Know What is IS Audit and Its Benefits

An IS audit examines and evaluates an organization’s information technology setup, which includes its infrastructure, applications, operational processes, procedures and policies to find if they comply or not with the standards that have been established for them.

The Information System Audit will cover all resources of the IT infrastructure, which includes hardware, software, data resources and also the people using them. It examines not just the physical controls but also the business and security controls involved in information technology systems.

What Is An IS Audit And Who Needs It?

The audit will also check if controls used to protect an organization’s technology assets are safeguarding its integrity and if they are in accordance with its goals, objectives. Through it an organization can find out if its IT assets are being properly protected, if it is working as required and if it has been managed appropriately so that its benefits are accessible to its users.  It will check the functioning of automated information processing systems, non-automated processes and the interface in between. It is a key means of controlling computer abuse.

Every organization be it small or large but dependent only on IT systems for managing operations definitely needs an IT audit.  Through it a company can determine exactly the benefits that it is gaining by investing from information technology assets and steps that they need to take to adequately protect it. Companies today make use of MIS reports which are generated by IT systems that manage its many business processes, so if its malfunctions wrong decisions can be made and there may be many areas of non-compliance with standards. Getting an IT audit done will help find out such problems and resolve them quickly so that a company does not suddenly face a worst case scenario.

During the IT audit, various technology controls that are implemented in the IT infrastructure are studied wherein an analysis is done on their design and function.  Companies usually opt for it as an independent activity done yearly through an IT audit service else it can be clubbed as part of financial statement audit as well. It is done as part of implementing best practices in a company.

What Are The Benefits Of The Audit For The Organizations?

The Information System Audit will help find out which points or events in the IT system are vulnerable and can be penetrated. An example of such vulnerability can be something like an added or altered transaction else change in a data or program file or faulty operations. It will show how such abuse is caused by the nature of the application and strength of controls put in place for people using it.

Another important activity that it does is identifying those people who pose a threat to the IT infrastructure of a company due to their working habits. Such people can be programmers, computer security specialists, data entry operators, system analysts, hardware vendors etc.  Here is a look at the key benefits of an IS audit:

∙ Systematizes and integrates various business processes with IT infrastructure

∙ Find risks and weaknesses in the IT infrastructure so that solutions can be defined to exercise control over IT supported processes

∙ Ensures that information integrity, availability and confidentiality is maintained

∙ Find out means by which a company’s IT costs can be reduced, which has a significant impact on its total costs

∙ Aligns assessment with strategies and puts checks in place so that IT management is according to established standards

The IT audit process will make use of various tools, techniques, and international standards. It will also look into what is expected from an IT audit on not just developed systems but also those under development so that it can bring out an accurate auditing report. Its foremost goal is to check if there is compliance across the IT infrastructure and if IT security systems are properly in place to manage it.

Who Can Perform Such Audits?

An information system audit is carried out by people who are skilled and knowledgeable in complex information system issues and can connect them to various key business processes to determine their impact and how to resolve problems that arise due to  system malfunctioning. Usually, IT auditors are certified professionals in this field else they have years of experience in it. Their goal through auditing is to check up on various information systems, find out how they are functioning and bring up measures as to how they can bring more value to a business.