A Detailed guide to COBIT Framework

As organizations increasingly rely on IT and rapidly transition to the cloud, the need for a structured approach to IT governance is more critical than ever. When managed effectively, IT can drive innovation, optimize resources, and enhance customer experience. However, when mismanaged, it can become a source of high risk. Enter Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) framework.

The COBIT framework was first introduced in 1996, driven by the need for systematic guidance on Enterprise IT governance. Over the years, the framework has evolved to include direction on new advancements and streamline IT activities, investments, and priorities in the digital age.

This blog discusses the essentials of the COBIT framework in detail to help you understand its history, relevance, principles, and implementation.

What is COBIT framework?

Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology or COBIT is an IT governance framework developed by ISACA (Information Systems Audit and Control Association) that aims to provide structured guidance on aligning IT processes with business objectives. COBIT helps organizations meet compliance requirements, mitigate risks, and manage enterprise IT.

It provides a set of tools, principles, and best practices to enable businesses to achieve business objectives while managing IT-related risks and optimizing resources.

What is the goal of the COBIT framework?

The main focus of the COBIT integrated framework is to ensure that IT processes support achieving business goals. The framework provides a common language for compliance auditors, business executives, and IT professionals to understand and communicate about governance objectives, business processes, and related responsibilities. The latest version of the framework is COBIT 2019. But let’s take a look at how the COBIT framework evolved.

Here’s the complete COBIT framework timeline:

• 1996: Originally introduced by ISACA for financial auditors to help understand and audit the IT environment
• 1998: Evolved into a comprehensive framework for Governance of Enterprise IT
• 2000: The third edition was released, incorporating feedback for improvements
• 2005: The fourth edition came in with significant updates to align with the latest industry practices on IT governance
• 2012: COBIT 5 was published to include information technology trends such as digitization and align with international standards such as ISO (International Organization for Standardization), ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) etc.
• 2019: The latest version of COBIT 2019 was released, which was more comprehensive and flexible and included more guidance on implementation and management of enterprise information.

Principles of COBIT Framework

The COBIT 2019 Framework is based on 6 principles for managing enterprise IT that enable organizations to achieve business success. These governance principles are:

Meeting Stakeholder needs

Organizations must deliver value to stakeholders, including customers, business partners, employees, etc., and address their needs when making IT governance-related decisions.

Enabling a Holistic Approach

Businesses must understand the different components that build the IT governance system and adopt a holistic approach when integrating these with business functions to achieve operational excellence.

Implementing a Dynamic Governance System

Organizations must implement flexible and adaptive governance processes that quickly respond to changing circumstances and emerging risks.

Separating Governance from Management

The framework distinguishes between governance and management, and businesses must do the same. Governance identifies stakeholder needs and ensures IT supports business objectives while management monitors day-to-day IT activities. The two must separate roles, responsibilities, and reporting channels to allow organizations to focus on strategic goals and ensure efficient operations.

Tailoring to enterprise needs

Organizations must customize the governance system to suit organizational needs. It requires understanding the business requirements and building a suitable and sustainable enterprise governance system.

End-to-end governance system

Organizations must focus on a single integrated system that aligns IT with all business functions and maximizes business value with enhanced performance.

Difference between COBIT 5 and COBIT 2019

COBIT 2019 is an updated COBIT framework with an additional principle, more processes and more guidance. The comprehensive version is suitable to help align enterprise goals with current technological trends and is also open-source to incorporate feedback and ensure continuous improvement.

Here’s what’s different in COBIT 5 and COBIT 19:

Basis	COBIT 5	COBIT 2019
Principles	Organized around 5 principles	Includes 6 principles with a stronger focus on a holistic approach to governance
Number of processes	Includes 37 processes	Covers 40 processes
Integration	Aligns with frameworks such as ISO, ITIL etc.	Aligns seamlessly with frameworks and includes other universal frameworks
Digital transformation	Does not address the challenges and opportunities of the changing environment	Includes guidance on dealing with making the most of digital transformation
Performance management	Uses a scoring system from 0-5 based on ISO/IEC 33000 series	Introduces a new approach based on capability levels
Design factors	Does not cover design factors	Includes new and revised design factors
Implementation guidance	Offers general guidance	Offers prescriptive implementation guidance

Updated Principles

COBIT 2019 has 6 principles as opposed to 5 in COBIT 5. The latest version includes end-to-end governance and ensures EGIT (enterprise governance of information and technology) is not overlooked.

Integration with other frameworks

While COBIT 5 aligns with frameworks such as ITIL, ISO, etc., COBIT 2019 provides more detailed guidance on the alignment, expands coverage to include more frameworks, and offers more flexibility, allowing for seamless integration of multiple frameworks.

Focus on new technologies

COBIT 2019 holds more relevance in the digital environment as it includes guidance on emerging technologies. It advocates that organizations must move towards digital business transformation with new mindset and technologies which is missing in COBIT 5.

Performance management and design factors

COBIT 5 uses a scoring system (Process Assessment Model) with a scale of 0-5 to evaluate the performance of IT processes. COBIT 2019 has an evolved approach to performance management, emphasizing establishing performance metrics and evaluating capability levels. This helps offer more flexibility and prioritize efforts based on specific needs.

COBIT 2019 also introduces new and revised design factors that weren’t a part of COBIT 5 to reflect changes in IT environments.

Prescriptive guidance

The implementation guidance in COBIT 2019 is more prescriptive. It includes comprehensive guidance on tools and techniques for governance and management, identifying and mitigating IT risks and other areas.

How to implement COBIT?

The COBIT framework provides control objectives and activities for governance, management, and operations. Organizations must implement these by tailoring them to specific needs to achieve their IT governance and business goals.

