Technology Risk Assessment
Introduction
The economic climate over the last few years has necessitated the use of sound risk management practices in business. Those businesses with high growth over this period have shown their expertise in being both agile, as well as forward thinking in their approach to Enterprise Risk Management. In particular, businesses need to ensure that their Risk Management approach supports the business goals and objectives.
Over the same period, the use and importance of Technology to not only remain competitive but to create an edge has meant that understanding the organisation’s use of technology and its reliance on it and, understanding the risk associated with the various aspects of the chosen solutions is a business imperative.
A Technology Risk Assessment can be used to assist in getting a clearer view of the organisation’s understanding of the technology it uses and how aligned it is to the business goals and how it is managing the associated risks.
What is a Technology Risk Assessment?
A Technology Risk Assessment (TRA) provides an objective view of an organisation’s readiness and maturity to using Technology and managing its Technology Risks to achieve its business goals. As such, the focus of a TRA can vary from business to business depending on the industry, size, management team, challenges, etc.
The deliverables may include findings indicating: how well an individual business is managing its technology risks. How mature the processes are to enable the business to learn from them and to improve them? How ready the technologies (and associated strategies) are for the business to maintain a lead in the industry it operates in?
What are the benefits of a TRA?
The benefits of a TRA depend on the purpose and focus of the TRA for the individual business, examples include: to enhance its corporate governance of IT activities, proactively identifying vulnerabilities and implementing risk-mitigation strategies, effectively aligning risk-management activities with business imperatives, and efficiently using corporate risk-management resources,ensuring a cost effective control environment. Just as the TRA can provide many benefits, the driver for a TRA may come from many different stakeholders.
Regardless of where the driver to undertake a TRA comes from the real benefits resulting from a TRA may include: improved response times of prioritized incidents; confidence that the technology side of disaster recovery provides the assurance necessary; the investments in the chosen technology will be realised as intended, and provide possible future cost efficiencies; existing processes (with some changes) will enable the organisation to be able to respond effectively to technology risks; identify immediate action that needs to be taken to avoid a disaster resulting from technology; immediate actions that need to be taken to become compliant with industry regulations.
Further, an organisation’s ability and readiness to respond to and leverage its technology and processes to effectively manage arising risks can sometimes lead to reduced insurance costs.
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