An IT governance framework for IS portfolio management

Purpose: Success in the information systems (IS) project domain is elusive despite extensive research on the topic. Governance is seen as the greatest contributor to project success. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and report on the current perceptions and implementation of information technology (IT) governance within IS portfolio management to develop a sub-framework to guide practitioners. This sub-framework forms part of a grand IS project, programme and portfolio governance framework of which this study forms a contributing part. Design/methodology/approach: The researchers followed a mixed-methods approach through utilising Q-methodology and inverted factor analysis. Findings: The results provided a sub-framework recommending specific IT governance practices to be applied to IS portfolios. The recommendations are categorised as activities to be maintained, enhanced and/or implemented. Research limitations/implications: The research only had participants from South African organisations and as such cannot be reliably extrapolated to other regions. Originality/value: The resultant sub-framework provides stakeholders and practitioners involved in IS portfolios an opportunity to examine their own approaches and be confronted with possibilities in their portfolio management activities. Further research to be conducted includes creating a grand framework to address the linkages between portfolio, programme and project management as it relates to IT governance on various strategic levels.