The keys to having a good audit experience are many. One of the biggest ones is to simply relax! Unless the audit state mandated following your failure to comply with some regulation, then the review can be enjoyable.

Often, when I arrive at a company to perform their first IT review, the IT professionals have very sweaty palms during the handshake. That passes quickly as they discover the review is all about “learning” and “what can we do to take IT to the next level.” Even the most experienced IT professionals welcome third party input about what is happening in other organizations in the way of best practices to handle the particular challenges different companies face.

Many areas are examined. If you are already using acceptable industry best practices, then you will get that confirmation. If there is an opportunity to take your IT to the next level, you’ll get detailed instructions about what to do, what not to do, and what other organizations have found during the implementations.

IT audits can be enjoyable when you look forward to getting your challenging questions answered and help to develop an IT roadmap for taking your organization’s IT to the next level.