Every business needs to work at peak efficiency if it is to compete and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace. For most organisations, that means making effective and efficient use of IT to underpin business processes, maximize productivity and deliver market advantage. But how do you know your IT is adding the value it should? Do you have the right hardware, software and communications? Is it reliably working at peak efficiency? Was it bought wisely? Is it legal and secure? And could it be doing more to help your business succeed?

Many large businesses struggle to answer these questions, even though they have extensive IT expertise in their organizations. For small-to-medium size companies the challenge is even greater. They do not have the luxury of large IT departments with the time and expertise to evaluate their IT needs, tune the technology they have and monitor its effectiveness from day to day. Typically they have only one or two staff that look after the information systems, and even that responsibility may be competing with other duties. Keeping on top of technological advances and the needs of the business is a real challenge, however diligent they may be. 

An IT audit provides an independent, expert assessment of your company’s use of IT. It does this quickly and at low cost and can provide reassurance that your IT is providing value for money, whilst highlighting any areas where it is under-performing or, worse still, exposing your business to avoidable risk. The process is very simple. An expert consultant, deploying a proven process within a comprehensive methodology, examines a range of aspects of your IT systems. The aim of the exercise is to identify weaknesses and confirm strengths. The areas of coverage typically include:

Security
Is the business adequately protected against threats from hackers, viruses and other electronic risks?

Performance
Is your IT working at peak efficiency; could further investment deliver significant benefits?

Legality
Are the risks of illegal software use and data protection legislation understood and managed?

Policy
Is an adequate policy framework in place to govern the management and use of your IT systems to maximize productivity and minimise risk?

Maintenance and Support
Is the system resilient, reliable and properly maintained, and is it and its users properly supported?

Procurement
Are you getting the best value from your IT purchasing, or are you paying too much?

Business Continuity
Are appropriate measures in place to ensure that the business could cope with system failures data corruption or more general disasters?

Communications
The lifeblood of business; do you have the right infrastructure within and outside your organisation?

At Omnivision Technology Solutions, we have the breadth and depth of expertise to understand and review your organisation’s IT quickly and comprehensively. Put simply, we’ve been there, seen it and done it. That means we can help you to identify how to optimize your use of IT, based on our experience of many similar installations. For further information, contact Omnivision Technology Solutions today.