Rubric for Evaluating the Alignment of the IT Project Portfolio with IT Governance in Universities

Abstract

Organizations are currently using the potential of IT to achieve their strategic objectives. IT governance ensures that decisions related to information technologies are aligned with business needs and strategies. One of the best practices to introduce a culture of IT governance is the implementation of the IT project portfolio. However, there is a lack of studies that support this claim. We developed a rubric to evaluate the portfolio of IT projects of a university to determine its strategic nature and its alignment with the principles of IT governance. After a phase of qualitative research, we designed a survey to collect quantitative data in a real scenario. We contrasted these data with the estimated scenario through the results obtained in the previous phase. The objective of this research is to validate and improve the starting proposal as a result of qualitative research. This survey has been answered by Spanish public universities that have implemented a portfolio of IT projects and whose IT managers are aware of the ISO/IEC 38500 standard and its principles. The results have allowed us to design a rubric that can be used by universities to evaluate the relationship between the elements and the advantages of the IT project portfolio and its alignment with IT governance.