COBIT-Design-and-Implementation ISACA COBIT2019 Design and Implementation certificate Questions and Answers

In COBIT 2019, the role of IT that demonstrates the highest level of enterprise dependency on Information and Technology (I&T) isStrategic. This role indicates that IT is not only integral to the business but is also a driver of innovation and strategic initiatives.

References in COBIT 2019 Design and Implementation:

COBIT 2019 Design Guide, Chapter 3:This chapter explains the various roles of IT within an enterprise. The strategic role is where IT is pivotal for business transformation, competitive advantage, and achieving strategic business goals.

COBIT 2019 Framework: Introduction and Methodology, Chapter 4:This chapter highlights the impact of the strategic role of IT on the governance system, emphasizing the high dependency on IT for achieving business objectives.

Enterprises with IT in a strategic role rely heavily on IT to drive business strategies, innovate, and gain a competitive edge, making it the highest level of dependency on I&T.

“Challenge: Lack of required skills and competencies…” → “Root causes: … Business and management skills often not included in training …”

When the IT implementation methods design factor value is agile, the management objective priority should be "Managed IT changes." Agile methodologies involve frequent changes and iterations, making effective change management crucial for success.

Agile methodologies emphasize flexibility, iterative development, and rapid response to change. As a result, managing IT changes becomes a priority to ensure that changes are systematically controlled, risks are mitigated, and alignment with business goals is maintained.

COBIT 2019 Framework References:

COBIT 2019 Framework: Governance and Management Objectives, BAI06 Managed IT Changes:This objective focuses on managing all IT changes in a controlled manner, ensuring minimal disruption and alignment with business goals.

COBIT 2019 Design Guide, Chapter 3:Discusses the importance of aligning management objectives with specific design factors, such as IT implementation methods like Agile.

By prioritizing "Managed IT changes," the enterprise can ensure that its agile implementation remains effective and aligned with overall governance objectives.

In the context of COBIT 2019, design factors are essential for tailoring the governance system to the specific needs of an enterprise. These factors help shape the governance system to ensure it aligns with the enterprise's strategy, goals, and environment. When considering how to tailor the governance system to an enterprise strategy, a COBIT implementation expert would look at several design factors, one of which iscost leadership.

Detailed Explanation with References:

Cost Leadership (Option A): Cost leadership is a strategic objective where an organization aims to become the lowest-cost producer in its industry. This strategy can be a significant design factor in tailoring a governance system, as it impacts decisions on IT investments, process efficiencies, and cost management. In COBIT 2019, aligning IT governance with a cost leadership strategy involves ensuring that IT initiatives support cost reduction and operational efficiency, thereby enabling the organization to achieve competitive pricing.

Risk Optimization (Option B): While risk optimization is an essential component of IT governance, it is more related to managing and balancing risk rather than a design factor specifically tailored to enterprise strategy.

Business Transformation (Option C): Business transformation refers to major changes in an organization’s processes, systems, or structure. It is more of a broader business objective rather than a design factor used specifically in the context of tailoring the governance system to an enterprise strategy.

Value Delivery (Option D): Value delivery focuses on ensuring that IT delivers value to the business. It is a core principle of IT governance but is not typically categorized as a design factor for tailoring enterprise strategy in COBIT 2019.

Conclusion:The correct answer isA. Cost leadership. Cost leadership as a design factor directly influences how the governance system is tailored to support the enterprise strategy of achieving the lowest cost production. This alignment ensures that the governance system supports strategic goals focused on cost efficiency and competitive pricing.

The COBIT® 2019 Implementation Guide explains that the business case documents both the drivers for change and the intended future (to-be) state. In merger scenarios, the business case outlines how systems should be consolidated, what capabilities are required, and what outcomes are expected.

Board announcements communicate intent but lack operational detail. Capability assessments describe the current state. Third-party reviews provide independent opinions but do not define the enterprise’s desired future configuration.

The business case serves as the authoritative reference for scope, objectives, benefits, and target capabilities, making it the correct source for future-state details.

