IT Governance Patterns in the Portuguese Financial Industry

Information Technology (IT) has been used in large organizations since the 1950s for internal and external purposes. The pervasive use of technology in organizations has created a critical dependency on IT that calls for a specific focus on IT Governance (ITG). However, determining the right ITG mechanisms remains a complex endeavor. In this paper we propose to perform an exploratory research and analyze several ITG case studies to elicit possible ITG mechanisms patterns. Then, we performed six interviews in Portuguese financial services organizations and compare the results. Our goal is to build some theories (ITG mechanisms patterns), which we believe will guide financial services organizations about the advisable ITG mechanisms given their specific context. We also intend to elicit conclusions regarding the most relevant ITG mechanisms for Portuguese financial services organizations. The research methodology adopted was Design Science Research (DSR). We finish our work with limitations, contribution and future work.