3, PM4.4, PO5 PO5.1, PO5.2
framework. Similarly, we used this approach to verify and PM4.5 ME4 ME4.3
compare key concepts expressed in COBIT4.1 control PM5 PM5.1 PO5 PO5.4, PO5.5
objectives and Val IT2.0 key management practices and ME1 ME1.1, ME1.3, ME1.5
declare relationship between these two frameworks clearly. ME4 ME4.3, ME4.6
PM6 PM6.1 PO1 PO1.1, PO1.6
PO5 PO5.1
TABLE I. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COBIT4.1 AND VAL IT2.0
PROCESSES ME1 ME1.4, ME1.6
ME4 ME4.3
Val IT COBIT Cross-references PM6.2 PO1 PO1.6
Process Key Mgmt. Process Control IM1 IM1.1 PO1 PO1.2, PO1.3
practices objectives AI1 AI1.1
VG1 VG1.1, VG1.2, PO1 PO1.2, PO1.4 IM1.2 PO1 PO1.1
VG1.3, VG1.4, PO4 PO4.4 PO5 PO5.3
VG1.5 ME4 ME4.1, ME4.2 IM1.3 PO1 PO1.1
VG2 VG2.1, VG2.2, PO4 PO4.1 PO5 PO5.1, PO5.2
VG2.3, VG2.4 ME1 ME1.1, ME1.3 ME4 ME4.3
ME4 ME4.1 IM2 IM2.1 PO1 PO1.1
PO1 PO1.1 AI1 AI1.1, AI1.2
VG2.5 PO4 PO4.6, PO4.15, PO4.8, IM2.2 PO1 PO1.1
PO4.9 AI1 AI1.3
PO6 PO6.2, PO6.3, PO6.1, IM3 IM3.1 PO1 PO1.1
PO6.4 PO10 PO10.1, PO10.7, PO10.8
PO10 PO10.1, PO10.2, PO10.3 ME4 ME4.4
ME4 ME4.1, ME4.2, ME4.3 IM4 IM4.1, IM4.3 PO1 PO1.1
VG2.6 PO4 PO4.2, PO4.3, PO4.5 PO5 PO5.3
PO6 PO6.4 IM4.2 PO1 PO1.1
PO10 PO10.3 PO5 PO5.5
VG3 VG3.1, VG3.2 PO1 PO1.1, PO1.5 IM5 IM5.1, IM5.3 PO1 PO1.1
PO5 PO5.1, PO5.2 PO5 PO5.3
VG3.3, VG3.4 PO1 PO1.2, PO1.3 PO10 PO10.10
PO2 PO2.1 IM5.2 PO1 PO1.1
PO5 PO5.1, PO5.2 PO6 PO6.1
ME4 ME4.5 PO10 PO10.1
VG3.5 PO1 PO1.1, PO1.3 IM6 IM6.1 PO10 PO10.1, PO10.3, PO10.6
PO5 PO5.1, PO5.2 IM6.2 PO10 PO10.13
ME4 ME4.3 ME1 ME1.4
VG4 VG4.1, VG4.2, PO1 PO1.4 ME4 ME4.3
VG4.3, VG4.4 PO5 PO5.1, PO5.2, PO5.3 IM6.3 PO5 PO5.5
VG5 VG5.1, VG5.2 ME1 ME1.1, ME1.2, ME1.3 PO10 PO10.13
VG5.3 ME1 ME1.5 ME1 ME1.4
VG5.4 ME1 ME1.6 ME4 ME4.3
ME2 ME2.7 IM7 IM7.1 PO1 PO1.6 0
DS1 DS1.5 IM8 IM8.1 PO5 PO5.4, PO5.5
VG6 VG6.1 ME2 ME2.1 PO10 PO10.6
PM1 PM1.1 PO1 PO1.2 IM9 IM9.1 ME4 ME4.3, ME4.6
ME4 ME4.2 IM9.2 ME2 ME2.1
PM1.2 PO1 PO1.2, PO1.4 IM9.3 DS1 DS1.5
PM1.3 PO5 PO5.1 DS2 DS2.4
ME4 ME4.5 DS3 DS3.5
PM1.4 PO1 PO1.2, PO1.4 DS8 DS8.5
PO4 PO4.4 IM10 IM10.1 PO10 PO10.14
ME4 ME4.1, ME4.2 AI4 AI4.1, AI4.2, AI4.3, AI4.4
PM2 PM2.1 PO1 PO1.4 ME4 ME4.3
PO5 PO5.3
PM3 PM3.1, PM3.2, PO4 PO4.5, PO4.12, PO4.13
Also in a brief manner, the coverage of the mapped
PM3.3, PM3.6, ME4 ME4.4 information of these two frameworks is shown in table 2
PM3.7, PM3.8 and is denoted as following:
PM3.4, PM3.9 PO1 PO1.5 (×) Full match, (+) Partial match, (0) minor match, (-)
PO4 PO4.5, PO4.13 Unrelated match, (\) No COBIT IT process exists
PO7 PO7.1, PO7.2, PO7.5
ME4 ME4.4
PM3.5, PM3.10 PO1 PO1.5
Full None
PO4 PO4.5, PO4.13