COBIT® 2019 identifies the Threat Landscape as a design factor that determines how exposed an enterprise is to internal and external threats such as cyberattacks, fraud, geopolitical instability, or operational disruption. When the threat landscape is assessed as high, COBIT does not merely recommend increasing generic controls; instead, it emphasizes the need for specialized and focused guidance.

The Design Guide explicitly links elevated threats to the application of focus area variants, such as information security, risk, privacy, or resilience. These focus areas provide deeper, context-specific guidance beyond the core governance model. While management objective priority and capability levels may also be influenced indirectly, the primary and direct impact of a high threat landscape is the requirement for specific focus area guidance tailored to the nature of the threats faced.

Component variation refers to tailoring governance components, and capability levels describe performance expectations, but neither addresses the necessity for specialized governance content. COBIT’s design philosophy recognizes that high-risk environments require more than generic controls—they require targeted governance practices aligned with recognized risk domains. Therefore, the correct and primary impact is the need for specific focus area guidance.

As outlined in the COBIT 2019 Design Guide:

"The governance system design workflow supports the development of a governance system that is tailored to the specific needs, context, and priorities of the enterprise."

It is not limited to compliance or rigid frameworks.

The COBIT 2019 Design Guide clarifies that enterprise strategy is a critical design factor when aligning governance with business goals:

"Enterprise strategy guides the prioritization and selection of governance and management objectives. For example, if the strategy is to grow market share, the objectives related to innovation and service delivery will be emphasized."

Hence,enterprise strategyis the most important factor to consider in this scenario.

Key goal indicators (KGIs) are best suited for evaluating the performance of processes. KGIs measure the outcome of processes and indicate whether the objectives are being met, providing a clear picture of performance.

References in COBIT 2019 Design and Implementation:

COBIT 2019 Framework: Governance and Management Objectives, MEA01 (Managed Performance and Conformance Monitoring):This objective highlights the use of key goal indicators to measure and monitor the performance of governance and management processes.

COBIT 2019 Implementation Guide, Chapter 5:This chapter discusses the importance of using KGIs to evaluate process performance and ensure alignment with enterprise goals.

By focusing on KGIs, enterprises can effectively monitor and evaluate the success of their processes in achieving desired outcomes, leading to continuous improvement and better alignment with business objectives.

COBIT® 2019 explicitly states that design factors are context-dependent and must be assessed individually for each enterprise. Although both a military defense contractor and a pharmaceutical company operate in regulated environments, the nature, sources, and impact of threats and compliance requirements differ significantly.

A defense contractor faces geopolitical threats, national security regulations, export controls, and classified information risks. A pharmaceutical company, particularly one engaged in genetic research, faces regulatory scrutiny related to clinical trials, patient safety, intellectual property, and ethical compliance.

The Design Guide emphasizes that enterprises operating in different environments will have different threat profiles and compliance drivers, even if both are highly regulated. This difference directly affects governance priorities, focus areas, and capability requirements.

Therefore, the correct explanation is that the design factors would be very different due to the fundamentally different operating environments.

The COBIT 2019 framework aligns enterprise goals with balanced scorecard (BSC) dimensions. Under thegrowth and innovationBSC perspective, one of the core enterprise goals listed is:

"Product and business innovation" – which directly supports strategic growth by encouraging new products, services, and ways of operating.

This goal aligns with an enterprise that is expanding and looking to leverage innovation to sustain growth. Other options like risk management or cost optimization fit different BSC dimensions (e.g., financial, internal process).

The COBIT 2019 Implementation Guide states:

"A key pitfall in EGIT implementation is focusing too much on enabling IT-specific improvements and failing to tie governance outcomes directly to business value realization."

Effective EGIT must prioritize how IT contributes to achieving enterprise goals, not just technical or operational improvements.

In the COBIT® 2019 Implementation Guide, Phase 1 – What are the drivers? focuses on establishing a shared understanding of why change is needed. This includes clarifying enterprise goals, strategic priorities, and stakeholder expectations.

