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Governance plays a significant role in delivering business value from IT investments, especially in the complex world of bundled contracts, according to a new report by Ovum.

As such, it is crucial that enterprises consider governance from a holistic point of view and ensure that all stakeholders are included and buy in to the governance program associated with any outsourced deal.

In a new report, the independent technology analyst firm said that governance cannot be undertaken half-heartedly. Governance policy must, from the start, include and align with all the relevant governing principles, processes, management structures, and performance metrics that drive the business.

"Governance is more than just IT project management; it requires investment, and needs to be considered as a far more critical component of vendor management," said Jens Butler, Ovum IT Services principal analyst and author of the report.

"With the expanded scope of many bundled contracts, including the need for an innovation and transformation agenda, governance will need to be solid, consistent, well-structured, and have the built-in flexibility to cope with the continuous change that we are seeing in IT and business environments," said Butler. "As such, the governance program will need well-defined guidelines and a will need a steady hand to steer through the continually changing delivery environment."

Governance is more than a set of project support operatives reporting on activities such as scheduling, monitoring tasks and flagging "red" elements. It is an essential component for future organizational success, demanding the alignment of the right processes, with the right tools, and the right people and stakeholders, especially within the sourcing arena. It requires the proper level of empowerment, control and capabilities to manage the increasingly complex and inter-related environments and technologies that are becoming the norm across the enterprise.

Butler recommends that enterprises populate the governance teams with experience and ensure that the team's metrics align with the corporate and sourcing goals. On the vendor side, Butler suggests bringing best-practice templates and approaches to the table that support enterprises' governance efforts.