What is COBIT 5? Definition & Explanation

What is COBIT 5?

COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology) helps organisations meet business challenges in regulatory compliance, risk management and aligning IT strategy with organisational goals. COBIT 5, the latest iteration of the framework, was released in 2012.

For a practical introduction to the key concepts of COBIT 5, read our bestselling guide Governance of Enterprise IT based on COBIT® 5.

COBIT 5 principles

COBIT 5 is based on five principles that are essential for the effective management and governance of enterprise IT:

• Principle 1: Meeting stakeholder needs
• Principle 2: Covering the enterprise end to end
• Principle 3: Applying a single integrated framework
• Principle 4: Enabling a holistic approach
• Principle 5: Separating governance from management

These five principles enable an organisation to build a holistic framework for the governance and management of IT that is built on seven ‘enablers’:

1. People, policies and frameworks
2. Processes
3. Organisational structures
4. Culture, ethics and behaviour
5. Information
6. Services, infrastructure and applications
7. People, skills and competencies

Together, the principles and enablers allow an organisation to align its IT investments with its objectives to realise the value of those investments.

Benefits of COBIT

The COBIT 5 framework can help organisations of all sizes:

• Improve and maintain high-quality information to support business decisions.
• Use IT effectively to achieve business goals.
• Use technology to promote operational excellence.
• Ensure IT risk is managed effectively.
• Ensure organisations realise the value of their investments in IT; and
• Achieve compliance with laws, regulations and contractual agreements.

COBIT 5 and other frameworks

COBIT 5 has been designed with integration at its heart. It is aligned with numerous best-practice frameworks and standards, such as ITIL®,
ISO 20000 and ISO 27001.

When implementing an IT Governance framework, it may be best to take an integrated approach, using parts of several different frameworks and standards to deliver the results you need.

In Pragmatic Application of Service Management, Suzanne Van Hove and Mark Thomas provide an approach to integrating COBIT 5, ITIL and ISO 20000 that delivers a better return on investment and alignment of IT with organisational objectives.