Before assessing current state or defining a target state, the implementation team must understand what the enterprise is trying to achieve. Without this understanding, governance improvements risk being misaligned or ineffective.

The guide explicitly links drivers to enterprise goals, pain points, and trigger events. Ensuring the program team understands enterprise goals at this stage enables consistent decision-making throughout the implementation lifecycle and supports alignment between governance activities and business value creation.

“Phase 1 identifies current change drivers … A change driver is an internal or external event, condition or key issue that serves as stimulus for change.”

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COBIT 2019 emphasizes:

"Defining enterprise goals is foundational to designing a governance system, as these goals drive the selection and prioritization of governance and management objectives."

Without clearly defined enterprise goals, planning cannot proceed effectively.

In the COBIT 2019 Design Guide, when dealing with therisk profileas a design factor, it is emphasized:

"To understand and assess risk at a strategic level, the enterprise’srisk appetitemust be established. Risk appetite defines the level and type of risk that the enterprise is willing to accept in pursuit of its objectives."

This is critical because all subsequent risk assessments, including high-level risk analyses and responses, depend on knowing what level of risk is tolerable or unacceptable to the organization. Without a defined risk appetite, risk prioritization becomes speculative and misaligned with enterprise strategy.

The Build, Acquire and Implement (BAI) domain in COBIT® 2019 explicitly covers the definition, acquisition, development, and integration of I&T solutions into business processes. The Governance and Management Objectives publication describes BAI as the domain responsible for ensuring that solutions are not only built correctly but also integrated effectively into enterprise operations.

While APO focuses on planning and strategy, DSS on service delivery, and MEA on monitoring and assurance, BAI uniquely addresses the transition from design to operational use. Objectives such as Managed Solution Identification and Build (BAI03) and Managed Change Acceptance and Transitioning (BAI07) directly support business process integration.

This domain ensures that business requirements are translated into working solutions that deliver value and align with enterprise objectives. Therefore, BAI is the domain most directly responsible for integrating I&T solutions with business processes.

The initial governance design process involves gathering inputs from various stakeholders, including business units, IT, and external partners. These inputs can sometimes conflict, and it is crucial to resolve these conflicts to create a unified governance system that supports enterprise objectives.

Key Steps:

Stakeholder Alignment:Ensuring that all stakeholders are on the same page regarding priorities and objectives.

Conflict Resolution:Addressing and resolving any discrepancies or conflicts in inputs to ensure a consistent and aligned governance system.

Prioritization:Establishing clear priorities to guide decision-making and resource allocation.

COBIT 2019 Framework References:

COBIT 2019 Design Guide, Chapter 4:Discusses the importance of resolving conflicting inputs and establishing a cohesive governance framework that aligns with enterprise priorities.

COBIT 2019 Framework: Governance and Management Objectives:Emphasizes the need for alignment between IT and enterprise goals, requiring the resolution of any conflicting priorities.

Resolving conflicting inputs and priorities ensures that the governance system is well-aligned and effective in achieving enterprise goals.

COBIT® 2019 clearly distinguishes between governance responsibilities and management responsibilities. While boards and business owners define direction and objectives, IT management is responsible for evaluating technical feasibility and cost-effectiveness of proposed solutions.

The Governance and Management Objectives guide assigns management the responsibility to plan, build, run, and monitor IT-related activities in alignment with governance direction. This includes assessing whether proposed governance solutions can be implemented with available technology, skills, architecture, and budget constraints.

The board does not assess technical feasibility; it evaluates strategic alignment and value. The finance office supports budgeting but does not determine feasibility. Business owners define requirements but rely on IT management for execution viability.

Therefore, IT management is accountable for confirming that governance solutions are both technically achievable and economically viable, making option A correct.

The COBIT 2019 Design Guide provides archetypes of enterprise strategies. For "Client Service/Stability":

"The services, infrastructure, and applications component plays a critical role in supporting a strategy focused on stability and reliable service delivery."

