There is a silver lining to the perceived dark cloud of audits and regulations. Auditors are management's partner and design audits to identify key goals, issues, risks, and challenges facing an organization and evaluate its progress against important initiatives. Formal external and internal audits provide management with an increased level of assurance that compliance efforts are meeting the needs of the organization. Furthermore, every audit presents an opportunity to promote the sharing of lessons learned and best practices with all of the stakeholders involved in compliance efforts.
Audits don't have to be as complicated or resource-intensive as they may first appear. With a little preparation and more importantly, by conducting regular and proactive risk assessments of organizational compliance robustness, IT and internal auditors can develop an effective and efficient audit program that not only protects against regulatory and reputation risk, but helps implement a culture of continuous improvement for operational excellence.
Here's how to determine a company's readiness to increase auditing efforts, implementing a culture of continuous improvement.