Here are 6 steps for COBIT implementation:

1. Assessment and planning

The first step is to assess your IT environment to get clarity on the current maturity of operations. This can be done through self-assessment and involvement of key stakeholders or using automated tools for risk assessments and analysis. The assessment results will help pinpoint gaps and lay the foundation for the implementation plan.

2. Defining implementation scope and objectives

Defining the scope requires you to narrow down IT areas that require the most attention and have the highest impact on business operations. Next, set clear and measurable objectives for COBIT implementation that are tailored to the organization’s specific needs. These objectives could include enhancing IT governance practices, strengthening risk management practices, ensuring regulatory compliance, etc.

3. Implementation plan

Develop an implementation plan based on the set objectives and analysis of the current situation. The roadmap must define the COBIT implementation approach ie. top-down or bottom-up for governance and implementation practices along with milestones and timelines. It must also include roles and responsibilities, a resource allocation plan, a risk management strategy, and a communication plan for awareness.

4. Customization and adoption

For execution, you must tailor the COBIT implementation practices to organizational context and requirements. The framework has different components of governance and management that can be selected as per objectives. ISACA gives an example where if the goal is managed continuity, the organization can :

• Choose processes such as identifying internal and outsourced activities, identify key stakeholders etc.
• Pick relevant practices such as defining a business continuity policy, managing backups etc.
• Define information flows for response
• Identify metrics such as percentage of stakeholders satisfied with service deliveries and so on.

All the customization and adoption policies and practices must be documented and the training programs must be arranged for the workforce for proper execution.

Tools like Sprinto can help you simplify implementation with custom framework management. Bring your COBIT framework on the platform and leverage adaptive automation to map controls, streamline workflows and ensure continuous compliance checks.

5. Monitoring and Evaluation

It is imperative to continuously monitor adherence to the COBIT framework and the effectiveness of operations in real time to understand the progress. There must be a mechanism for real-time monitoring and updates for the leadership to grasp quick insights and take the necessary action. You must regularly assess performance against the set metrics.

6. Continuous improvement

Based on the evaluation of monitoring results, there must be continuous adjustments in the processes to iterate and improve. Gather feedback from stakeholders, re-assess the risks, document monitoring insights and make informed decisions to stay continuously compliant.

Does COBIT align with other frameworks?

Yes, COBIT has references from and aligns with other frameworks to enable organizations to adopt industry best practices and improve their IT operations.

Let’s have a look at some examples:

• COBIT and ITIL: ITIL and COBIT are complementary frameworks aiming to improve the efficiency of IT operations. ITIL focuses on IT service management while COBIT emphasizes practical guidance for IT governance and risk management. Both can be used in alignment by an organization to provide a comprehensive approach to IT management.

• COBIT and NIST: The NIST Cybersecurity framework guides on improving the organization’s cybersecurity posture and COBIT helps align IT with business objectives. Both frameworks underscore the importance of risk management with NIST CSF using Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond and Recover functions and COBIT providing a framework for managing IT-related risks. These can be integrated and implemented by organizations to develop robust cybersecurity practices.

• COBIT and ISO/IEC 27001: ISO 27001 is a standard for Information security management systems and COBIT’s IT governance covers information security risks. Organizations can align the common controls for information security from both frameworks and effectively manage both security requirements and governance components.

Sprinto can help you visualize this alignment by giving you a percentage of overlap in frameworks. Want to learn how? Talk to an expert.

• COBIT and TOGAF: The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) focuses on enterprise architecture. It is complementary to COBIT in essence that both can be integrated to ensure IT governance practices align with enterprise architecture and help achieve business objectives. Both frameworks focus on IT strategies that contribute towards overarching business goals.

How to become a certified COBIT assessor?

COBIT certification is received by individuals rather than organizations. ISACA offers COBIT certifications with no prerequisites for qualification. It enables professionals to understand COBIT components and efficiently implement IT governance best practices in the organization.

To obtain COBIT certification individuals are required to:

• Choose a certification level such as COBIT Foundation, COBIT design and implementation or Assessor level
• Register for the certification program and use study material, training courses and other resources to prepare for the exam.
• Pass the exam. The number of questions can vary depending on certification level. For example, the foundation exam has 75 questions while the design and implementation exam has 60 questions
• Obtain and maintain the certification by fulfilling CPE (Continuing Professional Education) requirements

Bring your own COBIT framework to Sprinto

As a globally recognized framework, COBIT can help you enhance market trust and help you close better deals. It can improve IT processes, help you effectively manage risks and make it easy to match industry benchmarks and achieve regulatory compliance. 

Sprinto allows you to Bring-Your-Own-Framework (BYOF) to the dashboard and you can add COBIT to the product while simplifying customization and adoption. The platform can also help you map common control requirements with other frameworks such as NIST and ISO and enable you to get audit-ready for multiple frameworks.

Sprinto otherwise supports 20+ frameworks and is automation-powered to help you streamline compliance with laws and continuously monitor internal controls. Talk to a compliance expert and kickstart your compliance journey.

FAQs

What is ISACA?

ISACA or Information Systems Audit and Control Association is a non-profit and globally recognized association that is dedicated to creating guidance, resources and certifications for IT governance professionals. ISACA has developed the COBIT framework to help organizations fill technical gaps while managing business risks and implementing controls.

What are the key components of COBIT?

The 5 key components of COBIT are Framework, Process Descriptions, Control Objectives, Maturity models and Management guidelines.

Who can benefit from COBIT certification?

COBIT certification can benefit IT audit professionals, IT managers, IT consultants, IT developers, risk managers, business leaders and any professional dealing with IT management or governance.

What are the 4 domains of COBIT framework?

The 4 domains of COBIT framework are:

• Planning and Organization
• Delivering and Support
• Acquiring and implementation
• Monitoring and Evaluation