Peter Cross, chairman of itSMF Australia said the 2006 conference has been designed around the relationship between IT service management and IT governance to highlight the importance of aligning IT service delivery with business objectives.

Cross said this alignment is why frameworks such as ITIL and COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and related Technology) are experiencing a strong uptake globally.

"If you talk to senior IT executives, the sentiment is unanimous that IT-enabled business investments when managed well within an effective service management and governance framework, provide organizations with significant opportunities to create and increase business value," Cross said.

"The standard ISO/IEC 20000 is about developing and implementing processes to improve IT service and it is driven by the need for a much stronger focus on aligning IT services with business plans and objectives.

"When you integrate this with IT governance best practice processes, such as those defined in the COBIT framework, you end up with a powerful management and governance engine."