Pact with ISACA integrates its governance tools with Microsoft Operations Framework 4.0
Microsoft has licensed two of the industry’s leading methods for IT governance, integrated them with its own IT governance framework and made the whole library of materials available for free.
IT governance has been hailed as the panacea for today’s overburdened IT staff. When IT is being crushed under the heel of urgent and often conflicting demands from the business, IT governance offers a way to prioritize projects and measure effectiveness. Sophisticated IT governance frameworks have been crafted by several organizations such as the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). ITIL, though popular — particularly outside the U.S. — always feels a little like black magic … a lot to learn and all very Zen in how it is applied to any particular organization or situation.
So other frameworks have also risen to fill the need. ISACA, a global user association serving 86,000 IT professionals, is known for its two governance frameworks, COBIT 4.1 and Val IT 2.0. (By the way, ISACA is also known for its certifications, particularly the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT).)
Redmond also offers its own governance methodology, the Microsoft Operations Framework, newly revised in June. MOF is nice for Microsoft-oriented shops in that it contains recommended best practices for building its infrastructure (known as the Microsoft Solutions Framework) which covers practical matters like how to secure Hyper-V. It also covers broader IT/business governance issues. By integrating MOF with ISACA and ITIL, Microsoft users don’t have to learn multiple governance methodologies.
But until today Microsoft had only cuddled up to ITIL. Today it announced that it has licensed rival ISACA’s two frameworks and created a super-duper set of guidelines that marries them with MOF. COBIT 4.1 is a set of best practices that helps IT people manage the gap between a company’s technical needs and its business requirements. It helps companies create policies for areas like IT control and compliance. Val IT is a related set of best practices that more specifically helps companies measure the bottom-line effectiveness of their IT investments.
This giant framework is available free of charge from Microsoft. Although to be fair, ISACA’s documents are also available for free from its Web site. So no matter your preferred IT governance acronym, let’s just say MOAN (that’s blogger-speak for “Microsoft Owns An optioN”)
To download, visit the Microsoft data governance Web site and look for “MOF to COBIT/Val IT Comparison and Cross-Implementation Guide.”
Visit the Microsoft Subnet web site for more news, blogs, podcasts. Subscribe to all Microsoft Subnet bloggers. Sign up for the bi-weekly Microsoft newsletter. (Click on News/Microsoft News Alert.)
- Roll your own XP-to-Windows 7 upgrade on a USB drive
- Windows 7 pricing fails to impress
- Firefox Stays In The Game With Firefox 3.5
- Fake Microsoft Update Email Scam – That almost looks professional
- Sometimes Slower Can Be Better
- Microsoft Training for Solution Providers – a nifty website…
- Linxter offers a secure cloud messaging framework
- Giveaways and goodies from Microsoft Subnet and Cisco Subnet
Follow Microsoft Subnet on Twitter