This component ensures operational reliability, a key aspect of the stability archetype.

It is critical to perform a due diligence review following a merger, acquisition, or divestiture. Such events involve significant changes to the organizational structure, assets, and operations, necessitating thorough review to identify risks, synergies, and compliance issues.

References in COBIT 2019 Design and Implementation:

COBIT 2019 Framework: Governance and Management Objectives, APO12 (Managed Risk):This objective emphasizes the importance of risk management during significant organizational changes, such as mergers and acquisitions.

COBIT 2019 Implementation Guide, Chapter 3:This chapter outlines the need for due diligence in evaluating potential risks and ensuring that governance and management practices are adapted to new organizational contexts.

A due diligence review ensures that all aspects of the merger, acquisition, or divestiture are carefully assessed, mitigating risks and supporting a smooth transition.

When soliciting feedback on a business case associated with a new system upgrade to satisfy new regulations, the current IT service vendor would be identified as an external stakeholder. External stakeholders are those outside the organization who can influence or be influenced by the outcomes of the project.

In the context of COBIT 2019, external stakeholders are those who are not part of the enterprise but have a vested interest in the success of IT initiatives. The current IT service vendor plays a critical role in providing feedback on the feasibility, implementation challenges, and potential impact of the new system upgrade.

COBIT 2019 Framework References:

COBIT 2019 Implementation Guide, Chapter 7:Highlights the importance of engaging external stakeholders, including vendors, to gain valuable insights and feedback.

COBIT 2019 Framework: Governance and Management Objectives:Emphasizes the need for stakeholder engagement, including both internal and external parties, to ensure comprehensive feedback and alignment with requirements.

Engaging the current IT service vendor as an external stakeholder ensures that all relevant perspectives are considered, enhancing the quality and feasibility of the business case.

The most likely root cause for an enterprise lacking the required skills and competencies to execute an EGIT (Enterprise Governance of IT) implementation program plan is that enterprise training does not include business and management skill development. Effective EGIT implementation requires a blend of technical, business, and management skills.

References in COBIT 2019 Design and Implementation:

COBIT 2019 Framework: Governance and Management Objectives, APO07 (Managed Human Resources):This objective emphasizes the importance of developing skills and competencies, including business and management skills, for successful governance and management of enterprise IT.

COBIT 2019 Implementation Guide, Chapter 3:This chapter outlines the need for comprehensive training programs that address not only technical skills but also business and management capabilities to ensure successful implementation of governance frameworks.

Without proper training that includes business and management skills, staff may be ill-prepared to handle the complexities of EGIT implementation, leading to skill gaps and competency issues.

In COBIT 2019 Implementation Guide:

"The internal audit function should provide independent advice during governance design. They help validate assessments and contribute insights on prioritizing gaps based on risk and control perspectives."

This ensures objectivity and alignment with assurance functions.

In COBIT 2019, information is seen as a key enabler because it underpins effective governance and management practices. Information items refer to the data and information that the organization needs to achieve its goals and support decision-making processes. This includes various types of information such as financial data, operational data, compliance reports, and performance metrics.

The COBIT 2019 Framework identifies seven components of a governance system:

Processes:Structured sets of practices and activities to achieve specific objectives and produce a set of outputs in support of achieving overall IT-related goals.

Organizational Structures:Key decision-making entities in an enterprise.

Principles, Policies, and Frameworks:Established rules and guidelines.

Information:All information produced and used by the enterprise, crucial for governance.

Culture, Ethics, and Behavior:Encompasses the values of the enterprise and its employees.

People, Skills, and Competencies:Required for successful completion of all activities and decision-making.

Services, Infrastructure, and Applications:Enabling and supporting the enterprise through its use of technology.

Information itemsfall under the fourth component, "Information," which is necessary for effective governance. Information items ensure that:

Decision-makers have the relevant data to make informed decisions.

There is transparency and accountability in reporting.

The organization can monitor and measure performance against strategic objectives.

Compliance with regulatory and legal requirements is maintained.

