What role does the Governing body play in the governance and management of enterprise IT?

The governing body is responsible for the governance of enterprise IT. According to COBIT 5, governance ensures that stakeholder needs are evaluated to determine balanced, agreed-on enterprise objectives. It sets direction through prioritisation and decision-making and monitors performance and compliance against the agreed-on direction and objectives. This role is encapsulated by the Evaluate, Direct, and Monitor (EDM) domain. The governing body is ultimately accountable to the enterprise's owners and stakeholders for this function.

A. The governing body is accountable for governance but delegates the management of IT, not governance itself.
B. This describes the role of management (Plan, Build, Run, Monitor), which operates under the direction of the governing body.
C. While the governing body directs and monitors, "instructs" and "aligns" are more characteristic of management's role in executing the set direction.

1. ISACA, COBIT 5: A Business Framework for the Governance and Management of Enterprise IT, 2012, Page 27, Figure 10. The figure explicitly shows that the governing body performs Evaluate, Direct, and Monitor (EDM) activities and is accountable to stakeholders.

2. ISACA, COBIT 5: A Business Framework for the Governance and Management of Enterprise IT, 2012, Page 29, Section "Governance and Management". It states, "The governing body is accountable for governance... Direction is set through strategy and policy setting."