Demystifying IT Audit: A Comprehensive Guide to Assessing Technology Risks

In today’s world, stable operation and security of IT services are very important conditions for successful business development. That is why the IT infrastructure of your company should be built in a way to meet the requirements and standards of the latest technologies.

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Since technology is developing very quickly, in the process of growth and development of your company, there is a need to improve existing IT services, and most importantly, optimize your costs and resources to increase profits. It is important for the head of the enterprise to clearly understand the directions for the development and improvement of IT services, because the investments you make in your IT department today may be used irrationally and tomorrow they may not be enough to meet the needs and requirements of your company.

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That is why it is important to periodically perform IT audits, especially for large complex infrastructures. Let’s figure it out.

What Is IT Audit?

An information technology audit is a set of works to examine and analyze the main components of a company’s IT infrastructure for compliance with modern technologies and the needs of your business to determine opportunities for further optimization and modernization.

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From the point of view of the IT department, an independent external information technology auditor that will assess the state of IT services is an opportunity to optimize computing resources, increase the level of reliability and security, and receive up-to-date technical documentation and instructions.

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For a business, a technology audit is a tool that helps in developing a strategy and deciding on areas for improving the IT infrastructure to optimize the costs of operating IT services in a company.

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In other words, an information system audit is a comprehensive, reasonable approach to organizing, modernizing, and optimizing an IT infrastructure that saves time and money for a company and its managers. Moreover, a qualified IT auditor can become your reliable partner for further fruitful cooperation.

What Is an IT Auditing Goal?

Any company is concerned about further development, which is currently impossible without the latest information technologies. At the same time, the rationalization and reduction of costs for the IT sector become an urgent issue. IT audit helps to find opportunities to spend less on IT without compromising business processes.

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Also, information technology auditing is the first and mandatory step in the development of a company’s information system strategy. The lack of a quality audit of existing capacities conceals from the head of the company the real picture of the current state of the information systems. It means that it will not be possible to make correct, economically justified decisions on its change and development. IT audit evaluates the available information resources and their compliance with the current and future goals of the company. Based on the results of this assessment, the IT service provider recommends solutions that allow the company to maximize the use of existing capacities and, thereby, avoid unnecessary costs for modernization.

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A well-conducted information system auditing shows which tasks the existing hardware and software will be able to solve, and which ones will require investments. In addition, an IT audit allows you to evaluate and reduce the cost of maintaining and owning information systems.

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Risk analysis in the field of information security is also impossible without a preliminary IT audit. The head of the company, as a rule, is not aware of the “weak points” of IS, through which confidential information can be leaked. IT audit provides the manager with a complete report on the degree of information security of his company and allows you to take timely measures.

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The introduction of new services and their configuration with the existing information system also requires a preliminary IT audit.

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IT audit has several objectives:

• Identification and analysis of problems in the information system, development of optimal ways to eliminate them;
• Checking correspondence of current IT solutions and the organizational structure to your business objectives;
• Assessing the compliance of the information system with international standards and modernizing it in time. Sometimes, insufficient attention to these issues leads to the failure of lucrative contracts;
• Analyzing the processes of development and implementation of new IS;
• Evaluation of the effectiveness of maintenance and technical support of information systems.

Overall, an IT audit serves as the initial stage for solving cost optimization problems and is an integral part of the audit of the information security system.

When Do You Need IT Auditing?

There are many cases where an IT audit will help your business or enterprise. An IT audit checklist includes:

• The company’s IT infrastructure is outdated (software and equipment have not been updated for several years), the last audit was carried out more than three years ago, or was not performed at all;
• Your organization is growing and developing rapidly, hiring new employees, opening a new branch, or vice versa, the staff is being reduced and it is necessary to reduce IT costs;
• New services and systems appear in the company, and new technologies are introduced;
• You are not satisfied with the performance of existing information systems (frequent errors and failures occur), you receive constant complaints from users;
• You are using technical support services from an outsourcing company or are not satisfied with the work of your IT department.

In all these cases, it is necessary to understand the current state of the infrastructure to assess the compliance of IT services with business requirements and determine the directions for further development of the company’s IT infrastructure.

How To Do An Audit of IT Systems: Main Stages

NEKLO, as an experienced IT services company, knows how to audit the information systems of any business.

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Below, we offer 6 stages of information systems auditing:

• Primary Survey

Primary survey of the existing IT infrastructure, inventory and detailed description of the current state of the client’s software and hardware. IT audit allows you to preliminarily assess the state of affairs in the customer’s IT sphere, and identify “problem areas” and possible risks. At this stage, we see problems and prioritize their solutions.

• Detailed analysis

Further, it is necessary to conduct a more detailed analysis – to analyze the identified problems in detail and search for the most rational ways to eliminate them.

• IT solutions listing

Next, a list of used IT solutions is compiled concerning current business processes, their rationality is assessed, bottlenecks are identified and possible optimization methods are identified.

• Algorithm description

IT audit provides a description of the logic of interaction between various components of the information system in the process of performing business tasks and assessing the relevance of the IS structure for their solution.

• Recommendations development

Then the specialists of IT consulting companies analyze the results of the audit and develop specific proposals and recommendations for optimizing all IS components (software and hardware).

• Report submission

Based on the results of the IT audit, you’ll be provided with a detailed report on these issues. An IT audit’s meaning in business is to help improve the quality of the functioning of the information system, that is, get the most out of it, reduce possible risks, as well as restructure investments in IT, for example, reduce support costs.

Conclusion

NEKLO offers support and consulting services for companies of various sizes. We assess the current state and indicate problem areas (report), provide recommendations for optimization, prepare technical documentation (system passport), offer upgrade options, and develop a program with estimated timelines and budgets. We also offer further cooperation (custom software development, subsequent technical support, consulting of technical specialists and training).

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Convince yourself of the professionalism of our team and the quality of our services by reading the reviews of our customers and contact us through the form on our website to get your solution analyzed and supported.