Re: Cobit question

On 29/01/06 22:54 +0100, Rafael San Miguel Carrasco wrote:
> I am reading Cobit 4.0 and I have found something confusing in process 
> "PO3 Determine Technological Direction".
> The section "and is measured by" says "Number of technology platforms by 
> function across the enterprise".
>
> In your opinion, is a higher number of platforms a good or a bad sypthom?
> Fewer platforms makes the envronment more manageable, reduces TCO and 
> maintenance costs.
> More platforms means that exhaustive use of IT is being done, automating 
> most functions within the organization.

More platforms certainly does not mean that exhaustive use of IT is being
done. It means that you have redundancy, which may be a good or bad
thing. 

With different operating systems, you get a more heterogenous network, 
which should be more resistant to security breaches. However,
the cost of managing these systems increases.

If you are using Lotus Notes, Groupwise and Exchange for groupware, you
have three different platforms. Notes on AS400, Notes on AIX and Notes
on Win32 would make for three different platforms as well.

Deciding which works for you would be a financial decision. 

Devdas Bhagat