ISYS90038 Chap.6 ICT Governance Frameworks: COBIT and ITIL
ICT Governance Frameworks: COBIT and ITIL
Week 6 introduces the two frameworks the subject requires: COBIT 2019 and ITIL 4. COBIT, from ISACA, governs and manages enterprise information and technology across the whole organisation. Its key concepts are principles, design factors, focus areas, components and the goals cascade, which runs from stakeholder needs through enterprise and alignment goals down to governance and management objectives.
A governance system has seven components, from processes and organisational structures to culture and skills, and COBIT's forty objectives sit in five domains: EDM for governance and APO, BAI, DSS and MEA for management. The subject concentrates on EDM and APO. ITIL 4 is a service management framework focused on IT.
Its service value system turns opportunity and demand into value through guiding principles, governance, the service value chain, practices and continual improvement, and every service must consider four dimensions. The value chain has six activities and the framework has thirty-four practices.
The two frameworks are complementary: COBIT emphasises aligning IT with business goals and accountability, while ITIL emphasises managing service levels and can be adopted in part. The worked case shows how to choose one for an organisation and name an objective or practice, the shape of a four-mark exam question.
What this chapter covers
- 01
What COBIT is: enterprise-wide governance of information and technology, and its four documents
- 02
The goals cascade: stakeholder needs to enterprise goals to alignment goals to objectives
- 03
Six governance system principles and seven components
- 04
Five domains and forty objectives, with EDM and APO as the subject's focus
- 05
ITIL 4's service value system, four dimensions and seven guiding principles
- 06
The service value chain's six activities and the thirty-four management practices
- 07
Choosing COBIT or ITIL: two reasons from the case and one objective or practice
Worked example · free
Justify ITIL 4 for a transport call centre
- 1Choice: ITIL 4, because the problems are in delivering a service to customers.
- 1Reason 1: missed response targets at peak (P3, L6–8) are a service delivery and capacity problem, ITIL's core territory.
- 1Reason 2: the vendor has no agreed service levels (P5, L2), which ITIL addresses through supplier and service level practices.
- 1Practice: service level management, to agree measurable targets with the vendor and report against them.
Key terms
- Goals cascade
- COBIT's chain that starts with stakeholder needs, turns them into enterprise goals, then IT-related alignment goals, and finally into the objectives to apply.
- Design factors
- Inputs that shape and tailor a COBIT governance system to one organisation.
- EDM domain
- COBIT's governance domain, Evaluate, Direct and Monitor, accountable to boards and executives.
- Service value system
- ITIL 4's model of how guiding principles, governance, the value chain, practices and continual improvement create value.
- Service value chain
- ITIL 4's six activities: plan, engage, design and transition, obtain or build, deliver and support, and improve.
- Four dimensions
- ITIL 4's lenses for every service: value streams and processes, partners and suppliers, organisations and people, and information and technology.
- Management practice
- In ITIL 4, the people, processes and tools an organisation assembles to carry out a piece of work or meet an objective.
ICT Governance Frameworks: COBIT and ITIL FAQ
Which COBIT domains matter most in this subject?
The module says to concentrate on EDM and APO, the governance domain and the align, plan and organise domain, because they are the most strategic. BAI sits between strategic and tactical, while DSS and MEA tend to be tactical.
Can COBIT and ITIL be used together?
They are complementary and cover similar processes under different names, but the assignment requires one framework only. In an exam, choose one for the case and justify it with evidence.
What does the ITIL service value chain include?
Six activities: plan, engage, design and transition, obtain or build, deliver and support, and improve. They combine into value streams, and the subject treats the value chain and practices as its main ITIL focus.
How is a governance system different from a framework?
A framework is a static set of rules or guidelines. A governance system is implemented through policies, processes and procedures, so it can succeed or fail, and COBIT gives principles for both.
Why does the subject focus on the ITIL value chain and practices?
The Week 6 Q&A names them as the main focus because they are where a case's service problems show up. A missed service level or a weak supplier relationship maps directly to a practice you can recommend.
Exam move
Memorise a small, precise set rather than everything: the four goals cascade levels, the seven components, the five domain codes with their names, a handful of EDM and APO objectives, the five service value system components, the four dimensions and the six value chain activities.
Then practise the four-mark choice: for each tutorial case, decide COBIT or ITIL, write two reasons with case lines, and name one objective or practice that fixes a cited gap. Practise tracing one goal down the cascade to an objective, because it justifies the objective you name.
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