Regular audits of your network and technology infrastructure, commonly known as Technology Audits or IT Audits, are necessary to determine where you stand and what actions need to occur. Most businesses these days use IT networks and systems in some capacity to run their day-to-day operations. No matter the size of the business, experiencing an outage or failure is a significant issue. Much like an engine – technology systems need to be checked and maintained to ensure they are working as intended, so understanding the functionality and vulnerability of a businesses technology systems is, therefore, vital to be able to protect them before it’s too late.
At Evologic we prefer to take a proactive approach, rather than a reactive approach, to our clients’ technology systems and recommend regular Technology Audits to ensure the business meets regulatory requirements, is functioning as required and whether it needs updates.
Below we’ve broken out the basics of what Technology Audits involve, how they can benefit your business and share a link to our free Technology Auditing Tool which is a great first step to take when starting your Technology Audit.
What does a Technology Audit involve?
A Technology Audit is a review of a businesses management controls within an Information Technology (IT) infrastructure including web services, software applications, security systems, operating systems and server networks and systems. The review should determine whether an IT system is operating effectively, safeguarding assets and maintaining data integrity. At the completion of an audit, you should have a clear report identifying risks and opportunities across these controls.
The Evologic team follow an audit methodology that looks at both business compliance, governance but also the efficiency and effectiveness of your IT systems and whether they align with your business objectives. The team focus on providing a thorough auditing service as well as an in-depth report with actionable insights.
Key benefits of a Technology Audits
- Identify Risks and Opportunities. As we’ve discussed, a Technology audit identifies and evaluates Technological risks in an organisation and looks into the integrity, confidentiality, infrastructure and processes as well as the efficiency and reliability of IT systems. The audit will also identify opportunities across these areas which will help in the planning of resources moving forward.
- Improve Security. Implementing changes following an audit will guarantee the security of an organisations data against threats ensuring an overall better operating IT system.
- Future-proofing. No matter how big or small a business is, technology audits will ensure safe and scalable frameworks are in place allowing strategic planning while they grow.
Best Practices for a Technology Audit
Ensure your Technology Audit is accurate and successful in identifying all the risks and opportunities in your systems by following these best practices.
- Get all the information ready. Whether the audit is being run internally or by an external party make sure you have prepared and provided all the specific information they might need.
- Communicate the Audit with the Business. Key stakeholders should be actively involved in the audit and their buy-in will help support the overall process and ensure it is allocated the time and resources required.
- Hire an External Auditor. Hiring an external auditor has many benefits including ensuring an unbiased audit is conducted, they have more and broader experience in auditing, they can help train your staff and can review your internal processes with a different perspective.
- Audit Regularly. The most successful businesses are proactive and conduct regular audits ensuring that they limit risks and plan and capitalise on opportunities.
Once a Technical Audit has been completed it is important to define clear actionable items based on the results as it’s not possible to reduce risks without implementing changes. The audit should provide clear and practical guidelines for making improvements and you should collaborate with your team or Managed IT partner to implement these changes.
Whether you’re an accounting firm or insurance company, it’s critical that IT systems are monitored and managed and regular Technology Audits will ensure risks and opportunities are identified proactively so you can implement the steps to reduce risks and take advantage of the found opportunities.
If your business is unfamiliar with Technology Audits we recommend that you change that immediately. Take the first step by assessing your IT situation using our free, self-serve technology auditing tool. In 10 minutes you will have a report on your current IT situation with direction on how your business can create positive changes with technology.
Alternatively, if you’d like to talk to the experts, contact the team at Evologic who can talk you through the services we offer and discuss how we can support your business.
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