Your IT department is probably doing what is required to meet today’s demands, but is it equipped to meet tomorrow’s challenges? Are solid foundations in place –to support change, or is there a lack of overview of a large number of IT projects, their planning and execution. Are systems structured in a transparent way, or do you depend on critical knowledge of a single person or supplier ?
To take any organisation to the next level, a thorough analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of its current situation is the best starting point. The same applies to its IT function. More and more, IT is becoming a crucial component of business operations. It needs to be flexible and adapt to change, as well as be reliable and robust to protect critical business functions. It is important that this analysis is conducted by an independent party, who’s primary goal is an objective evaluation. The evaluation should be unbiased and independent, without supplier preference and without trying to sell as many ‘new tools’ as possible.
An IT audit can be general or its scope can be more narrow, focusing on a single area or several processes within the IT organisation.
Management of IT
You probably have high expections of your IT organisation, but can you be sure they are realised? Ideally, the IT department should meet the demands of its clients – the other divisions within the company – quickly and efficiently without losing quality. At the same time safety of existing functions should be maintained and risk should be reduced.
Planning new functionalities
The starting point of an IT project is always the analysis of the customers’ needs. Then, depending on priority and budget, the optimal solution will be selected. During this process, it is important that the right requirements are mapped, the right tools are chosen and that the organisation has the skillset in-house to implement the planned functionality. Ultimately, being able to invest in an architecture that is solid, but also allows the flexibility to add new functionality is also a determining factor.
Building solutions
When you decide to start up your project, monitoring that it delivers the requirements in time, within budget and with sufficient quality are a part of the governance structure. Throughout the project, decisions will need to be made about purchasing software components or custom-built- developments. When making this choice, set-up of the different elements should always be done in a way that has a secure and high-quality solution as the end result.
System management and adaptation
Once an IT project has been realised, the dynamics of the operations will change: adjustments may be required by law or resulting from organisation changes. You will also need to keep in mind the stability of the application and data security.
Measuring means knowledge
Putting systems in place measuring performance is crucial. Do you have the right KPI’s set out and are you measuring them in the right way? Will only internal processes be tracked or will the IT department’s service to its clients also become part of the evaluation’s scope? Tools measuring security and quality should also be taken into account.
All these different domains of the IT function can be audited and benchmarked with industry best practices, tailored to your organisation. During the audit, risks and anomalies are mapped allowing the impact of possible issues become visible and recommendations for improvement are made.
The IT audit offers an objective evaluation of your current position in line with your organisation goals. By taking the time to do this exercise, you will gain a better insight in your IT organisation’s strong points and where it can improve.
You can then assign priorities to different actions based on risk, impact, added value and estimated cost of the adjustments. This way you can make educated decisions quickly, ensuring your business’ future development.