Value Governance Framework
Know what every IT asset is worth.
An open framework and a platform that score every asset, from a server to a supplier, on how much your goals depend on it and how well it is run. One number, one decision.
The Executive Overview is free: leave your email and we send you the download link. The core books are free with a member account.
The universal value formula
Vi = Ci × Mi
Criticality
0–100
Maturity
0–5
Value
0–500
Customer Portal
Ci 91 × Mi 3.83 = Vi 349
Retire
Optimize
Monitor
Invest
Sustain
Every asset, one lifecycle
01
Plan
Strategy, design, budget
02
Acquire
Source, build, contract
03
Deploy
Configure, test, go live
04
Operate
Run, monitor, support
05
Optimize
Improve, tune, measure
06
Retire
Sunset, archive, learn
The problem
Red, amber, green is not enough.
Two assets can carry the same colour in a status report and deserve opposite decisions. A colour hides the difference between a critical asset and a trivial one.
01
No standard way to measure value
Frameworks describe how processes should run, not what an asset is worth. High, medium and low cannot be compared across a portfolio.
02
Goals and assets live apart
Business goals are set in one room and assets are managed in another. Nothing traces a board goal to the systems that deliver it.
03
Maturity is mistaken for value
Polishing a non-critical asset is waste, and neglecting a critical one is risk. Without criticality, maturity alone points the budget the wrong way.
The model
Value = Criticality × Maturity
VGF scores every asset by how much your goals depend on it and how well it is governed, then turns that score into a portfolio decision.
Ci 0–100
Criticality
How much do our business goals depend on this asset? Set by mapping assets to strategic, tactical and operational goals.
Mi 0–5
Maturity
How well is it governed, controlled and operated? Assessed on dimensions specific to each asset type.
Vi 0–500
Value
One comparable score for every asset in the organisation, from a database to a supplier.
The score decides the action
Retire
0–99
Plan decommissioning
Optimize
100–199
Consolidate, rationalise
Monitor
200–299
Maintain, watch for change
Invest
300–399
Close the maturity gap
Sustain
400–500
Protect the investment
Example: Customer Portal, Ci 91 × Mi 3.83 = Vi 349 → Invest.
The framework
Five pillars, one way to govern by value.
VGF is an open, technology-neutral standard. It sits beside the frameworks you already use and adds the one thing they lack: a measure of value.
Pillar 1
Enabler frameworks
Fourteen asset types, each with its own lifecycle from Plan to Retire.
Pillar 2
Goal architecture
Strategic, tactical and operational goals that set each asset’s criticality.
Pillar 3
Competency frameworks
Four core and ten extended lenses, from risk to FinOps, that set maturity.
Pillar 4
Vi formula
Criticality times maturity on one 0–500 scale for every asset.
Pillar 5
Operating model
Roles, committees and decision rights that put it to work.
Input assets
Information & Data
Technology Infrastructure
Application
Human Capital
Financial Resource
Knowledge
Process assets
Enabler Process
Assurance Process
Output assets
Service
Product
Control
Improvement
Supporting assets
Vendor & Partnership
Project & Initiative
The platform
The framework, in software.
Work moves through the modules like a production line. Technical sensors find what is running, architecture adds criticality, the value engine scores every record, risk turns weak spots into findings, and work and service management close them. Every pass raises maturity, and with it value.
Module
Enterprise Architecture
Capabilities, applications, data and technology, mapped to the goals they serve.
Module
Governance, Risk & Compliance
Risks, controls, audits and obligations on the same assets, ranked by value.
Module
Work Management
Tasks, approvals, audit programmes and improvement work, fed by every module.
Module
IT Service Management
Requests, incidents and changes on the same inventory, or connect the tool you run.
Installed in your own environment. Start with the core and one module, add the rest when you need them.
Solutions
Start from the problem you own.
Each topic uses the same assets, the same goals and the same value score, seen through the lens that matters to you.
Cyber Security
Protect what the business depends on most, ranked by value rather than by alert volume.
AI Governance
Bring AI models and agents into the asset inventory and govern them like any other asset.
Operational Resilience
Know which services must not stop and what an outage costs, measured as lost value.
Risk Management
Assess, treat and report risk on the same assets you run, with treatment ordered by value at stake.
Regulatory Compliance
Map obligations to controls and controls to assets, and keep the evidence in one place.
Data Governance & Privacy
Classify data assets, track personal data and show who controls it and how well.
Library
Read the framework. It is free.
The books are the source of truth for everything on this site and in the platform. Start with the Executive Overview, go deeper with a free member account.
Book 0
Executive Overview
Book 1
Management Guideline
14 books
Asset Lifecycle Frameworks
14 books
Competency Frameworks
Services
Help when you want it.
From a first value map of your critical assets to running the platform in production.
Assessment & roadmap
Goals, critical assets and a first Vi map, with a plan you can act on.
Adoption
Put the framework to work: roles, routines and the first decisions by value.
Audit support
Start audits with the highest-value assets and keep the evidence ready.
Platform implementation
Install, load your assets and goals, and configure the modules you need.
Certification path
Five levels, from first course to master.
1
Foundation
2
Practitioner
3
Specialist
4
Expert
5
Master
Community
Built in the open.
VGF is an open framework shaped by the people who use it. Ask how others score criticality, compare maturity criteria and share what worked in your audits.
Newsletter
New chapters and articles, when they are ready.
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See your portfolio in value terms.
A short walkthrough on sample data: assets, goals, maturity and the decisions they lead to.