Development of an Information Technology Audit Process Quality Framework

The objective of this long term study will be to determine factors that may influence the IT audit process and develop a model that can be used to improve process quality. Using focus groups of internal auditors at one large, health care products and services company we identify factors rated as critical by one or more of these groups and develop a first draft of a quality model. This model could be used by managers to analyze and plan for IT audits by identifying risks and opportunities associated with the five categories of factors. In addition, IT audit managers and clients could use the detailed factors identified to develop and establish metrics to evaluate IT audit quality after the fact. Researchers could also use this model to further study the relationships among the various factors and their affects on IT audit quality.