COBIT 2019 Design and Implementation Guide References:

COBIT 2019 Framework: Introduction and Methodology, Chapter 5:This chapter details the governance and management objectives and their components, highlighting the importance of information.

COBIT 2019 Design Guide, Chapter 2:This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the components of a governance system, including information items.

COBIT 2019 Implementation Guide, Chapter 3:This chapter explains how to incorporate various governance system components, such as information items, into the tailored governance system design.

Considering information items is essential because they provide the necessary context and insights for effective governance. By ensuring that information is accurate, timely, and relevant, an organization can better align its IT governance with its overall business objectives, thereby enhancing decision-making, performance tracking, and compliance.

According to the COBIT 2019 Design Guide:

"A key purpose of defining a risk profile is to compare identified risks with the enterprise's risk appetite. This allows the organization to prioritize areas where risk levels exceed acceptable thresholds and guide risk treatment plans accordingly."

The risk profile doesn't just highlight risks in general—it is specifically about those exceeding the enterprise’s defined tolerance.

During the Critical Success Factor (CSF) life cycle action plan review, the task associated with realizing benefits is "Monitoring performance against objectives." This task ensures that the expected benefits of the IT initiatives are being achieved by continuously assessing performance and making necessary adjustments.

Monitoring performance against objectives involves tracking the progress of IT initiatives to ensure they meet their goals and deliver the expected benefits. This includes using performance metrics, key performance indicators (KPIs), and regular reviews to evaluate whether the initiatives are on track and delivering value.

COBIT 2019 Framework References:

COBIT 2019 Implementation Guide, Chapter 7:Emphasizes the importance of monitoring and measuring performance to ensure that benefits are realized and objectives are met.

COBIT 2019 Design Guide, Chapter 4:Highlights the role of performance monitoring in managing and achieving IT governance and management objectives.

By monitoring performance against objectives, enterprises can ensure that their IT initiatives are successful and provide the intended benefits, making it a critical task in the CSF life cycle action plan review.

When DevOps is selected as the IT implementation method design factor, COBIT® 2019 emphasizes continuous integration, automation, and rapid solution delivery. The Design Guide indicates that DevOps environments require strong governance over solution identification, development, and build practices.

BAI03 (Managed Solution Identification and Build) directly supports these needs by ensuring that solutions are designed, built, tested, and maintained in a controlled yet agile manner. While change transitioning (BAI07) and operational objectives remain important, DevOps shifts responsibility earlier in the lifecycle toward build and integration activities.

DSS02 and BAI04 focus on operational stability rather than rapid delivery. Therefore, under DevOps, BAI03 becomes a priority management objective to ensure quality, speed, and alignment with business requirements.

COBIT 2019 highlights the importance ofexecutive leadershipand clear direction:

"Lack of strong and sustained management direction is a primary contributor to failure in large-scale governance or IT transformation initiatives."

Management direction encompasses setting vision, communicating goals, resolving conflicts, and ensuring alignment of resources. While the other options are important, they are symptomatic and secondary to the overarching need for effective management leadership. When this direction is weak, no amount of documentation or planning can rescue the initiative.

According to the COBIT 2019 Design Guide:

"In the final stage of the design workflow, design factors are used to determine the relative importance of governance and management objectives, which helps prioritize implementation efforts."

This occurs during theconclusion of the governance system design.

COBIT® 2019 defines enterprise strategy archetypes as a formal design factor used to tailor governance systems. One of these archetypes is cost leadership, which emphasizes operational efficiency, predictable outcomes, cost control, and disciplined investment decisions.

The Design Guide explains that for cost leadership strategies, governance systems must strongly support portfolio management and investment decision-making to ensure that resources are allocated efficiently and that spending aligns with enterprise priorities. An investment office or equivalent function enables structured evaluation, prioritization, and control of I&T-enabled investments, which is critical for maintaining low operational costs.

While skills, organizational structures, and enterprise architecture are relevant across all strategies, they are not distinguishing components for cost leadership. What differentiates cost leadership is the governance focus on financial discipline, value tracking, and investment optimization.

