What objective does IT portfolio governance serve?

• A. To enforce strict compliance without considering business value.
• B. To manage only software licensing costs.
• C. The oversight of IT investments and initiatives to maximize business value while balancing risk and resources.
• D. To centralize all decision making to IT leadership regardless of risk.

Answer: (C)

IT portfolio governance focuses on overseeing the full set of IT investments and initiatives to maximize business value while balancing risk and resources. It involves evaluating, prioritizing, funding, and tracking a mix of programs and projects to ensure they align with strategic goals and deliver measurable benefits. This broad view helps optimize the portfolio, allocating resources where the expected value is highest and where risk is managed across the entire slate of work, not just within individual projects. It also emphasizes collaboration with business stakeholders and ongoing benefits realization, so the portfolio adapts as priorities and conditions change.

Other approaches—such as focusing only on compliance or solely on licensing costs—miss the bigger picture of value delivery and strategic alignment. Centralizing every decision in IT without considering risk and business input undermines balanced governance; effective IT portfolio governance requires balancing value, risk, and resources across the organization.