New Developments

In New Developments, internal auditors will find information about the most recent IT and audit research reports and survey results; new IT, security, and privacy legislation; and other news items of importance to auditors.

Information Is a Top Concern in 2008

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountant's (AICPA's) 19 Annual Top Technology Initiatives survey results are in. This year, information security management was chosen as the technology initiative that is expected to have the greatest impact on organizations. The survey, which was conducted in collaboration with The Institute of Internal Auditors, the Information Technology Alliance, and ISACA, has helped accountants, internal auditors, and IT professionals stay abreast of the latest technology trends and their impact to organizations since 1990.

This year's survey asked 1,169 finance, accounting, and IT professionals working in different industries, public accounting firms, academia, and the government sector to prioritize and identify key technology initiatives from a list of 29 items. "We believe this year's list is reflective of our environment, with the top four technology initiatives related to strategies that safeguard an organization's assets and ensure its well being," says Barry Melancon, AICPA president and chief executive officer.

Based on survey responses, the top 10 technology initiatives for 2008 are:

  1. Information security management.
  2. IT governance.
  3. Business continuity management and disaster recovery planning.
  4. Privacy management.
  5. Business process improvement, workflow, and process exception alerts.
  6. Identity and access management.
  7. Conforming to assurance and compliance standards.
  8. Business intelligence.
  9. Mobile and remote computing.
  10. Document, forms, content, and knowledge management.

IT governance moved up the priority ranking to second place from sixth place last year. "Properly governed IT is critical to an organization's success," explains Lynn Lawton, international president of ISACA. "Recent studies show that investors are willing to pay a premium of up to 20 percent more for shares of enterprises with reputations for good IT governance practices."

Additional technology priorities identified in the survey that did not make the top 10 list include:

  • Enhanced business reporting.
  • Enterprise system management.
  • Improved application and data integration.
  • Information portals.
  • Adoption of IPv6, or Internet protocol next generation technologies.

For more information on this year's technology initiatives and priorities, visit the AICPA's Web site.