Waltzing with the Elephant

This landmark book by Infonomics Principal Mark Toomey explores, in plain language, the need for organisations to effectively govern their use of information technology.  Building from the notion that governance of information technology is integral to governing the organisation, Waltzing with the Elephant explains how business leaders can engage on their terms, in their language, and exert effective control through a comprehensive, fully integrated system for governance and management that parallels the systems used to govern other assets and resources. 

Launch Speech by Christina Gillies:
Waltzing with the Elephant: it brings to mind many pictures doesn’t it?   I’m sure there are many board members and business executives who feel they are being trampled by the elephant when they are dealing with IT –  imagine if you really could really be in tune with IT and waltz with it rather than wonder what in God’s name is going to go wrong next.  >> Read more

Review by Julie Garland-McLellan:
From  time to time every board will have to make a decision on a topic that none of the individual directors knows much about.  These decisions are stressful; no director likes to be totally reliant upon management or consultants.  There is often insufficient time for a proper education process and, apart from getting alternative quotes and seeking information about how comparable companies are dealing with the issue, directors often take the line of least resistance and accept management’s recommendation. >> Read more

Review by Keith Frampton:
Waltzing with the Elephant! This evocative phrase is the title of the first book that I have seen that explains what IT governance is, why it matters, who is responsible and how you can pragmatically implement appropriate Technology for Information Technology governance.  The book is refreshingly free from jargon and is directly applicable and valuable to any organisation that uses or is impacted by information technology whether they are multi-national companies with hundreds of thousands of staff, government departments, small businesses, or community groups staffed by a few committed volunteers. >> Read more

Review by Fiona Balfour:
“Waltzing with the Elephant” is a great and wonderful read!! And, read from cover to cover, front to back –you see the logic rolling out in front of you. That logic is soundly based on the premise that business demand drives technology investment so thus the business itself should be exercising appropriate Governance. This demand-side based logic is a significant contribution to understanding the accountabilities and thus provides insight to this perspective on IT Governance. >> Read more

Blog commentary by John Thorp:
If you’re an executive with control over your company’s information technology purse strings, you probably don’t want to read a book this detailed in the intricacies of IT, which is exactly the reason that you should.” >> Read more