Project management risk is significant because of its lasting implications. By definition, a project is a “temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service and involves doing something that has not been done before.” Thus, it is reasonable to expect projects to involve a high degree of risk, and statistics support that expectation.

Topics: Project Management, IT Strategy, Performance Management/Measurement

Are You Familiar With Robotic Process Automation?

Robotic process automation (RPA) has been gaining traction as an efficient way to automate labor-intensive and repetitive tasks across a variety of business functions, including finance, accounting, technology, legal, HR, and, increasingly, audit and compliance.

Topics: IT Governance, IT Infrastructure, IT Strategy, IT Risk, Energy & Utilities Industry, Performance Management/Measurement, Robotic Process Automation

The internet of things (IoT) is an environment in which “things” – objects, animals or people – are given unique identifiers on the internet and are able to transfer data over a network without the need for human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. The IoT has evolved from the convergence of wireless technologies, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and the internet.

Topics: Risk Assessment, IT Strategy, Privacy, Business Continuity Management

What is design risk? To “design” is to create, fashion, execute or construct according to plan. The term design as used here refers to the entire scope of a project. A business system design is a collection of design documents and supporting materials which define the system functionality that supports one or more business processes and in the process, creates, retrieves, updates and deletes data.

Topics: IT Audit, IT Governance, IT Infrastructure, IT Strategy, IT Risk, IT Controls, Performance Management/Measurement

|Busi*ness In*tel”li*gence|, n. - the capacity to acquire and apply business knowledge, the act or state of knowing about your business; to understand and profit from experience; the internal development and sharing of information to create a competitive advantage.

Topics: IT Strategy, Data Analytics

The objectives of a business intelligence competency center (BICC) are to provide the organization with better control over operational and financial reporting, reduce reporting costs, improve consistency, and provide the organization with more complete information for management decisions. BICCs are often business-led cross-functional teams that provide organizational support and guidance for implementation and usage of business intelligence processes and technology. They can live within the IT organization, but more often are business driven.

Topics: IT Strategy, Data Analytics

Changes to a company’s information technology (IT) environment, both information systems and the underlying platforms, are a source of significant operational risk for every organization. To protect its IT investment and reduce operating risk, robust change management processes are critical. The need for a positive control environment and a very unforgiving attitude regarding unauthorized IT changes by management cannot be overemphasized. Insufficiently tested IT changes is an unacceptable practice.

Topics: IT Audit, IT Governance, IT Infrastructure, IT Strategy

The "Holy Grail" for IT has always been to be closely aligned with business efforts. For years, business has encouraged IT to focus on delivering business priorities. At the same time, IT has tried to be an integral part of business planning and align IT efforts and investments with business priorities. Ultimately, effective IT alignment really does require the ongoing and engaged involvement of all key participants. 

Topics: Project Management, IT Infrastructure, IT Strategy

Protiviti has published the second edition of its popular booklet, Guide to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act: IT Risks and Controls.

This publication is the definitive resource guide on IT risks and control issues related to compliance with SOX Section 404. This is a 45 page booklet covering an array of SOX-related topics in a questions and answers format.

Topics: Enterprise Risk Management, IT Audit, COSO, IT Strategy

Everybody is talking about IT Strategy lately. As IT managers you’re faced with considerable pressure to communicate a comprehensive strategy and also show a clear road to improving the business value of your activities. IT strategy management is often met with yawns by CEOs and other executives, yet it can advance or undermine every move a company makes.  In one-sided communication models like this, it’s often the case that only problems are properly recognized or attributed to your team.

Topics: IT Audit, IT Strategy