New research from the IT Governance Institute, the research department of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, reveals C-level executives place increasing importance on IT governance.

According the ITGI's survey of 800 professionals at companies in 21 countries, 66 percent of companies currently have governance initiatives in place. Of the C-level executives polled, 95 percent considered IT governance an important organizational focus.

The most common forms of governance included IT policies and standards and implementation of defined and managed IT processes.

“IT managers can use governance of enterprise IT to make a significant impact with improved communication and more transparency between business and IT," Ken Vander Wal, the international vice president of the ISACA, said.

Other survey results show IT innovation is key, as 57 percent of respondents whose IT function is proactive said their company has implemented or has plans for innovative] IT.

Adopting a net-oriented architecture could be one method of innovation. According to a recent Pyramid Research report, a "significant amount" of respondents to a survey were willing to spend between 10 and 20 percent of their IT budget on a net-centric architecture. Sixty percent had already deployed a managed service.