CIMA Takes Business-Like Approach To IT

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

22 May 2008

The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) is bringing its information technology (IT) function in line with international, business-oriented best practices.

The Authority announced in its annual report for 2007 that it has embarked on a ten-week project to implement the COBIT (Control Objectives for Information-related Technology) Governance framework. COBIT and the complementary Val IT framework have been developed by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).

COBIT provides a framework that organisations can use to ensure their IT function closely aligns with their business objectives, while, Val IT helps an organisation quantify the cost-benefit ratio of IT expenditure, thereby assessing returns on investment.

More than 65,000 ISACA members use COBIT, in a diversity of companies in over 140 countries.

"CIMA's ultimate goal in implementing COBIT is to ensure the Authority has a reliable and adaptive IT function that is capable of quickly adjusting to changes in the company's business focus," explained CIMA's Information Systems Manager, Rodney Ebanks.

"Modern business is more dependent on Information Technology than ever and CIMA is making sure that its IT operations will have a positive and efficient bearing on the Authority's day-to-day functioning," he added.

During the implementation, CIMA's business and IT processes will be assessed to provide an understanding of business-IT alignment and of IT's value to the Authority.

Key issues - and their causes and impacts on business and IT processes will also be identified, and improvements will be developed and prioritised for these business and IT processes. Finally, a roadmap will be devised to guide CIMA in undertaking the improvements.

During the first two weeks of this process, various CIMA staff participated in awareness and training sessions with representatives of Deloitte, which has been engaged by the Authority to provide the necessary expertise and guidance. Staff also provided input through individual interviews with the Deloitte representatives.

"The implementation of the COBIT framework will involve consultation with, and input from, all of our business units within CIMA as well as all levels of staff, from analysts to the Board of Directors, to ensure that the business and IT functions have a common understanding of the business goals," Mr Ebanks concluded.

Recommended