Therefore, support for the portfolio management role through an investment office is the most important and distinguishing component aligned with a cost leadership strategy in COBIT 2019.

The function within the IT corporate structure responsible for classifying information using an agreed-upon classification scheme for a new data collection system is the Information Security function. Information security ensures that data is properly classified to protect it according to its sensitivity and criticality.

References in COBIT 2019 Design and Implementation:

COBIT 2019 Framework: Governance and Management Objectives, APO13 (Managed Security):This objective outlines the responsibilities of the information security function, which includes defining and implementing information classification schemes.

COBIT 2019 Implementation Guide, Chapter 3:This chapter details how information security policies and practices should be established, including the classification of information assets.

COBIT 2019 Framework: Deliver, Service and Support (DSS05, Managed Security Services):This objective highlights the role of information security in managing security services, including data classification and protection measures.

By classifying information, the information security function ensures that data is adequately protected against unauthorized access and breaches, adhering to compliance requirements and supporting the overall security posture of the enterprise.

To ensure a planned IT initiative meets future state objectives, management should conduct stage gate reviews during implementation. Stage gate reviews are a critical part of project management and governance, ensuring that projects are on track, meeting their objectives, and adhering to the planned schedule and budget.

Stage gate reviews are formal checkpoints at various phases of a project where progress is assessed, and decisions are made about whether to proceed to the next stage. These reviews help to ensure that:

The project remains aligned with business objectives and stakeholder expectations.

Risks are identified and managed effectively.

Necessary adjustments are made based on the current project status and future state objectives.

COBIT 2019 emphasizes the importance of governance and management practices to ensure successful project outcomes. Stage gate reviews align with COBIT's governance objectives by providing oversight, ensuring alignment with business goals, and enabling course corrections when needed.

COBIT 2019 Framework References:

COBIT 2019 Framework: Governance and Management Objectives, BAI01 Manage Programs and Projects:This objective highlights the importance of structured project management and governance practices, including stage gate reviews.

COBIT 2019 Design Guide:Emphasizes the need for effective monitoring and control mechanisms throughout the project lifecycle to ensure alignment with enterprise goals.

Conducting stage gate reviews is a proactive measure to ensure that IT initiatives stay on track and achieve their intended future state objectives, making it the best choice among the given options.

In environments with high compliance requirements, managing risk is crucial to avoid legal penalties, financial losses, and reputational damage. The "Managed risk" objective ensures that risks related to compliance are identified, assessed, and mitigated effectively.

COBIT 2019 Framework References:

COBIT 2019 Framework: Governance and Management Objectives, APO12 Managed Risk:This objective focuses on establishing a risk management framework to identify and mitigate risks, including those related to compliance.

COBIT 2019 Design Guide, Chapter 2:Emphasizes the importance of managing risk in environments with high compliance requirements.

Prioritizing "Managed risk" ensures that the enterprise has robust processes in place to manage compliance-related risks, thereby safeguarding the organization against potential regulatory issues.

The COBIT 2019 Implementation Guide stresses:

"Management must continue to communicate the benefits and need for governance to sustain support and ensure long-term success."

Sustained communication helps embed governance practices into the culture of the organization.

I&T-related issues should be considered as part of the design factors for a governance system in order to manage risks that could materialize. This proactive approach allows the enterprise to identify and mitigate potential risks before they occur, enhancing the overall resilience and effectiveness of the governance system.

References in COBIT 2019 Design and Implementation:

COBIT 2019 Design Guide, Chapter 2:This chapter explains the importance of considering I&T-related issues as design factors to address potential risks that could impact the governance system.

COBIT 2019 Framework: Governance and Management Objectives, APO12 (Managed Risk):This objective emphasizes the need to identify and manage risks that could affect IT and business processes.

By addressing potential risks through the design of the governance system, enterprises can better prepare for and mitigate adverse events, ensuring smoother and more effective IT operations.