The Importance of Creating a Documented ICT Processes, Policies, and Procedures Manual

ICT activity within a business entity

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become the cornerstone of operations within business entities, especially with the increasing reliance on IT in business management. The IT environment encompasses the electronic infrastructure and all software used in operations, along with measures to protect software from cyber-attacks.

Every activity within a business entity should integrate into the entity’s overarching governance framework. A key aspect of this framework is the creation of a comprehensive manual that documents the processes, policies, and procedures for each activity within the organization. The IT function, as a system of interconnected components, must operate in a coordinated and seamless manner. As such, it requires its own well-defined processes, policies, and procedures to guide its straightforward operation with the aim of ensuring consistency and operational efficiency.

Definition of processes, policies, and procedures for ICT activity

Processes are the set of functions assigned to information technology activity within a business entity to cover all of its tasks, such as incident management, change management, data protection, disaster recovery plans, and others.

As for policies, they are the high-level guiding principles that guide activity in how to streamline processes in order to achieve their desired goals.

Procedures are the detailed steps followed by those involved in information technology activity in implementing each process and within the framework of the policies specified for each process. Procedures define each employee’s role in the workflow cycle within the IT department.

A workflow diagram is usually designed for each of the processes to illustrate each step within the overall process implementation cycle.

The relationship between processes, policies, and procedures in ICT activity

The relationship between processes, policies, and procedures can be likened to the sides of a triangle—each side is essential to the structure’s strength and stability. If these elements are disconnected or misaligned, the integrity of their relationship is compromised, weakening the overall framework they support. Thus are the processes, police,s and procedures, as the processes are based on the strategic objectives of the entity, the policies are determined according to the goal of each process entrusted with the IT activity, and the procedures explain how to implement the processes in accordance with the policies specified for them.

Clearly defining the relationship between processes, policies, and procedures ensures IT activities are aligned with business objectives, the industry’s best practices, and adherence to regulatory requirements.

It should be noted that the main goal of having a guide to processes, policies, and procedures for IT activity is to achieve IT effectiveness, consistency, and compliance.

Methodologies or scientific theories used in preparing the processes, policies, and procedures manual

To create processes, policies and procedures manual that achieve effectiveness and consistency in ICT activity, it is necessary to follow the scientific methodologies and theories used in this field. It should be noted that this manual is primarily part of the governance framework in the business entity, but this part of the framework must be prepared in accordance with the relevant methodologies, such as:

• Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), this methodology focuses on best practices in IT service management.
• Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT), which establishes a framework for IT governance and management.
• ISO standards, especially ISO 27001, explain the guidelines for information security management systems.
• Agile and DevOps methodologies, which focus on resilience and effectiveness in IT operations
• Risk management frameworks include risk assessment methodologies for IT activity, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) framework and the Factor Analysis of Information Risk (FAIR) framework.

Moreover, adopting these methodologies when creating ICT processes, policies and procedures manual would achieve alignment with the best global practices and with the strategic objectives of the business entity as well as regulatory compliance requirements.

The added value of creating ICT processes, policies, and procedures manual

There is no doubt that having ICT processes, police,s and procedures manual is an added value to the business entity for:

1. Ensuring consistency in IT operations by implementing these activities in a unified manner that reduces errors and eliminates redundancies.
2. Achieving compliance and mitigating risks, as this manual represents the documented framework for implementing processes in accordance with regulatory requirements and in a way that reduces risks.
3. Improving operational effectiveness by following a unified workflow cycle according to the procedures chart. This will increase productivity and reduce business downtime.
4. Documenting knowledge, as this manual, is the reference for employees in learning about how to implement processes, and this reduces their dependence on others.
5. Enhancing the level of security, as the manual documents the necessary procedures to protect systems, data, and operations within the business entity.
6. Enhancing communication among the work team, as the manual clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of each member of the work team regarding the ICT processes.

Processes, policies, and procedures keeping pace with development

In light of the accelerating digital business world today, ICT has a pivotal role and must keep pace with developments in the technological landscape, and this results in the emergence of new functions assigned to this activity. These functions must be translated into the processes, policies, and procedures manual and updated on an ongoing basis. This also represents a development of the overall governance framework for the business entity, of which the ICT processes, policies, and procedures manual is a part.

Key performance indicators for IT activity

The effectiveness of the ICT processes, policies, and procedures manual must be measured against key performance indicators (KPIs) that represent the success of employees in this activity in achieving the objectives according to the manual prepared for that purpose. The KPIs relate to operational efficiency, security and regulatory compliance, customer service and satisfaction, governance framework, innovation and improvement, etc.

In conclusion, we should reiterate that the main objectives of the ICT processes, policies, and procedures manual are to achieve consistency, operational efficiency, data protection, and increased productivity, all of which ultimately contribute to achieving the strategic objectives of the business entities.

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