Usually the word “audit” evokes not very positive associations. After all, people believe that after the audit, someone will be reprimanded, fines or even fired. This is not true. Audit is a “photo” of the state of affairs in a business or function at the time of its conduct. For example, a general IT audit has the goal of identifying the true position of IT in the enterprise, existing risks of such IT areas as: communication with the business, processes, infrastructure, applications, and more. Liability for deficiencies should not be shifted to the existing IT structure. The IT landscape and interaction of IT with business could have been forming for many years. Despite the well-known and obvious results of IT audit, there are secrets that are of great importance for the further growth of the company's maturity. 1.The result will be already in the audit process Usually in companies, IT is perceived as a “service” unit in the business structure. During the audit, it's necessary to involve the entire top management in the survey. After first interviews, the main business divisions begin to look at IT differently and IT begins to communicate with business in its language. 2.The audit shows the strengths of the Company Audit reports should include more than just descriptions of weaknesses. IT auditors always focus on growth points that were discovered but were not obvious in the work prior to the audit. These points allow the customer to improve the efficiency of the company without performing additional measures (investments, involving additional resources). 3.Who are your “friends” The consequence of any IT audit is improvement of the existing system, cleaning of outdated principles and the introduction of new technologies and, as a result, the transparency and measurability of the IT management system. Sadly, but very often in companies there are people for whom such changes are not desirable, but there are people who are able to implement the changes. External audit is, first of all, impartiality. A holistic approach to conducting audit allows identifying resources for further development. 4.Guarantee of quality in support After audit completion, the Company obtains a report with a roadmap and a recommended list of actions. It's not a secret that operational work takes a lot of time for the IT Director, “urgent” tasks appear on an ongoing basis, and other unforeseen incidents arise that impede the smooth progress of the action plan based on the audit results. In order to keep an effective implementation of the roadmap, it might be controlled by an independent body or through an internal committee, whose tasks include support and control of implementation based on audit results. 5.IT Audit is future changes for the better It's difficult now to imagine a company where business processes are carried without the use of information technology. IT audit is like a comprehensive medical examination, as a result of which your business body can start functioning more efficiently and productively. But before you start, you need to be 100% sure that your business is ready for changes and important decisions.