Three basic impact of Information Technology to Business and Audit

It has impacted what can be done in business in terms of information and as a business enabler. It has increased the ability to capture, store, analyze, and process tremendous amounts of data and information, which has increased the empowerment of the business decision maker. Technology has also become a primary enabler to various production and service processes. It has become a critical component to business processes. A ere is a residual e. ect in that the increased use of technology has resulted in increased budgets, increased successes and failures, and increased awareness of the need for control.

Technology has significantly impacted the control process. Although control objectives have generally remained constant, except for some that are technology speci. c, technology has altered the way in which systems should be controlled. Safeguarding assets, as a control objective, remains the same whether it is done manually or is automated. However, the manner by which the control objective is met is certainly impacted.

Technology has impacted the auditing profession in terms of how audits are performed (information capture and analysis, control concerns) and the knowledge required to draw conclusions regarding operational or system e. ectiveness, e. ciency and integrity, and reporting integrity. Initially, the impact was focused on dealing with a changed processing environment. As the need for auditors with specialized technology skills grew, so did the IT auditing profession.