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 2010 International Conference on Education and Management Technology（ICEMT 2010）

TABLE II. HIGH LEVEL MAPPING BETWEEN COBIT4.1 AND VAL them can enhance IT governance processes and realize
IT2.0 PROCESSES
optimal value from their investments in IT.
VII. CONCLUSION
The Information Technology as an important supporter
for economic success in the scope of IT Governance of IT
and also for the business as a crucial role in creating value
from IT investments in the scope of business Governance of
IT leads to appearance of Enterprise Governance of IT. So,
enterprises need to establish Enterprise Governance of IT
through the focused frameworks on these two scopes.
Therefore, in this paper, by considering the importance of
the Enterprise Governance of IT and for achieving
Enterprise governance of IT, we introduced simultaneous
deployment of COBIT framework focused on IT processes
and Val IT framework focused on business processes, just
after the definition of Enterprise Governance of IT. Then,
we clarified three reasons for the simultaneous use of these
two frameworks in enterprises. In this way, the relationship
between COBIT4.1 and Val IT2.0 is shown in the form of a
mapping table.
This mapping would assist an enterprise with
understanding the relationship between processes of these
two frameworks to establish effective governance
framework through simultaneous use of COBIT and Val IT
for achieving to gain economic success.

REFERENCES
[1] ITGI, Unlocking Value: An Executive Primer on the Critical Role of
Considering table 2, “Fig. 4” shows relationship between IT Governance, USA:ITGI, 2008.
these frameworks from other view, too. [2] IT Governance Institute, Board Briefing on IT Governance, 2rd ed.,
USA:ITGI, 2003.
[3] IT Governance Institute, IT Governance Implementation Guide:
Using COBIT and Val IT, 2rd ed., USA:ITGI, 2007.
[4] S. De Haes and W. Van Grembergen, “Moving From IT Governance
to Enterprise Governance of IT,” ISACA Journal, Vol. 3, 2009.
[5] ITGI, Enterprise value: Governance of IT investments, The Val IT
Framework2.0., USA:ITGI, 2008.
[6] International Federation of Accountants, Enterprise Governance of
Information Technology Achieving Strategic Alignment and Value.,
USA.
[7] ISACA, Implementing and Continually Improving IT Governance.,
USA: ISACA, 2009.
[8] J.Perko, IT Governance and Enterprise Architecture as prerequisites
for assimilation of Service oriented Architecture., University of
technology tampere, december 2008.
[9] ITGI, COBIT4.1., USA: ITGI, 2007.
[10] ITGI, COBIT Control Practices: Guidance to Achieve Control
Objectives for Successful IT Governance., 2rd ed, USA: IT
Governance Institute, 2007.
[11] ISACA, “The Birth of Val IT,” ISACA Journal, USA, 2006.
[12] P. Voon and J. Salido, MOF to COBIT/Val IT Comparison and
Cross-Implementation Guide., June 2009.
Figure 4. relationship between COBIT4.1 and Val IT2.0

Considering things mentioned yet, we can say Val IT as

a complementary framework join with COBIT to provide
strategic practices cooperatively, so that enterprises by using

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