COBIT - Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology

COBIT, you said COBIT?

COBIT is an IT governance framework developed in 1994 and published in 1996 by the ISACA (Information Systems, Audit and Control Association)

COBIT was then updated by the IT Governance Institute, an independent research institute created in 1998: http://www.itgi.org/

Nowadays, COBIT is one of the most famous IT Governance frameworks. Its recognition, especially by auditors, is the result of the Sarbane Oxley Act (SOX) in which the compliance aspect is based on COBIT controls.

COBIT aims to align technologies on the organisation’s strategy.

It offers best practices and oriented tools on audit to check the existence of 34 processes defined and shared into four categories.

• Planning and Organisation
• Acquisition and Implementation
• Delivery and Support
• Monitoring

For two categories: Acquisition and Implementation and Delivery and Support, the representatives will always be the directors and the co-workers involved in the technical aspects of the IS and well as those involved in the IS management team.

Above all else, COBIT is a framework used by auditors and developed as guidance for best practices for IT managers, which allows it to be seen as a toolset allowing a consensus on all the Governance best practices.

Cobit allows to check and assess investments made in IS and services done throughout IS Governance.

Important definitions

• Accountable Party: the individual, group or entity that is ultimately responsible for a subject matter, process or scope
• Responsible: In a Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed (RACI) chart, refers to the person who must ensure that activities are completed successfully
• Consulted: In a RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) chart, refers to those people whose opinions are sought on an activity (two-way communication)
• Informed: In a RACI chart (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed), Informed refers to those people who are kept up to date on the progress of an activity (one-way communication)

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