Methodology — 360° IT Audit

Guiding principles

• Risk-led, not checklist-led — every control traces back to a business risk.
• Evidence-first delivery — every workshop ends with an artefact in your repository.
• Local context — Arabic, English and Hindi delivery, local regulator relationships.
• Single source of truth — one risk register, one control set, many audits.

Phase 1. Planning

Risk-based scope across all IT domains.

• Policy and standard drafting against agreed templates
• Control design workshops with control owners
• Risk treatment plan signed off by risk committee
• Tooling and architecture decisions captured in ADRs

Phase 2. Execution

Domain-by-domain fieldwork and control testing.

• Defined entry and exit criteria captured in the engagement charter
• Weekly progress reporting against an agreed traffic-light scorecard
• Outputs reviewed by a Lead Auditor before sign-off
• Lessons captured to refine the next Audit & Assurance engagement

Phase 3. Synthesis

Cross-domain risk themes and root-cause analysis.

• Defined entry and exit criteria captured in the engagement charter
• Weekly progress reporting against an agreed traffic-light scorecard
• Outputs reviewed by a Lead Auditor before sign-off
• Lessons captured to refine the next Audit & Assurance engagement

Phase 4. Reporting

Audit committee report with remediation plan.

• Defined entry and exit criteria captured in the engagement charter
• Weekly progress reporting against an agreed traffic-light scorecard
• Outputs reviewed by a Lead Auditor before sign-off
• Lessons captured to refine the next Audit & Assurance engagement

Quality gates

Each phase ends with a formal gate review attended by the engagement partner, your sponsor and any second-line stakeholders. No phase closes until the gate criteria are documented and signed off.

• Gate 1 — scope, RACI and risk appetite formally agreed.
• Gate 2 — control design reviewed and approved by your security committee.
• Gate 3 — evidence pack independently sampled before audit submission.
• Gate 4 — post-audit lessons-learned and continuous improvement plan signed off.