Top 10 IT challenges

It’s probably not news to read that many companies aren’t going far enough to assess and fix their IT risks, but a recent survey from consulting firm Protiviti is an eye-opener if you deal in the world of cyber risk.

The Menlo Park, Calif., firm’s 2012 IT Audit Benchmarking Survey shows the top 10 technology challenges faced by businesses, and it notes that a large number of firms conduct no IT audit risk assessment whatsoever.

Moreover, “a considerable number of companies that do conduct assessments have critical gaps in their IT audit capabilities,” the survey states.

The survey asked participants about the top technology challenges that organizations face today. The top 10 were:

This year’s survey showed an increased number of companies with reported revenues of between $100 million and $1 billion were conducting IT audit risk assessments.

However, three in 10 firms with less than $100 million in annual revenues conduct no such assessment, the survey shows. The survey also shows that 65 percent reported they conduct their IT audit risk assessments annually. But according to Protiviti that may not be good enough. The firm recommends conducting IT risk assessments more often to keep up with the rapid pace at which technology changes.

Protiviti conducted its IT Audit Benchmarking Survey in the first and second quarters of 2012 with participants comprised of chief audit executives, audit directors, and IT audit directors and managers.

An added bonus from reading surveys like this is you often get introduced not only to new ideas, but to new words — whether they be real or just industry jargon.

I was surprised to find that “upgradation” is a recognized word on Dictionary.com, which defines it as “upgrading; the act or process of improving the quality of something.”

How this is different than the word “upgrading” is beyond me, but hey, it’s what got me to read the survey in the first place.