COBIT 2019 IT Governance Implementation Training Course

Course overview

Organisations often have IT controls, risk registers, architecture standards and performance dashboards, yet still struggle to show how technology decisions support enterprise strategy. COBIT 2019 provides a structured way to design, implement and sustain an IT governance system that is proportionate to the organisation’s objectives, risk profile, regulatory obligations and delivery model. This course addresses the practical challenge of moving from isolated control activities to an integrated governance approach with accountable decision rights, measurable objectives and prioritised improvement initiatives.

Participants work through the COBIT 2019 governance system and framework, including governance and management objectives, the goals cascade, components of a governance system, design factors, focus areas, capability considerations and the COBIT implementation lifecycle. They learn to translate stakeholder needs into enterprise and alignment goals, select relevant COBIT objectives, assess current-state practices, identify design gaps and define target governance arrangements. The course also covers how COBIT can be applied alongside ITIL, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 38500, enterprise risk management and assurance activities without creating duplicate controls.

Instruction combines facilitated explanation with structured workshops based on a realistic organisational case. Participants build a COBIT governance design workbook containing a stakeholder-needs analysis, goals cascade, design-factor profile, prioritised governance and management objectives, component recommendations, improvement roadmap, metrics and ownership model. The final day concludes with an implementation planning session that converts the design into sequenced actions, decision points and reporting measures. Participants receive a certificate on completion.

The course is suited to IT leaders, governance, risk, compliance, assurance and transformation professionals who need to establish or improve an enterprise IT governance system rather than simply understand COBIT terminology.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Apply the COBIT 2019 goals cascade to translate stakeholder needs into enterprise, alignment and governance objectives
• Assess organisational design factors using the COBIT 2019 Design Guide methodology
• Select and prioritise relevant COBIT governance and management objectives for a defined business context
• Define governance system components covering processes, structures, policies, information, culture, people and services
• Map decision rights, accountability and performance measures using COBIT RACI and management-practice structures
• Conduct a current-state gap assessment against selected COBIT objectives and management practices
• Build a risk-based COBIT implementation roadmap using the seven-phase implementation lifecycle
• Produce a governance system design workbook with target-state recommendations, metrics and improvement actions

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• IT Governance Managers — who must design, operate or refresh governance arrangements across technology services
• CIOs and Heads of IT — who need traceable links between business priorities, technology investments and accountability
• IT Risk Managers — who need to embed technology risk treatment within governance objectives and management practices
• Information Security Managers — who must align security governance with enterprise objectives and assurance requirements
• IT Audit and Assurance Professionals — who assess the adequacy of governance controls and management practices
• Digital Transformation and PMO Leaders — who need governance structures that support controlled change and benefits realisation

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical exposure to IT service delivery, information security, technology risk, audit, portfolio management or digital transformation. They should understand basic concepts such as business objectives, controls, risk appetite, policies, KPIs, accountability and the distinction between governance and management. Familiarity with ITIL, ISO/IEC 27001, internal audit or enterprise risk management is useful but not essential. No prior COBIT qualification is required, and participants do not need to be programmers, auditors or experienced framework implementers. A laptop with spreadsheet and document-editing software is recommended for workshop activities.

Training methodology

The five-day programme uses instructor-led walkthroughs of COBIT 2019 publications, followed by guided application to a realistic enterprise scenario. Participants complete design-factor assessments, goals-cascade mappings, governance-objective selection matrices, RACI exercises and capability gap reviews in small groups. Facilitated case discussions test decisions against risk, regulatory and stakeholder constraints. Each day adds to a governance design workbook, and the final workshop converts findings into a practical implementation roadmap with owners, milestones, measures and review points.

Course outline

Day 1: COBIT 2019 foundations and governance context

• COBIT 2019 principles for a governance system and governance framework
• Distinction between governance objectives and management objectives
• The COBIT Core Model and its 40 governance and management objectives
• Enterprise governance of information and technology concepts
• Governance system components and their interdependencies
• Stakeholder needs, value creation and enterprise objectives
• Relationships between COBIT, ITIL, ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 38500

Workshop: Participants analyse a case organisation’s governance symptoms and produce an initial stakeholder-needs statement and problem definition.

Day 2: Goals cascade and tailored governance design

• COBIT goals cascade structure and mapping logic
• Enterprise goals and alignment goals selection
• Design factor 1: enterprise strategy
• Design factors for enterprise goals, risk profile and threat landscape
• Design factors for compliance requirements and role of IT
• Design factors for sourcing model, implementation methods and technology adoption strategy
• Focus areas and their use in tailoring a governance system

Workshop: Participants complete a goals cascade and design-factor profile for the case organisation, producing a tailored governance context summary.

Day 3: Selecting objectives and defining governance components

• Prioritisation of COBIT governance and management objectives
• Governance objectives EDM01 through EDM05 and board-level accountability
• Management domains APO, BAI, DSS and MEA
• Process purpose statements, practices and activities
• Organisational structures and decision-making bodies
• Policies, procedures, information flows and reporting artefacts
• People, skills, culture, ethics and behaviour components

Workshop: Participants select priority COBIT objectives and create a target governance-component model with named accountabilities.

Day 4: Performance, capability and assurance integration

• COBIT performance management concepts and capability levels
• Defining governance and management performance metrics
• RACI charts for governance and management practices
• Current-state assessment methods and evidence sources
• Gap analysis against target practices and component requirements
• Integrating technology risk management and control assurance
• Using COBIT with internal audit, compliance testing and management reporting

Workshop: Participants perform a current-state assessment and produce a prioritised gap register with measures, owners and evidence requirements.

Day 5: Implementation roadmap and sustained improvement

• COBIT 2019 implementation lifecycle and continual improvement approach
• Identifying drivers, pain points and desired change outcomes
• Building the business case for governance improvement
• Prioritising initiatives by value, risk, dependency and organisational readiness
• Change enablement, communications and stakeholder engagement
• Roadmap milestones, governance checkpoints and benefit measures
• Monitoring, review and adaptation of the governance system

Workshop: Participants consolidate their workbook into a 90-day and 12-month COBIT implementation roadmap for presentation to an executive steering group.

Tools & standards covered

COBIT 2019 Framework: Introduction and Methodology, COBIT 2019 Framework: Governance and Management Objectives, COBIT 2019 Design Guide: Designing an Information and Technology Governance Solution, COBIT 2019 Implementation Guide: Implementing and Optimiz

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions