The Challenges of Compliance it Governance Frameworks in the UAE

Abstract

IT Governance frameworks such as COBIT, ITIL, and ISO have become the most important guidelines for IT Governance (ITG). These frameworks are used by organizations as a tool to evaluate their own ITG systems and to help the IT managers to bridge any gaps between the technical issues, business risks, and control requirements. The main objective of the research is to study the various IT governance frameworks used by the organizations and the challenges they face in compliance with the IT Governance framework, and the steps taken to overcome these challenges in the UAE. This objective was achieved by using a quantitative approach through a questionnaire felt by a sample of IT executives or IT professionals working at different private and public organizations in the UAE. The results of the study discovered that most of the organizations use ITIL and ISO as their preferred choice of the ITG framework, and the major challenge faced by the organizations in compliance with the ITG frameworks is the lack of people’s acceptance which overcomes by training people using tools and systems with the frameworks used in the organizations. This study provides useful information for future researchers to understand the challenges in implementing the ITG frameworks and how to overcome them in the context of the private and public sectors in the UAE.