COBIT 4.1 Framework for Small Businesses

Week 1

“IT Governance is an issue that is most relevant to large businesses with many divisions, a large IT department and considerable IT assets. Large businesses often have more difficulty controlling their IT activities. The COBIT framework, as a governance tool, is most suited to large businesses and is not ideal for small to medium businesses – that is, it is a luxury they do not need and cannot afford. (Do you agree with the above statement? Provide reasons for your answer.)”

In the previous weeks we have been discussing IT Governance and its importance for businesses. I use technology for university, work and day-to-day living, similar to how most organisations and individuals do, and governance over such technologies can mitigate the occurrence of IT risk. I recently experienced USB failure and lost my current university work, however because of adequate back-up procedure in places, as outlined by DS11.5 - Backup and Restoration (COBIT 4.1, 2007), I was able to recover all lost files. I believe for small businesses back-up issues can be a major risk as they lack large IT infrastructure and IT assets. Moreover, back-up issues were a major risk during the Brisbane floods of 2011. However I found that off-site storage such as external hard-drives and 'the cloud' can be used to back-up, store and restore data.

Applying the COBIT 4.1 framework to small businesses can present issues due to the complexity of the framework and as small businesses do not operate in the same boundaries as large organisations do (Devos, Landeghem and Deschoolmeester, 2012). However Rudman (2008) highlights that a smaller version of COBIT 4.1 can be implemented for small businesses. Based on the basic control objectives of the four domains of COBIT 4.1; plan and organise, acquire and implement, deliver and support and monitor and evaluate, I believe that IT risks can effectively be minimised.

Reference List:

COBIT 4.1. (2007). COBIT 4.1: Framework, control objectives, management guidelines and maturity models. Retrieved from www.isaca.org

Devos, J., Van Landeghem, H., & Deschoolmeester, D. (2012). Rethinking IT governance for SMEs. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 112(2), 206-223. doi: 10.1108/02635571211204263

Rudman, R. (2008, April) Demystifying COBIT. Accountancy SA. 22-24. Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/215225161