Idea to be retired: Decentralized IT governance

[Commentary] The pendulum has long-since swung away from decentralization and back to centralization, but we have been slow to recognize it and adapt. A decentralized approach is unsuited to a future IT environment characterized by continual reduction of on-premises systems, near limitless bandwidth, and the majority of government systems migrated to the cloud. In order to recognize benefits including standardization, efficiencies of scale and scope, and lower coordination costs, we must act now to structurally align our IT governance to the new realities of cloud-based centralization. We must acknowledge that centralized IT governance is the superior model and that decentralization is an idea that needs to die.

[Denford is an associate professor and interim dean of Continuing Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada]